Twenty-one months away from home, a 2020 KTM 790 Adventure and a total budget of €20,000. These are the figures behind the extraordinary adventure of Monica Ledda, who completed a solo round-the-world motorcycle journey. We met her at Italian Bike Week, where she shared the story of an experience that changed her life.

Starting in Uruguay, after shipping her motorcycle from Italy, Monica explored South America, visited Japan and resumed her motorcycle journey in Thailand, riding through Southeast Asia, China and Central Asia before returning to Europe.

Her adventure was deliberately flexible, with an emphasis on slow travel, connecting with local communities and carefully managing expenses. To make her dream possible, she left her job, rented out her home and invested her savings.

There were plenty of challenges along the way, from difficult off-road sections in Peru to a 20-kilometer walk in Argentina to find help after dropping her motorcycle. But there were also countless rewarding experiences, and her KTM now shows 116,000 kilometers on the odometer.

"I'm neither a great mechanic nor a great rider," Monica admits, firmly believing that determination and the desire to explore matter more than technical expertise.

What comes next? Before setting off on another adventure, Monica wants to reinvent her professional life. But her passion for discovering the world is far from over.