From high school to Tatooine

How a friendship from 1985 eventually led to a personal journey through Tunisia

In 1985, Maik Suurland and Marco Tuppert met in high school. They were both fifteen years old. It was the beginning of a friendship that has now lasted well over forty years. At that time, of course, they could not possibly have imagined that they would ever start a travel company together. Let alone that forty years later they would develop a trip to the places that, in their youth, seemed to belong to a galaxy far, far away.

Yet, even then, without realizing it themselves, a first foundation was laid for what would later become Binary Sunset Tours.

Maik and Marco both shared a passion for Star Wars. Not as something they had agreed upon together or upon which their friendship was directly based. In the beginning, they didn't even know how important the films were to each other. It was a shared interest that only became apparent gradually.

Star Wars was also something different in those years from the vast universe it is today. There were no streaming services where you could watch every film and series at any time. No social media where fans all over the world found each other daily. And no uninterrupted stream of trailers, podcasts, analyses, and new productions.

The original trilogy was the story. The images, the characters, and the worlds from those films had to make do for years with what had become stuck in your head.

A world that turned out to really exist

For many fans of that generation, Tatooine was perhaps the world that made the biggest impression. The vast desert, the simple dwellings, the markets, the strange vehicles, and of course the two suns above the horizon: it felt otherworldly, but at the same time believable.

Only later did Maik and Marco discover that a large part of that world had not been built in a film studio at all. Tatooine largely existed for real. The deserts, salt flats, cave dwellings, and ancient ksour were not located on a distant planet, but in Tunisia.

The place name Tataouine had even helped in the origin of the name Tatooine. Several buildings that appeared otherworldly in the films were in reality traditional Tunisian structures. In some places, the film sets had remained standing. Other locations had become part of daily life again after filming.

The idea that you could actually go there suddenly made the films tangible. You could stand on the spot where Luke Skywalker looked at the horizon. You could walk through the streets that represented Mos Eisley in the films. You could visit the hotel whose interior was used as Luke's childhood home. What used to seem completely unreachable turned out to be just a few hours' flight from the Netherlands.

But knowing that a place exists and actually going there are two different things.

From fan to traveler

As is often the case, the years passed. School gave way to work, families, and responsibilities. The friendship remained, and Star Wars never completely disappeared from the picture either. Sometimes prominently present, sometimes more in the background, but always recognizable as something that belonged to their youth.

The desire to one day visit the Tunisian film locations myself also persisted.

Eventually, the moment came when Maik and Marco no longer wanted to just read and talk about these places. They wanted to see them with their own eyes. Not from the back seat of a tour bus, nor during a short excursion to a few well-known locations. They wanted to drive themselves, experience the distances, and understand how the various film locations were situated in the real Tunisian landscape.

That first experience made it clear that the trip was much more than a series of recognizable places from a movie.

Naturally, it was special to recognize locations that had been etched in their memories for decades. But along the way, they also discovered a country that could not be treated as a mere backdrop. Tunisia turned out to be a destination with a rich history, impressive landscapes, vibrant cities, and a hospitable population.

The route did not only pass by Star Wars locations. Also places that were used for Raiders of the Lost Ark and Monty Python's Life of Brian gained meaning. Roman ruins, medinas, Berber villages, oases, a ksour, and the Sahara made the journey broader than the original film theme.

The films provided the impetus. Tunisia itself became an equally important part of the story.

The three kilometers to Lars Homestead

Some moments are difficult to plan in advance.

One of those moments occurred during the trip to Lars Homestead, the place that in Star Wars represents Luke Skywalker's house. The white, round structure stands in the middle of a vast and virtually empty landscape near Chott el Djerid.

Maik and Marco had to cover the final kilometers knowing that at the end of that route lay a place they had known since their childhood. In reality, it was only a distance of about three kilometers. Emotionally, it felt like a journey of forty years.

As we approached the location, it became quieter.

Suddenly, there it stood. Not on a television screen, not in a photograph, and not as a recreated set at a convention, but for real. In the middle of the Tunisian landscape.

