Kevin Neubeck had been on a jet ski three times in his life when he decided to ride one around the world.
That was 120 days and nine countries ago. He is not planning to stop for another three years.
The 33-year-old German, who lives in Cyprus, has ridden along the coastlines of Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
His route ahead includes Gran Canaria, Cape Verde and eventually an Atlantic crossing, which even he admits makes him nervous.
‘Logistics don’t exist’
Neubeck navigates using Google Maps. He only acquired actual boat navigation two days before speaking to CreatorZine.
He keeps his passport, laptop and clothes in a waterproof bag, sleeps in tents and Airbnbs, and has no fixed plan beyond a general direction of travel.
“I don’t even know where I’ll be tomorrow, I just drive,” he said. “I just drive until the border and cross it.
Most countries are EU and there are no problems but in non-EU countries you need stamps like at passport control.”
His daily routine, to the extent he has one, involves waking up, checking the weather, planning fuel stops, then riding from around 9am to 3pm. His girlfriend Felipa Costilla, 23, travels with him.
Waking up to a submerged jet ski
Not every day goes smoothly. Neubeck woke up one morning to find his jet ski underwater. “I thought we’d have to continue as a submarine,” he said.
The worst day came on the Black Sea. “That was the scariest day and no fun. It was insane with the clouds and the sea just looks black.” Big waves and bad visibility made the stretch genuinely dangerous.
He says nothing else has frightened him so far, though the Atlantic is a different proposition. “A lot can go wrong there.”
‘I love when people doubt me’
Neubeck says the idea came from nowhere in particular. He considered a bike. He thought about a caravan. Then a jet ski occurred to him and he could not shake it.
“I just thought, why not?” he said. “I’m crazy. I could be the first and I love to inspire people. I love when people doubt me and I prove them wrong and that everything is possible.”
His friends and family were not surprised. “They’re used to my crazy ideas, so this is nothing special for them.”
He shares the journey with 27,000 Instagram followers, documenting a trip that is part endurance challenge, part travel content and part improvisation.
Why it matters
Adventure content on social media is saturated with people cycling across continents and sailing oceans.
A jet ski is different enough to cut through. Neubeck’s appeal is not polish or production value.
It is the sheer absurdity of the premise and the fact that he appears to be making it up as he goes, literally navigating international borders with Google Maps and a waterproof bag.
For creators looking to build an audience around travel, the lesson is that a strong enough concept can carry modest follower counts a long way.
Twenty-seven thousand followers is small. The story is not.
The Atlantic crossing, whenever it comes, will be the moment that either defines the whole project or ends it.
Neubeck seems fine with both possibilities.
