You and Marco Hupkes

Getting together
We're going on an off-road adventure. On this page you will get to know me a little.

Who am I?
Also on the team page 'about' you can read something about me. Below I want to tell you about the big off-road metaphor that is my life and I would also like to explain to you how I work.

My story in a nutshell
Raised in two cultures. Dutch and Italian. Then high school... the fun part was going on trip every holiday.
Exploring my path I found out that I was the owner of my life and so I choose to leave university and the Netherlands and put my life on 'freestyle mode'. With a hundred guilders in the pocket and my thumb up I went off to wander around the Mediterranean sea and the Sahara desert. I worked as a cook, day laborer, outdoor & whitewater kayak instructor and adventure travel guide.

After 7 years I got back to the Netherlands were I worked as a stand-up comedian, teacher of history, civics, philosophy and psychology and still did road and offroad guiding on a regular base.

All in all, I have been organizing road/off-road adventures in Morocco and Europe for about 40 years. Over the past 15 years, the Netherlands has added to this role as well as coaching people with serious problems to realize a mindset shift.

So that's a lot of different stuff?... It's all about exploring the world and the soul. It's about experiencing fun and happiness. I's about guiding and sharing experiences.

The Off Road Metaphor
Off-roading means to me: to be focused in the here and now, accept reality as it is, see obstacles as something to deal with, choose and focus on the right direction and way of driving.
To not blame the trail, the weather, my vehicle, my GPS, my co-driver, the locals and so on. Sure, things around me can be tricky, but it's up to me how I deal with it. I don't have to be perfect, but I do want to take responsibility for my actions.

How do I work when on tour?
The most important thing to me is that you have a great experience, that you are in good health at the end of our trip, that the materials we used are still working and that the locals we met would love to see us again.
You have a lot to say about the tailor-made trips. With regard to safety, team spirit and relations with the local population, I set the standard. That's part of the job you're hiring me for.

And you?
You don't have to be a hero.
This is the basics: in general you respect other people, nature, the material and you have (or try to have) a 'safety mindset'.
You realize that on an off-road tour reality can be different from the planning and so you have a certain amount of flexibility.
If this sounds good to you, then let's go.