These four hoofs and two feet belong to travelling companions --
AND two very close friends.
Hi! I’m Lotta Lubkoll and this is my cheeky little donkey, Jonny.
Near Starnberg, south of Munich, the actress is out for a walk with Jonny,
a loyal companion ready for anything.
The duo is an experienced team.
We’re bound by love.
What’s special about Jonny is that he helps me leave all my stress behind.
And he’s the best buddy you could ever wish for,
the best travelling companion and the best listener.
I mean, just look at those ears!
Even when she was a little girl,
Lotta Lubkoll had the strong desire to take to the trails with a donkey.
But it wasn’t until life dealt her a bitter blow that she made her dream reality.
My Dad suddenly fell very ill.
In 2015, he was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer,
and we didn’t have much time left together.
I cared for him until he died.
We spent a good deal of time together.
It reminded me that I’d long had this dream of buying a donkey and go hiking with him.
That’s when it hit me: I have no idea what tomorrow will bring.
It’s now or never.
Guten Morgen Jonny!
I-A
Lotta Lubkoll found her donkey in a classified ad.
It was love at first site.
After months of preparation,
in the summer of 2018,
Lotta and Jonny hit the road.
They hiked from Munich over the alps
to Italy’s Adriatic Coast.
A trek of around 600 kilometers that took 80 days.
Sometimes, I could’ve gone faster if it hadn’t been for Jonny.
For example, he’s afraid of creaky bridges with rapids below.
Of course!
He’s worried it’ll collapse.
It might take him about 20 minutes to muster the courage to finally cross.
That really slows you down.
so if you’ve got the stress of needing to get somewhere fast,
I wouldn’t recommend a donkey for company.
But if Jonny has taught her anything at all,
it’s to take life easy.
Now, the 28-year-old has written a book
on her experiences of hiking with a donkey.
The two are inseparable.
And now, they’ve even got their own set of wheels.
Really?
You’re still not done eating?
The converted minibus has living space
not just for humans.
It’s also suited to move small equines.
It was important to me that he wasn’t in a trailer hanging off the back,
where I couldn’t be in direct contact with him.
Now, he’s right behind me.
When I drive, there’s only the mesh between us.
So I can talk to him and see how he’s doing in there.
And he’s been going along with it pretty well.
In fact, Jonny is such a good traveler that in December 20-20,
they set off on their next adventure
and drove their minibus to Portugal.
Out of consideration for Jonny, Lotta didn’t ever drive more than an hour a day.
They spent three months on the road.
Where to you want to go next, Jonny?
We’ve just come back from such a big trip together.
I think this year we’ll just go down to the Alps for some hiking.
We can look up a few nice places about an hour away from here
and then spend a few days hiking.