Alicia Sornosa (Madrid, 1973), journalist specialized in motors and travel, is the only Spanish-speaking woman who has traveled around the world alone on a motorcycle. She went in 2011 and since then she has not stopped in her desire to know the most remote corners of the planet, exploring new destinations and sharing her adventures through her writings and experiences. She assures that she still has many horizons to discover.

Was your love for motorcycles born by chance or out of necessity?

A bit of everything. Keep in mind that my father is a racing driver and at home we have always been very close to the world of four-wheel motors. At the age of 14 I got my moped license, but since I was 12 I have known how to drive cars. I have always had a motorcycle, when I was very young I had a Vespino, then a two and a half motorcycle… The largest motorcycle arose out of necessity.

Count, count…

I went to live outside of Madrid and I worked in Madrid, so I couldn’t go with a small motorcycle. I needed a more powerful motorcycle to go more smoothly on the road.

And from there she becomes a real biker…

While doing a trail course, I meet a character who was making trips with one of these motorcycles. He told me that he needed a journalist to help him take photos and that he knew how to ride a motorcycle. And that’s how I started… That’s how easily I started going on trips and going around the world.

Have you lost count of the motorcycles you’ve owned?

Removing the scooters, from two and a half I have had a Kimko Venox, a Gladius, a twin-cylinder BMW F 650 GS, a 700 GS and I have already moved on to Ducati scramblers. With the Ducati scramblers I have already had an urban enduro, the Icon, and now they are going to change my bike for another Icon.

Have you calculated the kilometers you have traveled on two wheels?

I have not counted this. But I think I should go for 300,000 kilometers: the trip around the world was 176,000 km and I have already done that many more, so things are going there for sure.

How did the idea of ??traveling around the world on a motorcycle come about? Was it a very thoughtful decision or something spontaneous that you couldn’t turn back?

As I said before, it all started with the trail course with my motorcycle, because I wanted to learn to go through the sand, through the mud and through the countryside and there I found a person who was going to go around the world. He needed a journalist to accompany him to document the trip. And I went to work with him. The thing is, I only lasted three months. He was a quite unbearable and histrionic person and after three months I opted for plan B, which was to leave alone.

That easy…

After three months, I wanted to travel alone and show that a woman, no matter how small she was and how little experience she had, could perfectly travel the world alone on a motorcycle.

A decision made, without a doubt.

It didn’t cost me much, because I was fed up and having a hard time. For me it was a liberation. Yes, it is true that the day I was alone and started I felt very dizzy and many doubts attacked me thinking about what could happen to me. But it went away quickly. As I progressed, I realized that I was much better off alone than in bad company and everything went smoothly.

Thus, from the first moment he realized that everything would be fine.

Since when I traveled with someone I felt very alone, when I started the trip alone without that toxic person by my side I felt so liberated and so comfortable that my decisions were mine and that everything depended on me that it was actually a relief.

Where in the world were you when you made the decision to go around the world alone?

I was in Kenya and I jumped to India. India is a country I had been backpacking to many times and I knew it in some way, so it wasn’t as scary as having arrived in a place completely unknown to me.

Did you still have much time to complete the entire trip around the world?

Imagine… I spent a year and a half traveling around the world, so do the math. I left Madrid in September 2011 and did not return until April 2013. All in one go, without stopping by home, traveling all the continents. I did it alone but when I arrived in Mexico, since the language is the same and the people knew me, they came to look for me, they invited me, they took me from one place to another, they tucked me in… It was a joy.

He also knew the other side of the coin, not so pleasant situations, right?

I was very scared on the border of Tapachula, in Mexico with Guatemala, because I experienced a 7.6 magnitude earthquake on the motorcycle. I didn’t have time to put the kickstand on or get off the bike. It was a minute and a half that I really had a hard time. But I have never had problems with people. I have a lot of intuition and I trust who I have to trust. Furthermore, I am very cautious.

Prudent, in what sense?

I never say that I travel alone and I am careful to leave the motorcycle in places where it is not visible much, where it does not attract attention. At 5 in the afternoon she was already stopping and looking for where she could sleep. I woke up very early, I left very early… So I have had few problems with people. The truth is that the world has not seemed like a horrible place to me, quite the opposite.

Who would have thought, right?

