Where it all began
In early 2025, we left Bangkok, our home for four years, and Asia, where we had lived since 2016, to drive all the way back to France. Rather than the quickest way home, we chose the longest one: overland, across mountains, steppes and small villages, stopping wherever someone was quietly solving a real problem.
330 days
38,200 km
22 countries
& regions
50 initiatives
One family,
One truck
There were four of us. Fabienne, who spent 25 years organising large international events, kept everything running. Pierre, after twenty years in marketing and digital in Asia, opened doors and set up the meetings. And our two boys, Axel (10) and Lauris (9), asked the questions nobody else dared to ask.
Every week brought a new founder, a new village, a new way of doing a lot with very little. We came home with stories, friendships and a different way of looking at innovation. Borderless Impact, as it is today, was born on that road.
Along the way, we collected insights to understand how innovation models differ across the world. We met inspiring leaders and gathered learnings that help us imagine the next models of innovation.
The route
From Bangkok to Le Touquet, overland.
Thailand · Cambodia · Laos · China · Tibet · Nepal · Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Uzbekistan · Russia · Georgia · Türkiye · Greece · Albania · Montenegro · Croatia · Slovenia · Italy · Germany · Austria · Switzerland · France
Our studio on wheels
We travelled in a Toyota Hilux we had custom-built for the trip. It was our home, the boys’ school and our recording studio. It took us over mountain passes in Tibet, across the steppes of Central Asia and down the dirt roads of northern Laos, so we could sit down with founders right where their work happens.
Giving back along the way
We wanted this trip to give back, not just take. Three organisations made that possible:
NK Seeds. Together, we funded a library in northern Laos, so children in remote villages can access books and learning.
Enfants du Mékong. We still support them today. In northern Cambodia, in areas recently hit by conflict, we met the teams running the schools and the homes where students are welcomed.
Impact Hub. Our travel companion across Asia. They introduced us to entrepreneurs all along the route, and in Kathmandu we ran a workshop together for local social enterprises.
