Numb butts and fuel woes: the father and son riding from Australia to Italy on a Vespa

Mario and Leonardo reflect on travelling with ‘no plan’, unexpected joys and challenges ahead on their 10-month coming-of-age pilgrimage

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Riding pillion on a vintage Vespa from Sydney to Italy was never going to be easy.

But doing so amid a war in the Middle East, global oil shocks and shuttered borders? That was something Mario Gabrieli, 54, and his 11-year-old son, Leonardo, never planned for.