Key Takeaways
- I hate driving. It’s not that I’m bad at it. It’s just that I do it so infrequently that it makes me nervous these days (I only really drive when I’m
- For that reason, so I’m always fascinated by people who travel by car.
- Back in the early days of this blog, I met a group of guys driving a trip around the world. They had crazy stories. A few months ago, I announced we w
I hate driving. It’s not that I’m bad at it. It’s just that I do it so infrequently that it makes me nervous these days (I only really drive when I’m on a road trip).
For that reason, I’m always fascinated by people who travel by car.
Back in the early days of this blog, I met a group of guys driving a trip around the world. They had crazy stories. A few months ago, we announced we’d begin featuring more reader stories to highlight your extraordinary adventures.
In our first reader spotlight, we’re talking to Ryan, who’s driving from Seattle down to Argentina with his girlfriend! (Which, let’s be honest, sounds like an amazing adventure!)
Route for Less: Tell everyone here about yourself!
Ryan: I’m 33 years old and originally from Seattle, Washington, but after college I spent five years working in Washington, DC in the halls of Congress.
When my boss decided to retire in 2012 instead of run for re-election, I opted to take a yearlong sabbatical to road-trip across the American West and to hike and climb as much as I could. When the year came to an end, though, I wasn’t ready to give up the nomadic lifestyle, so I just kept going.
So how did you get into travel?
My first overseas travel experiences were thanks to studying abroad in college, with lengthy stays in Florence, Italy, and Sana’a, Yemen. Both trips instilled in me a sense of wanderlust that stuck with me through my years of working a desk job, and I believe they played a significant role in eventually getting me out there on the road.
Where has this amazing trip taken you so far?
Following my yearlong road trip through the American West, I headed down to Colombia with a buddy and we set out to explore the country. We only made it as far as Medellín, where I settled down. I felt a need to slow down after living out of my truck and then a backpack for about 15 months — and then meeting a great local girl.
My girlfriend and I drove my truck from Seattle to Medellín, traveling overland through every country in Central America and having an amazing time.
We had to ship the truck from Panama to Colombia since there are no roads through the Darién Gap (the missing link in the Pan-American Highway).
We stopped in Medellín for a bit again to regroup, but we are now getting ready to head out on part two of the road trip: driving all the way to the southern tip of Patagonia, which is a place I have long dreamed about visiting.
We will mostly be traveling along the Andean spine on this journey, and I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the mountain scenery.
What made you decide to go on this trip?
My solo road trip across the American West was an absolutely transformative experience, and the seed of driving to Patagonia got planted in my mind and took root over a few years. I began to think, why just drive across America when you can drive across all of the Americas?
I also like exploring new cultures and foods and immersing myself in different languages whenever I travel overseas. I long to get a little farther afield, to get off the well-worn tourist track, and that can be quite difficult.
I’ve traveled the backpacker circuit and schlepped my bag around colorful little towns and hopped on and off public buses — but when you’ve got your own wheels, a whole new world of travel opens up and allows you to get away from the crowds and immerse yourself in local life.
What’s been the biggest lesson so far?
Just how doable this sort of trip is!
When you take in the whole scope of driving across Central America — traveling into “dangerous” Mexico, dealing with corrupt cops or protests and blockades, and contemplating the logistical hassles of crossing eight or nine international borders with your vehicle and then loading it into a shipping container to South America — it can all just be overwhelming. It seems almost impossible.
But when you break it down into a day-to-day journey, it was all quite easy. One thing flowed from another, nothing was as hard as we imagined it would be, and we came out more confident and capable with every little bump in the road.
What’s your number one piece of advice for a trip like this?
I’d say one of the best parts about travel is overcoming challenges and embracing the unknown, so just let go of the idea of waiting for things to be perfect!
In the overland travel community, I’ve seen countless people who plan for years and years, investing more and more money into their vehicles and accessories, and spending more time and money on the “getting ready” stage than they do on the actual travel and adventures. It’s as if the planning becomes the substitute for actually doing.
But as for more concrete advice for a new traveler, I’d highly, highly recommend learning as much of the target language you can before leaving.
The first time I came to Colombia, I had the basics of Spanish: ordering food, getting around in a taxi, other formalities. But my travels have become so much more rewarding as my language skills improved and I could really communicate with the people I was meeting on a daily basis.
