About Us

I am Sebastian Tirtirau.  Since 1994, I have been traveling, working and exploring more than 150 countries and territories, from the most civilized cities to the most remote corners of the world.  My passion for our planet began at a very young age, when my father opened a world atlas in front of me.  Coming from humble beginnings, from a small village in northern Romania, no one would have imagined (not even myself) the span of my explorations across the world.  I left Romania when I was 24 years old, a young student with a young wife and a 9 months old daughter and landed in South Africa.  The moment I touched down in Johannesburg, I knew this was going to impact my life like nothing else I ever imagined.

In 1996 I reached the Kalahari Desert and met the San (Bushmen) people, together with a very close friend of mine, Dan.  This experience opened up in my heart a hunger to go everywhere and meet new people and new tribes, a hunger that was never satisfied, even to this day.  I am the only non-native adopted by the San tribe, from the Kung Bushmen, who speak the Ju:Hoansi language, as well as the only non-native to be adopted by the remote Kiai tribe of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, South Pacific.  This gives me an insight into their culture that no one else can claim.

The following years took me from the depths of the Amazon jungles of Guyana, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, to the heights of the Arctic, from the islands of Vanuatu to darkness of Congo, from Chile to Bhutan, from Japan to Siberia and all across the world.  I traveled in everything, from fancy Jumbo jets to hot air balloons, from dog sleds to dugout canoes, from camels to motorbikes and sailboats.  I crossed the world on my own motorbike, 75.000 km, 34 countries, 16 months.  I have sailed the South Pacific in search for tribes, hidden deep in the islands of Vanuatu, I have reached the Gobi, the Sahara, the Atacama and the Kalahari, I have slept in tents for months on end, in huts, in igloos and in hammocks deep in the jungle.  I have been bitten by mosquitoes and flies, stung by scorpions, chased by elephants and hippos, attacked by people and ridiculed by crowds of civilized men and women sitting in fancy buildings, judging the world as if they are her creators.  I suffered hunger and thirst, cold and heat, I got used to having nothing and having a lot.  I made mistakes and I learned to adapt to countless circumstances.  All of this I’ve done to expose myself as much as possible to this beautiful world we live in, because I believe that we have no right to judge anyone until we have lived at least 1 day in their shoes.  So, this way, I lived many lives, I sang with the Bushmen in the desert under the Kalahari stars, I cried with the pygmies in the jungle when their people were decimated by the rebels in Congo, I laughed with the little orphans in Zambia when we played soccer together and I danced almost naked with the Kiai of Espiritu Santo island in Vanuatu.

Yes, I broke many standards and patterns from the world I came from, from the culture I came from and from the nation I rose from.  Yes, many things I’ve done were unimaginable and unacceptable to many people of my culture, religion and education.  But that was what made me, me… the man I am today, the person I have grown into.  And I accept no judgment from anyone or any structure or organization or entity, because no one has lived in my shoes for at least 1 day…