More than 350 people have offered to drive a Putney family’s van home from Singapore after their Instagram call for help collected 9,200 likes in a week. Among those putting their hand up: a man who drove from Edinburgh to Islamabad and then cycled into China, and an 80-year-old who says he can afford whatever it takes.
Edwin and Magda Harrison, the family behind Artisan Coffee in Putney, set out in January with three children, one bag of coffee, and a van called Daisy. After more than 11,000 miles, they reached Singapore. The original plan was to continue to Perth. It didn’t happen. Late last month, they posted an Instagram reel: Daisy needs someone to drive her home. So far it has had 9,214 likes, 853 comments and 245 shares.
For anyone who missed the drama that got them to Singapore, the previous chapter is here.
The route that wasn’t
Thailand was the wall. The country refused Daisy entry because her sink classified her as a motorhome requiring a special permit. Every official route closed. They tried officials, MPs, petitions, phonecalls and Andi Peters. “Thailand said no again,” Edwin narrated in one video. “Every single time the answer was dead end. Rejected.”
The solution, when it came, was characteristically absurd. Daisy will be loaded onto a flatbed truck in Laos so her wheels never touch Thai soil. “It turns out Daisy isn’t allowed to drive through Thailand,” Edwin said, “but technically there’s nothing saying she can’t float above it.”
Thirty days crossing China. Six hours of driving a day. By the time the breakdown happened on Day 112 (two fuel filters, a bypass, an air bleed, a flat battery), Edwin closed the video with: “On we go to Australia.” They didn’t.
Who’s applying
The return route is the whole journey in reverse: Thailand, Laos, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Europe, home. The family want adventurers, filmmakers, creators: “one or two genuinely chaotic humans.”
The field has delivered.
@timsupramaniam is half-Singaporean, half-British, a film graduate and adventurer. “I’ve already successfully driven a 60 year old Land Rover to Ukraine & back,” he wrote. He may be too perfect.
@singapoloh has just driven 3,500km from Shandong to Urumqi in the past two weeks. He also spent a year in 2022 driving a Mercedes caravan around Turkey. The caravan was called Murphy. He understands the importance of naming your van.
@grmurree drove from Edinburgh to Islamabad in a Ford Transit. Then cycled into China. “Sounds like a good next expedition!” he wrote.
Then there is @van_derek. He is 80 years old. He has flown ultralights, sailed through a cyclone and raised a family. “I’m now, literally ‘on my last legs’,” he wrote, “so can afford the trip, whatever it takes, this extra leg no problemo.”
Even Andi Peters commented: “I thought you were mad… but I love the idea!”
Responses have come from the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Nigeria and beyond. The series that started with one family’s absurd ambition has become something the whole internet wants to join.
As Edwin put it on Day 108, standing at a mountain coffee stop over 11,000 miles from home: “Not for the destination, but for moments like this.”
Daisy is waiting in Singapore. If you think it’s you, DM the word “Daisy” to @curiousroocoffeeroasters on Instagram.
Putney.news has been following this journey since the family left in January.
