An overland journey
from California to Patagonia.

  • Nonurbia is Sarah and Erdem overlanding through the Americas. We both left our countries years ago for a life in Los Angeles. This journey marks a second departure in search of what lies beyond the “American Dream” …beyond the urban and suburban modes of life.

  • Nonurbia.com hosts our projects and personal experiences on the road.

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    We ‘vacated’ our lives, making room for the unexpected,
    and hit the road from California to Patagonia…

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Sarah Riedmann
Sarah Riedmann

Sarah is a combination of warm domesticity and an uneasy feeling about settling in a predefined box. It’s not easy! She seeks safety and familiarity in the strangest places. The conflict usually surfaces in the form of art. She handles familiar objects and images and turns them into uncanny surfaces or textures…or the other way round. See what I mean here. Sarah finds great excitement in evocative and nonconformist architecture. She designed and built a house at the age of 23 but did not live there for too long. Leaving behind a predictable life in a small town at the western extremity of Austria, Sarah moved to Los Angeles in 2007 where she studied fine art and film at UCLA. She is “certified clever” and blond at the same time. Her ability to pull off ‘any’ language including German, English, French, Italian, Turkish and Spanish, enables us to travel all around the world without worrying about communication. That is if she feels comfortable speaking to strangers. Her oculus dexter resembles a turbulent ocean complete with a little island to rest on. She occasionally cries but I’m not supposed to worry about it too much. It’s just “pressure relief”.

Erdem Yucel
Erdem Yucel

Erdem is a Turkish-born two-wheel-traveler, who doesn’t even remember when he moved to Los Angeles. “It’s a number!” As a teenager he traveled extensively on his bicycle, and in 2009 he circumnavigated the world solo on a motorcycle. He is a co-founder of Jupiter’s Travellers and likes to encourage others to travel, so much so, that he ocassionally gifts his motorcycles to other travelers. During the night of the super moon, in May 2012, he asked Sarah to come to South America with him, which marked the beginning of their relationship. His selflessness, made him decide to travel in a car this time, despite a touch of painful nostalgia for the motorcycle days. Described as “jubilant, with the excitement of a child but the knowledge of a scholar”, Erdem craves to understand things and won’t give up until he does. He thinks in pictures and talks in concepts. Being a seasoned designer and artist, he likes to do things properly, and preferably in black, white, or grey. He is loving and caring with a strong sense of duty and responsibility. Erdem needs a good dose of “amazement” everyday and won’t go to sleep without finding it.

 

 

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