ATTENTION: unfortunately our site was hacked recently. Our apologies for the inconvenience this might have caused (it wasn't our doing, only extra work for us). I had a difficult time removing all malware, which was deeply embedded in some of our scripts — the site should be clean again! But not all things are functioning as planned: we lost our guestbook, I had to re-install the latest version of the photo gallery software, which isn't yet completely adjusted to fit our layout, so you get a horizontal scroll bar — I'm working to fix this, too :D
25th of March 2012

Traveling is hard. Anyone who says different isn't a traveler; they're a tourist. A traveler's life and their trip are one in the same, living life while traveling rather than taking a vacation from life. quoted from Black Sheep 02/09

3 years + 2 months through the Americas

A road trip from the Arctic Circle to "fin del mundo" in South America

This web site contains all reports of our trip, which started in early March 2006 and ended in early August 2009. "Hang-on a moment", you're gonna say, "something's wrong here! That's more than 3 years and 2 months..." You're right, the entire trip was a little longer, but more about that in due course.
In any case: the trip really started a lot earlier. If you're away for such a long time you cannot simply book a flight, pack your suitcase a day before leaving, and remember to empty the fridge and turn off the gas on the day you depart... There's a lot more involved, so from the conception of the idea to the day we left it took us almost 10 months of hard work and planning.
 
Q.: Was it worth it?
A.: What do you think? OF COURSE! We'll be doing something similar again - one day!
 
Q.: So how to summarise a trip this long on one page?
A.: We can't! But we will publish a list of some of our personal highlights and impressions, which together form the framework of the jigsaw: a jigsaw which, if you like, you can find the pieces to complete in our reports - enjoy!

Our personal Travel Highlights:

• the National Parks of Utah/USA - all of them different.
• the Dempster Highway in Yukon/Canada - magical colours of the tundra in autumn and excellent wildlife viewing.
• New York City - it might be in stark contrast to exploring quiet nature, but our time in the "Big Apple" was surprisingly rewarding.
• the Everglades/Florida - a wildlife experience made so much more enjoyable by the enthusiastic park rangers.
• the ruins of Tikal/Guatemala - many of the Mayan ruin sites impressed us, but Tikal in its jungle setting is just magical.
• the beaches of Costa Rica - Pura Vida wild camping by the ocean, often with no-one else around.
• our trip to the Galapagos/Ecuador - you can hardly put a foot down without almost stepping on some form of wildlife.
• the scenery of the Andes - from Colombia to Southern Chile we never tired of the amazing vistas.
• the Museo Nacional Tumbas Reales de Sipán in Lambayeque/Peru - we visited countless museums and exhibitions along the way, but this one wins the prize from us.
• standing on top of the Iguazú Falls - we were wet from sweat, wet from the falls' mist, and wet from tears because we were so overwhelmed.
• waking up next to the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina - one of the very few mornings I missed my breakfast because this huge glacier in the first rays of the rising sun demanded all of my attention.

...of course there were countless other highlights, and some of the most outstanding related to people we met:

• many of the undeterred retirees from the US and Canada, who treat Mexico as their second home. These people are very different from, and more open than, their fellow citizens at home...
• the local people in Colombia! Their friendliness, openess, willingness to help, and their pride in their often troubled country, really left a lasting mark on us both.
• the Chilenos come a close second for their friendliness and openess, followed by the people in Brazil, where we had so many problems understanding anybody because we don't speak Portugese.
• and the many fellow travellers we met along the way, who inspired us with their stories, shared tips and helped us in truly unexpected ways. Some lasting friendships have developed from these chance meetings.
• and there were numerous people in other places who also made a lasting impression on us...

Places we would really like to re-visit include (in order of our journey):

• Alaska - in a better summer than the year we went.
• Mexico - although we spent 5 months there is so much more to explore.
• Belize - the perfect destination for a short trip: a chance to explore Maya ruins across the border in Guatemala and Belize's amazing reef off the keys.
• Costa Rica - in a rental 4x4; shocking road conditions kept us out of several National Parks worth visiting.
• Colombia - our engine break-down prevented us from visiting much, yet we made many good friends.
• Brazil - we have barely scraped the southern edge of this huge country; next time we'd come with some knowledge of Portugese.
• Chile - because we made several friends, and Santiago is an easy stop-over from Australia.
• Germany, where Juergen was born and we have a lot of friends.
• and Turkey (the last 2 countries we stopped over in on our way home): Juergen has been in Turkey several times before and always enjoyed it, for Yasha it was love at first sight.

Juergen doesn't want to re-visit Argentina for various reasons: the people are often so inconsiderate that one can't find any undisturbed sleep, officials seem to not care about tourism (or even actively deter tourism with high prices), and he thinks he's done with the country because he has seen most places really worth seeing...
 
We will keep this website up in the foreseeable future, as it may serve as a resource for people on the road now, or planning to do the trip in the future. Some of our information pages get constant traffic and are linked on some reputable sites.

• our camping list for Central America
• our shipping information Panama to Colombia
• our camping list for South America

Last, but not least, we hope that our reports might inspire someone or other to break out of their mould and go and do it. Once you're on the road we are sure you will enjoy it!! Let us tell you one thing: during the entire journey we did not once feel really threatened or in acute danger. There might have been the odd occasion when we felt it might be better to move on, and the trip ended with an unpleasant experience in Buenos Aires, but that's the extent of it (o.k., we had one defect umbrella stolen in Honduras). If you use some common sense and trust your intuition, we can guarantee that the biggest hurdles you might face will probably be technical issues, not problems with people (as long as you ignore the odd corrupt policeman or border official - LOL).
Who knows: maybe one day we will meet somewhere on one of the great roads or small tracks covering this planet... Or bump into you here in Australia.
 
Until then: take all possible care, but don't worry all the time! Latest up-date: we can't get rid of the travel bug and are working to be back on the road by late 2012 or early 2013; currently we are looking in Germany for a new vehicle…
 
Yasha & Juergen [January 2010]
 
ps: the photo link on top presents selected photos of our entire trip.

Back to Top!  Design, text and photos © 2006-12 "Yasha" Sharon Langford & Juergen Klein Do not copy or quote parts of this website without our written permission! All reports reflect our personal experience and shouldn't be used as a definite guide without further research. E.g.: "We couldn't find any..." means just that - it does not imply that there aren't any!