Human beings are good by nature and, furthermore, if you ride a motorcycle this arouses people’s curiosity. What I can say from my experience is that they approach with admiration and are willing to help.

It is always so?

In general, yes. Now, if you see that there is something strange, that you don’t like the atmosphere, that there are looks that you don’t like… by getting on the motorcycle and leaving you don’t have to explain to anyone. The problem is over. With the motorcycle you can get around faster, without making noise, and the good thing is that it is not as complicated as if you go by public transport or as tiring as if you go by bicycle. For me, it is the perfect means of transportation because it is also the most permeable. Raising the visor allows you to perceive the temperature, odors, dust and humidity of the environment, as well as interact with the people around you.

How do you plan your day-to-day life on a round-the-world trip?

I have already done the second trip around the world more in stages. It’s something I’m doing because I still have many countries to visit. As soon as I save a little money and have free time, I take three months, six months, one month… In principle, I usually send the motorcycle by boat or by plane and thus save a lot of time to travel around the country or countries in question. At the beginning of each stage, I think about where I am leaving and where I am going to sleep. However, I let everything flow quite a bit.

And the prior preparations, what are they like?

Before going to any country, I always find out about its political situation, how it is economically, what type of country I am going to be in, the religion there is, the customs… Arriving at a place without knowing anything I don’t think is good either. But then I let the journey take me wherever it wants. The good thing about this is traveling without rushing. If there is a place that interests me, that I like, I stay much longer. On the other hand, if I arrive at a place that I thought was going to be wonderful and I don’t like it at all, because I don’t have good vibes, I leave. I’d rather spend three days in a place with local people learning things than go through seven places just to take a photo next to the monument.

Do you establish lasting relationships with the people you meet on your travels?

Yes, especially when they are bikers like me, bonds are quickly established. And from all these trips, even if you have only been there for a week or a few days, I still have great friends who come to Spain from time to time, I travel to their countries… I even have a Chilean friend, Marcia, who is a great traveler, and Once a year we get together in a country other than Chile or Spain and we go away together for a month. I still correspond with other people even if we don’t see each other.

Returning to your daily life on a trip around the world. How do you overcome motorcycle breakdowns?

When I have a breakdown, usually a puncture, which is usually the most common, a new adventure begins. I take it very well, I take a deep breath and I tell myself here the adventure begins. We have to find a way to get out of here and this will make me have to interact with people, ask for help, something that we are not used to doing. There are workshops and motorcycles all over the world. So you always find someone who will give you a hand, who will sell you a chain, who will fix your tire… If not, it is the brands themselves that help you. In Nepal my starter cone broke and I called Ducati Kathmandu to come help me.

Wow, it’s easier to overcome than we think from a distance…

The world is no longer what it was before. Everything is very globalized. Through social networks you can find a clutch 300 kilometers away… The worst thing that can happen to you is that you have to wait in this place for a few days until the part arrives.

Have you suffered any motorcycle accidents on your travels?

The only accident I’ve had was last year, around this time, in Vietnam. I went to make a turn on the road and there was a man who decided to overtake me with his motorcycle at that moment and hit me almost at a stop. Although it was a very small motorcycle, almost 125, he threw me and I broke my collarbone. It was a shame because it was at the beginning of the trip. I was left without knowing all of northern Vietnam because I had to return to Spain. On another occasion, in the Atacama Desert, to leave fear aside, I left the sand in a hurry and got into a fes-fes. I jumped off the bike and hit my left leg. I spent almost two months without getting on the motorcycle.

How do adverse weather conditions affect you?

I try to travel towards good weather. Suffering for the sake of suffering, well no… But even so, in Patagonia I have been caught by some tremendous storms. In Alaska, when I crossed the Polar Circle, there were a few days with lightning striking right next to you and it scared you to death… But you have no choice but to move forward. You can’t stay in the middle of nowhere… I got really hot in India. I’ve been shooting in 47 degree temperatures and 90% humidity, which is quite unpleasant. But these are things that happen and when you travel for a long time, eventually one day it’s your turn.

And the animals?

