One month ago, Edwin and Magda Harrison left their East Putney home with three children, a converted expedition van, and one bag of coffee. This week they crossed into Istanbul, the first checkpoint marked on the side of the van, and officially entered Asia. They have roughly 20,000 kilometres still to go.
The mission is straightforward, in the way that truly ambitious things often are. Magda’s mother lives in Perth, Western Australia. She ordered a bag of Barn Door Blend from the family’s roastery, Curious Roo Coffee Roasters. Rather than post it, the Harrisons decided to drive it there.
“London to Perth,” they posted from the red front door of their East Putney home on 13 February. “Six months. One van. One bag of coffee. We’re driving 20,000km to hand-deliver it to Magda’s mum. Because some deliveries deserve the long way round.”
The route runs through 25 countries across four continents: south through France and the Alps, across Italy and the Balkans, through Turkey and Georgia, north into Russia and Kazakhstan, across Uzbekistan, into China, down through Southeast Asia, and by boat to Darwin before the final overland push west to Perth. The conflict in Iran had prompted questions about the route. Magda says they are heading in the opposite direction and monitoring the situation closely. They say the journey would be a world record: the longest coffee bag delivery by hand, entirely without a flight.
It is also, as the Harrisons were reminded on Day 2, a considerable undertaking. The heating system failed somewhere in northern France. Warning lights came on in the dark. “We’re somewhere between ‘this is the best decision we’ve ever made’ and ‘what does that button do and should it be flashing?'” they posted. There was a breakdown in Croatia and a bout of illness among the children. “A few major hiccups,” Magda told Putney.news. But they found their rhythm.
The first month has ranged from spectacular to chaotic. In Verona, they turned the van into a pop-up café and pulled shots for locals alongside an Italian barista. Their son walked into San Siro on AC Milan match day holding the coffee bag. In Croatia, the fuel gauge lied and they spent five hours on the roadside, headtorch out, eating dinner in the van. Montenegro meant AeroPress coffee overlooking a mountain lake. Kosovo meant their youngest on a snowmobile in the snow.
How coffee brought them to Putney
Edwin and Magda met while volunteering in Uganda. Edwin established a beekeeping programme for 300 local farmers; Magda built an adult education school. When it was time to come home, Magda refused to return to Britain until she could find coffee worth drinking. She couldn’t. So they made their own.
Artisan Coffee opened on Upper Richmond Road, Putney in November 2011. The chain now has five shops (Putney, Stamford Brook, Ealing, East Sheen and Fulham), as well as a coffee school at Ealing that trains around 1,400 students a year, and the Curious Roo roastery in a 5,000 square metre warehouse in Chiswick. The Fulham shop turned two years old last Saturday, while its owners were in Skopje.
All of it is running without them. “You never fully switch off,” Magda says, “but the team has been phenomenal. Honestly, they’re probably doing a better job than we were.” The Harrisons check in with senior staff every Tuesday.
The van is part of the story. Pimp My Camper built it specifically for the trip and it contains beds, a La Marzocco professional espresso machine, a full brew bar, a Clever Dripper, and an AeroPress. The Curious Roo livery lists destination cities down the sides. The alloy wheels carry a custom kangaroo design. The three children (Danika, Joey, and their eldest son) call it “my bedroom,” and with the family’s SW London house now rented out, Magda says that is exactly what it has become. “They’re genuinely excited to come back to it each day,” she says. The bag of coffee sits on the dashboard. “It’s our little constant,” says Magda, “as everything else changes.”
An adventure in coffee
Magda originally grew up in Australia, after moving from Poland. That detail closes the circle: the trip is a delivery, a homecoming, and a coffee adventure all at once.
At every stop they look for specialty producers to meet, not just coffee to drink. In Split they found Matej. In Mostar, Armar and Mak. In Skopje this week, Edwin stood in a café ranked among the best 100 in the world. “Every cup tells a story,” he posted, “and this one tasted like Skopje.”
The one-month post went earlier this week. “One month ago we left the UK with a simple mission: deliver a bag of coffee to Australia without getting on a plane, with our three kids in tow.”
Next up: Cappadocia, Tbilisi, then east through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, into China, and down through Southeast Asia to Indonesia before a boat to Darwin and the final push west. Five months of road still ahead.
You can follow the journey on Instagram at @curiousroocoffeeroasters, on YouTube at @CuriousRoo, and on Twitter/X at @artisan_coffee. The Putney shop is still open at 203 Upper Richmond Road.
