MILLIONS of people have travelled between Europe to Australia by ship or plane, but only a few thousand have made the journey by bus.
From the late 1950s to the early 1980s several bus companies including Penn Overland offered the chance for more adventurous travellers to make the journey halfway across the face of the world by road.
Many young Australians also made the return journey, catching a plane to Kathmandu taking the bus to London until the overland trail was shut off by war and revolution.
It's an era of travel that is almost forgotten but Sutherland author and traveller Gerald Davis has recorded the adventure in a new book, Faraway Places with Strange Sounding Names — The Penn Overland Story.
Mr Davis worked as a driver and courier driving from London to Kathmandu return, and later driving through South America with the legendary adventure travel company Penn Overland. Penn brochures offered "real journeys for the emancipated traveller, free from the stifling structure of the so-called package tour".
The Overland journey saw travellers making the 72-day, 16,000-kilometre road journey across Europe, through Turkey and the Middle East, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan and India.
They were told to "prepare for the unexpected", an "amazing two-month voyage of discovery across the world.".
An estimated 25,000 Australians completed the Overland journey and by 1977 the company had completed more than 500 Overland journeys and clocked up nearly nine million kilometres.
Mr Davis made his first journey as a Penn passenger from London to Kathmandu in 1966 and loved it so much he joined the firm.
It started a career that was dominated by travel including four years with Penn Overland and 23 years with Thomas Cook.
He started the first Penn tour from South America from Rio to Lima
"It was a 42-day, 10,000-kilometre journey including 3000 kilometres of gravel and dirt mountainous roads with sheer drops," he said.
In total, Mr Davis completed three overland trips between London and India and 11 trips through South America.
Revolution in Iran and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan closed the Overland trail in the early 1980s.
Most of Penn's records were lost or destroyed after the company closed but Mr Davis hopes to start an archive of overland travel memories for future generations.
Writing Faraway Places with Strange Sounding Names he heard from many former Overlanders.
"The Overlanders are a unique fellowship of travellers," he said.
"Penn had such an influence on their lives.
"They shared vivid memories of the joys and hardships of travel, many which are in the book."
"Penn's greatest achievement was to inspire countless people to fulfil their wildest dreams.
"Undoubtedly, it was the most dramatic tour ever conceived," Mr Davis said.
Faraway Places with Strange Sounding Names is published by Halstead Press and is available in major bookshops or by emailing Gerald Davis at pennoverlandstory@bigpond.com