I have come across a lot of animals. But I haven’t had any problems. I always go very carefully. I don’t like shooting at sunrise or sunset at all. These are times of the day when I try to be with the motorcycle stopped to avoid problems. Think that in many parts of the world, at that time, there are many children on the street, bicycles and cars that do not have lights and you do not see them… That is why, at times of low visibility, I prefer to sit and have a beer quietly.

Of all the countries you have visited, which has impacted you the most?

Malawi. I thought it was a beautiful place and I stayed there longer than I expected. And then, the South American countries. Since they speak the same language it is much easier to establish links. In addition, they have great landscapes, a wonderful culture and common roots. Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru… I love Peru, first because I have great friends there, but also because it has a tremendous cultural wealth and excellent gastronomy, which is something that also appeals to me a lot.

Speaking of gastronomy, what is the strangest thing you have eaten?

I have eaten big-assed ants, I have eaten grasshoppers in Mexico, which are like grasshoppers. In Africa, I have eaten crocodile, which tastes between chicken and fish. In Mongolia they brought me some strips that were half dry, without sauce and spicy… They didn’t want to tell me what it was until I told them that I was going to eat it because it was very delicious. And they told me “it’s stomach, it’s stomach”… And I told them, but these are calluses! Thanks to being born in this culturally and gastronomically rich country that is Spain, I have no problems with food. I have eaten everything, except scorpions and cockroaches, which make me a little more disgusted… But I would eat them if there was nothing else left.

Is there any country that you have said ‘I will not return here’?

I didn’t like my experience in Egypt, which I traveled from Alexandria to Aswan to Sudan, at all. It was a time of revolt in the country, before the Egyptian Spring, but I did not feel at ease. There were no women or children to be seen on the streets and all the men treated me quite badly, with a lot of contempt, with very little education. With the motorcycle clothes – you see how sexy one is – because they wanted to touch my neck, which was the only part of the body that was visible… And the police, very unpleasant. It is a country to which I have no desire to return, but I will surely return and keep quiet. I will eat my words, but I have not liked this society. I also didn’t like the atmosphere in Mauritania. I crossed the country just before the pandemic on the main highway that existed at that time and I did not like the atmosphere I experienced or the people I met. I think that all countries should be given a second chance and I can’t wait to go back and have to eat my own words.

And which countries are you most looking forward to visiting?

One of the great countries that I really want to know, but I need a lot of time because it is very big, is Brazil. I really want to go there to explore it. But I still have many countries left. I still have some left from South America… I haven’t gotten to New Zealand either, which I think is another paradise to go to. And then, the Philippines, Indonesia…, Southeast Asia that I know less about, since I only half-stayed in Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. I still have a lot of countries to visit.

Apart from traveling by motorcycle through other countries, are you seduced by the Dakar or do you leave this for others?

To do the Dakar on a motorcycle, I am neither physically prepared nor do I know enough about motorcycles to do it on a motorcycle. But what I would like, and it is a great dream that I don’t know if I will achieve in life, is to do a Dakar in a buggy and in classics. I’d love to. I am a big fan of orienteering races, of regularity rallies. I have done some. This year I participated in the Madrid Eco Rally with a hybrid car and by a miracle I didn’t come in third because they should have penalized the third for skipping a checkpoint and they didn’t. I have participated in the Sahara Adventure and other orienteering competitions that were held in Morocco and were like mini Dakars. This really bothers me a lot.

That’s where the paternal streak comes in. His father was a Spanish rally champion, but nevertheless you chose the motorcycle.

I started with the motorcycle to use it to go to work and then I started to use it to travel and I realized that riding a motorcycle is something different, special, wonderful… It gives you freedom and gives you sensations that a car does not give you. It’s going to be your bubble. You go with your music, your temperature, your smell… So, from the beginning, I jumped on the bike and I will never get off it. For me, traveling by motorcycle is the best. It is a lifestyle, without a doubt.

And furthermore, their trips always have a solidarity component.

That’s how it is. In all the trips I take I usually draw attention to some cause. I raise funds from my followers, who are super generous people, to achieve a goal. The last time was to buy a motorcycle, in Senegal, from a chief of a Wasari tribe who had a territory of 300 square km and walked from one place to another. On another occasion we raised money to drill water wells in Ethiopia, which earned me the award for best trip of the year from the Spanish Geographic Society, in 2018, which King Felipe VI gave me. So, if on top of that, I can help people, then even better.