Andrea and Mike Kammermann are heading out in their expedition truck on the ultimate tour – Part 1

She was born with a sense of adventure: although born in Switzerland, Andrea Kammermann spent her childhood with her family in Costa Rica before discovering the world on her own at a later stage. So it's surely not by chance that her husband Mike is also incapable of staying permanently put in his native Switzerland. "If you add up all of the trips we've made together, we've travelled for three years already," explains the 30-year-old when we caught up with him near Zurich a few days before they set out on their journey.

Adventurers seeking a very special type of tour.

The couple married last autumn and have already been on an off-roading tour through North, Central and South America. From Prudhoe Bay in northern Alaska down to Tierra del Fuego on the southern tip of Argentina. Andrea and Mike (32) covered 130,000 kilometres as part of that tour – and now they want to top that. The pair dreamed up a massive holiday. "At some point," explains freelance photographer Andrea, "Mike had the idea which led to us creating the 4-Xtremes tour." For five years, the couple tweaked the plans for the expedition, which they have now begun in their Axor motorhome.

The idea and the actual challenge behind 4-Xtremes: on this non-stop tour, which initially takes the duo east-bound, Andrea and Mike want to visit four of the planet's most extreme locations. The first destination is in Iran: the Dasht-e Lut desert, where the mercury has been known to pass the 70 degrees Celsius mark – thus making the zone the hottest place on the planet. After this stop, the couple will head to Marsimik La. The highest passable mountain road is located in the outer-most north-east of India and will take Andrea and Mike in their all-wheel-drive Axor to an altitude of more than 5700 metres.

Using publicity for a good cause.

The Swiss Red Cross is the partner of the relief operation which Andrea and Mike wish to support with their tour. "Our idea was that if we're already setting out to do something which is sure to attract a certain amount of publicity, then we should use that to do something charitable," explains Andrea. That's why the pair held a number of events before starting the tour, so as to collect donations for the cause. The money has already been sent to the Swiss Red Cross who will use it to finance projects in Africa and Asia which aim to fight eye diseases and provide children from destitute families with glasses. "For me as a photographer, the topic of eyesight obviously has a particularly special meaning."

On previous trips, the couple have already experienced real extremes. "In the Mexican state Baja California, we saw the thermometer reach its limits," tells Mike. But there was something else which was much harder: "The biggest challenge after that tour was coming back to reality."

And a spot of déjà-vu in that respect can't be excluded after this tour, either. "After I get back, I can just go straight back to work," says Andrea. "Mike used to work as a sales rep for a wood trading company, so for him, things aren't quite as simple as that." But the pair don't really want to think about that aspect just yet. For a while, all that will count for them is the 4-Xtremes tour.

Stick with us! Part 2 of the RoadStars series with the specifics of the expedition truck being used in the 4-Xtremes tour will be published on 25 June. From that point on, Andrea and Mike expect to provide an update about their experiences every month, right here.

Photos: Alexander Tempel, 4-Xtremes
Video: Alexander Tempel