We can all agree that a successful multi-year, around the world motorcycle trip requires much more than a sense of adventure. It takes planning, resources and above all, the ability to be cool with all types of adversity.

That’s tough enough when you’re riding solo or as a couple, but add animals into the mix, and you’re facing challenges that require a much higher level of patience, as well as creativity. Just ask Aussies Stuart and Janell Clarke, who recently returned from a 9+ year ride through 107 countries, having left Australia in 2014 with their Yorkie-mix rescue dog, Skyla.

The couple, Janell, a civil engineer, and Stu, an engineer in the Royal Australian Navy, who met in 2004 and were married in 2009 shared a love for taking trips into the outback in their 4×4, adventures that eventually included their beloved Skyla, whom they adopted from the pound when she was six months old. 

Those trips sparked fantasies about traveling around the world with Skyla, though research showed them early on that fuel and shipping fees for a four-wheeled vehicle would be cost prohibitive. That’s when the couple, Stu a long-time rider and Janell, who got her license in 2009, decided a pair of  motorcycles was a better fit for their wanderlust, and their budget. 

In the years spent planning, the couple went from thinking six months was enough to “see the world in one go” to allowing for two years, something they laugh about now, having returned to Australia nearly ten years later. 

All of their pre-trip planning revolved around being able to safely and comfortably take Skyla along, something others had warned them against, but their thorough research had shown to be doable. 

However, before they could put all that planning into action, Skyla was sadly diagnosed with cancer. Her treatment was harrowing, and included chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, but eventually their beloved pup, who was already used to riding shotgun in a custom carrier, recovered and was cleared for travel. 

Into The Unknown

And they were off, first a flight to Dallas, Texas, to pick up a 2012 BMW G650GS for Stu and a 2006 F650GS for Janell, bikes they had planned in advance to purchase, saving them from paying a higher price in Australia, then paying more to ship their bikes to the front door of their first destination, Mexico. 

And into Mexico they excitedly rode, with all going as planned, that is, until Skyla’s mood and behavior changed. They soon learned her cancer had returned, so as the threesome slowly carried on through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica the only option was chemotherapy medication “and spending as much time with her and giving her the best quality of life we could,” said Janell in an interview about this dark period.

By the time the family crossed the Panama border, Skyla’s condition had worsened, so they took a ferry to South America, rather than putting Skyla in a crate for the flight most overlanders take to avoid the Darien Gap. Once they arrived in Venezuela, a local veterinarian told them to prepare for the worst.

Skyla passed away in Venezuela on September 10, 2014, leaving the couple shattered and unsure of whether they even wanted to continue their journey. “I just wanted to go home,” said Janell. “It just felt like it was all over. I was really, really in a bad place.”

The couple decided to take a month off from riding, staying in Venezuela, hoping to heal. During that time they decided to return and visit the vet who had helped so much during Skyla’s final days, and ended up meeting a disabled, epileptic dog who had been a blood donor for a transfusion Skyla had received at the office.

This was Weeti, a Venezuelan street dog who had been hit by a truck and rescued by the vet. That day Weeti would rescue Stu and Janell who ended up adopting the two-year-old mixed breed, and in October of 2014 the threesome rode off to continue the couple’s dream ride.

Three’s Company? 

But fate wasn’t finished with the dog-loving couple. As they were riding through rural Colombia in August of 2015 a pup shot out from the bushes in front of Stu’s bike. While he was narrowly able to miss hitting the dog, the next vehicle did not. 

Stu ran back to check on the dog, and realized the poor thing was still alive. When he asked around if anyone knew it’s owner, he was informed it was part of a pack of strays. Seeing how the dog had no one else, the couple put it in their carrier with Weeti and rode to Bogota in search of a vet. 

The dog survived a challenging recovery, and while they’d hoped to find her a forever home in Bogota, the vet who treated her said there was little chance of adoption in a city so overpopulated with both domestic and feral dogs, which of course made it impossible for them to ride away without her.  

Meet Shadow, 9.5 pounds of miniature pinscher mix, who lost an eye in the accident, but gained a family. Janell says he’s only 9 countries behind Weeti, who, to date, has been to 99 countries.

As their adventure family grew, and miles stacked up by the thousand, so did their knowledge about traveling with pets. The Pack Track website began as a blog sharing their dog-friendly travels, but has since become an invaluable resource for riders who want to travel with their own pups, and includes a tool to help optimize a pet-friendly route. 

Being engineers, the pair over time has also created what they feel is the ultimate way to carry your canines, a Pillion Pooch carrier. It looks a bit like a tent, but Janell explains the fabric is the type of PVC canvas used to cover the sides of semi trucks, so it is weatherproof and road worthy. The hardware is promised to be tangle-free and chew proof, and best of all, the animal is free to sit, stand or lay down, unlike some carriers that force the dog into one position. 

As the couple spent the next seven-and-a-half years riding around the globe with their dogs, they found the slower pace required by traveling with animals allowed them to fully immerse themselves into each different culture. 

Asked if there are frustrations, Janell says that hiccups like border crossings were usually about the motorcycles, not the dogs, though some countries do require certain tests and quarantines. 

Adventure Rider Radio was especially concerned about the perils of poop breaks and cleanup, but the couple explained the dogs, like humans, have routines so there is no problem. Except for that one time, when they first set off with Weeti, who they believe didn’t poop for three days because she didn’t want to mess up her wonderful, new situation.

It was an explosive result, in the carrier, underway, but the couple took it in stride, just happy to have a new riding partner, which eventually became two backseat buddies, a seemingly perfect balance. 

That is, until they were riding through East Turkey in December of 2021 and another pup popped out onto the road and was narrowly missed, this time by Janell. This little angel was only about six weeks old with no mother in sight. They asked around with the local farmers and no one would claim her.

The couple took the little puppy to the nearest rescue where they learned she had a very serious disease, Parvo, and the vet would only treat her if the Clarke’s agreed to adopt her. They named her Azra, and the traveling family became five. 

Nine years after they first packed up and rode into Mexico with Skyla, the couple has now returned to Australia with three four-legged foreigners in tow, each saved from peril, while the spirit of a fourth beloved dog forever rides shotgun in Stu and Janell’s lives.  

Riding Around The World Clarke Style

We always like to ask successful RTW riders just how they manage to leave their lives to travel for years on end. 

In the case of Stu and Janell, their story began with years of meticulous planning. Both engineers, they were able to save a good sum of money before they left Australia. They had originally budgeted for two years, but left knowing their saved finances would allow them six years abroad, if needed. 

Of course they stayed out in the world for nine years, which they say stretched their resources. However, they were able to stop and do several work stints, including two in England, in order to replenish their funds. Creating and selling the Pillion Pooch dog carriers also helped them extend their journey. 

Preferring not to camp, the couple says they often book with long stay rates (weekly or monthly) through the Booking and Airbnb websites, which also allows them to fully investigate destinations. 

The couple does have a YouTube channel where you can watch some adventures though less traveled countries such as Iraq, Sudan and Egypt and their blog and resource-rich website offers users a means to donate in exchange for the entertainment and invaluable information provided.

One of the most profound things the Clarkes say came from their travels is how it’s opened their hearts and minds to humans and humanity, breaking down the prejudice we’re constantly fed through the media. 

And while traveling with their dogs requires “extra wits,” especially in countries with aggressive wildlife and/or territorial stray animals, the joy of traveling with a pet is like no other. “They are fiercely loyal, great companions, and at most times, eager adventure travelers.”

Photos by The Pack Track

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.