That moment touched them. Not because they forgot that it was, after all, a film set, but because so many different memories came together there: the films from their youth, their long-standing friendship, and the realization that they were now actually making this journey together.

Leaving Lars Homestead was perhaps even more emotional than arriving. You can look forward to a place for years, but at some point, you have to drive away again. It is precisely then that you realize how special it has been to be there.

That didn't need to be made bigger or more dramatic than it was. The silence in the car said enough.

Why not organize a trip yourself?

During and after their trip, the same thought arose more and more often: why is there actually no complete Dutch/English guided self-drive tour to these locations?

There were organized trips and individual excursions, but they did not offer exactly what Maik and Marco were looking for. They did not want a program where participants were merely transported and got off a bus at fixed times. Driving through Tunisia themselves was precisely an important part of the experience.

The changing landscapes, the long roads through open terrain, and arriving together at a film location are all part of the story. The journey to a place is sometimes almost as important as the place itself.

In addition, they did not want to simply tick off the most famous locations. The route had to be logically structured and provide space for the history, nature, and culture of Tunisia. Lesser-known film locations and the stories behind the filming also deserved attention.

Slowly, an enthusiastic idea turned into a serious plan.

The origins of Binary Sunset Tours

Binary Sunset Tours was founded from that combination of friendship, film history, and love of travel. The name refers to one of the most famous and emotional images from Star Wars: Luke Skywalker looking at the two setting suns at his home.

It is a scene about longing and the desire to leave the familiar world behind. As such, the name fits well with the journey that Maik and Marco wanted to take and offer.

Developing a personal trip naturally turned out to be more work than just mapping out a beautiful route. Hotels had to be visited and contacted, rental cars arranged, and distances checked. Arrangements had to be made regarding meals, rooms, luggage, insurance, and payments. Safety, local regulations, and practical guidance along the way also required a great deal of attention.

Every day of the trip had to be feasible. A location might seem close on a map, but be difficult to reach in practice. A film site can be impressive, but only if there is also sufficient time to tell its story. And a good hotel is only truly suitable if it fits within the group's itinerary.

Thus, step by step, it came into being Tatooine Trails: a twelve-day self-drive trip through Tunisia.

Drive yourselves, but travel together

The trip is intended for a small group of approximately fifteen participants. They will drive through Tunisia in multiple SUVs, with Maik and Marco as Dutch- and English-speaking guides. The premise is simple: participants drive themselves, but they are not left to fend for themselves along the way.

The route passes Tunis, Sidi Bou Saïd, Carthage, Kairouan, Tozeur, Matmata, Ksar Ghilane, Tataouine, Djerba, Sbeitla and Dougga. Along the way, iconic filming locations will be visited, including Mos Espa, Lars Homestead and several places featured in the original Star Wars films such as Tatooine.

But the trip is not solely about taking recognition photos.

Anyone who views Tunisia solely as a film set is doing the country a disservice. That is why attention is also paid to the people, the history, the food, the architecture, and the landscapes. The group stays overnight in unique locations and drives through areas that often remain off-screen during a typical beach holiday.

It is a trip for Star Wars enthusiasts, but participants do not need to have encyclopedic knowledge of the films. Curiosity, a sense of adventure, and a willingness to set out together are more important.

Forty years later

If Maik and Marco had heard at school in 1985 that they would one day organize a trip together to the real locations of Tatooine, they probably wouldn't have believed it.

Yet that is exactly what happened.

What began as a friendship between two fifteen-year-old high school students grew into a shared adventure. The shared passion for Star Wars turned out not to be a fleeting youthful love, but a common thread that became visible again decades later.

Binary Sunset Tours was therefore not conceived during a business brainstorming session about an interesting market. It originated from a trip Maik and Marco wanted to take themselves and an experience they would like to share with others.

The first twelve-day trip departs in April 2027. Then, Maik and Marco will not only drive through Tunisia, but will also take a group of travelers to the places where so much comes together for them.

To the desert, the medinas, and the old villages. To the real world behind the films. To the place where a friendship from 1985, many years later, gets an unexpected new chapter.

Not in a galaxy far, far away.

Just in Tunisia.