Man proposes after driving 40,000 miles from Malaysia to UK in old Toyota

A British man moving home from New Zealand drove 40,000 miles back to the UK after being unable to part with his beloved £6,000 Toyota Land Cruiser.

Joss Quilty spent almost a year in his car, travelling across three continents and 23 countries, At one point, he only narrowly avoided a suicide bomber.

It’s no surprise he felt emotional about the prospect of giving it up.

The 30-year-old decided to hatch a plan that meant he got to keep his car and go on an epic adventure with his girlfriend, Romy Romagnoli.

They for the car shipped to Malaysia and then begun their journey back to the UK from there. They returned just in time for Christmas.

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The pair had a lot of countries standing in the way of them and Joss’ home country.

They travelled through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Iran before reaching Europe.

They then drove through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Montengro, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France before reaching the UK.

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He brought the trip to the perfect end by proposing to Romy on their return to the UK.

Talking about their adventure he said: “I had bought this old Toyota and kind of wanted to keep it. It's a really good car and I'm just amazed that it was possible.”

“Our budget was very tight for the whole trip. We tried to sleep in the vehicle the whole way, with mattresses in the back.”

“Romy and I were very much in this together in terms of making decisions - to drive the car back, choosing the route, splitting the money 50/50.”

“There is no way I could have done the trip without her. She's tough and very keen on a challenge!”

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The adventure didn’t come without its challenges, which included having to have armed guards with them as they travelled along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“We had a close shave with the Taliban there, after leaving a military base. We had a guy with an AK-47 with us in the car.”

“We were driving along when he leaned forward and told us to drive fast because there was a female suicide bomber nearby.”

“The car could only do a maximum of 50mph! I don't know what happened next. We never heard.”

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The pair were overwhelmed by the support they got from people, though, saying “they all wanted to help even though they had nothing”.

When they both returned from their adventure, which was inspired by their friends who are all “adventurers”, Joss proposed to Romy.

The pair have since decided to move to Scotland, but their adventures aren’t behind them.

“The people we saw, the way they live [when travelling] - we came back and people were arguing about vegan sausage rolls. It was just depressing.” Joss said.

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