PETALING JAYA — Long-distance relationships these days have been made more convenient thanks to air travel.

For one Kuala Lumpur native however, choosing to abandon flying favour of an even longer journey that involved driving across the globe to Europe in the name of love is the way to go.

Mr Engku Mohammad Hadri Engku Hassan began his journey on Monday (Aug 19), to drive across 25 countries including China, Mongolia, Latvia and Russia before reaching Germany where his fiancée is from.

Mr Hadri arrived at the Thai border earlier on Thursday morning, updating followers via Instagram that his journey so far has been smooth sailing.

Mr Hadri’s friend and fellow car enthusiast Lim Wai Hong, wrote on his motoring Facebook page Hayashi86.com that the 34-year-old met his future wife in Germany back in 2007.

The two were acquainted prior to that via the Internet and that the language barrier was never an issue.

Two years later, Mr Hadri flew back to Germany to see her and professed his love for her with a rose and a letter.

They have been together ever since and Mr Hadri popped the question a few years later.

“He wants to show his fiancée he is doing this for her and it’s how much he’s willing to sacrifice — it’s a beautiful story,” Mr Lim told Malay Mail when contacted.

On behalf of his friend, Mr Lim added that Mr Hadri’s father helped his son to plan the driving routes and calculate the petrol consumption and mileage required to complete the journey.

The trip, christened The Retro Havoc Motorsport World Tour will also be promoting Visit Malaysia Year 2020 (VM2020) at each destination during the expedition’s 98-day journey.

Tourism Malaysia assisted Mr Hadri and his two co-drivers with visa-related matters to ease their expedition which was planned a year ago.

According to a Bernama news report, the estimated cost of the tour is RM250,000 and Mr Hadri received sponsorship from several parties. MALAY MAIL