With a lifetime goal of visiting and exploring every single country in the world, you realize fast enough that 2 holidays per year is not going to cut it. As we have spent our most recent years working hard and raising our 2 little boys, the idea of planning a longer trip came up quite regularly. We have traveled in Oceania & Asia before when the boys were very little, and really enjoyed the freedom of that.
Next up: The Americas
While our first reflex was to look towards Asia for a longer term trip, there were 2 reasons that deflected us towards the Americas:
- Budget: The Americas (especially North America) are an expensive destination, which would mean it would get more expensive as our boys grow older. Better to tick that box before we can not afford it anymore!
- Covid-19: When solidifying our plans, Covid-19 hit China, and with this new info we became hesitant to travel to Asia. Of course 1,5 years later the pandemic has hit other areas of the world, including the Americas, much harder. But we have had our hearts set on the Americas now, so we will have to hold off on Asia for a later stage in life :-).
If anything, the pandemic has taught everybody to be more flexible, manage your expectations and be grateful for everything you have in life. So changing our plans again and again has become a 2nd nature by now.
The itinerary
First idea was to take the Pan-American highway from Alaska to Patagonia. Very cool plan, but execution turned out to be much more difficult in practice, specifically the Darien Gap throws the plans for a spin. So we have decided to split the trip in 3 legs:
Leg 1: North America
Starting off in the North American summer, we decided to buy our own RV in the US. With the help of several great locals we managed to secure the perfect RV for our family. We will travel up through Canada to Alaska, and then back down all the way to Nicaragua. Coming back up to the US we will park the RV there, and head out to the next leg of our trip.
Leg 2: South America
Having lived in Ecuador, we have visited some of the countries of South America already, so the plan is to start off in Chili and drive down to the most Southern tip of the continent. Then back up north (Covid-19 providing) to discover what Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia have to offer.
Leg 3: Back to North America
With so much to see and do up north, and us having our own RV, we will fly back up to the North again and will cover as much ground as we are still up for by the time we get there. All depends on our appetite to travel still, our budget, and what ground there still is to cover.
UPDATE July 2021: As the borders are still closed between the US and Canada, we are detouring and leaving Canada and Alaska for next summer… Focus is now on the US and Central America… fingers crossed everything goes to plan!
Tips and hospitality are always welcome!
As we travel, we will regularly post updates on our trip on this website, and create destination pages with more info and tips for you to browse through. But the best info comes of course from those who have been, or even better – who live there! We would love to hear from you / meet you along the way… Do reach out to us and give us your insider tips!