OurBiggerPicture

First we drove to the end of the world, then we sailed off the edge of it. We can now say, unequivocally, we have gone as far south as possible. There are so many superlatives that could describe Antarctica but “otherworldly” seems to be the only one I can come up with. If the Uyuni Salt Flats and the Lagunas Route in Bolivia were the Moon and Mars, Antarctica is a frozen, icy, white star. Throughout much of our time on the world’s most southern continent, John and I kept sa

I started this blog post writing about penguins. And eventually it will be about penguins. I have gone back and forth on writing about this here. But this week I woke to news so disheartening, so...disturbing, I have to deal with the emotions that are clouding my days now as we sit in one of the most remote places on earth. I woke to the news of the election, and as if I were a watching some “end of the world” movie - the evil villain had actually won. I don't recognize the c

We left the Iguazu Falls and headed straight south. We planned to stay in the northeast province of Corrientes for a little while longer to visit the Iberá Provincial Reserve—a 3.2 million-acre protected wetland area within the vast Esteros del Iberá. Iberá is one of the most important fresh water wetlands on the continent and the second-largest wetland in the world after the Pantanal in Brazil. These wetlands are difficult to get to - access is either by private plane (the p

Touching down at Schipol Airport, I mentally prepared myself for a whole new existence out of the camper. I was looking forward to living in a house, seeing the familiar faces of my family and the comforts of “home”. What struck me right away was the order of things. It looks so clean and nice. Everything seems to work here, and the order not only creates a more quiet place in my mind, but it also feels quiet. And peaceful after the chaos of the Peruvian roads. The order of

We found ourselves in a Colombian Convoy for twelve days. We traveled from Salento all the way down to the Ecuadorian border with Jesse and Jessica from Toronto, Canada, and Melanie and Lukas from Zurich, Switzerland. Both couples are in their late 20s/early 30s. Our “Convoy” traveled over 750 miles from the coffee region south - up and down multiple mountains chains, into the wide open spaces of the Tatacoa Desert, over to the Archeological tombs of Tierraadrento, down to th

Gratitude. My attitude about gratitude is different now. It’s for different things and in different degrees of magnitude. I used to think I was grateful before, but I seem to reflect on it more now. Or maybe I just feel it more intrinsically. Not just for the amazing opportunity we have to not work for a while, but our life on the road this past year gave us simple pleasures that brought me joy. On many an evening we swam in oceans and rivers and lakes until dark. We practice

Costa Rica is said to be a great country for adrenaline junkies. We’ve had a few adrenaline rushes since we got to Costa Rica, and not all of them have been pleasant. The first one was during our border crossing from Nicaragua into Costa Rica. A few days before we crossed, we read about a guy who had overstayed his vehicle permit in Peru by one day - and the border officials impounded his motorcycle. He was in a mess trying to get it back; red tape, fines, lawyers, etc. I sa

We hung around in León for a few days to partake in the most unnatural of pursuits. Cerro Negro (Black Hill) is an active volcano about 45 minutes outside of the city. It is a relatively new one at only 161 years old. Because the cone is primarily made up of small grains of volcanic rock, it’s possible to ride or surf down the steep slope on a wooden sled. Supposedly this is the only place in the world where you can do this - go volcano boarding. I figured hey, we’re here so

First, the border crossing: Clearing out of Belize was pretty simple. We cancelled the vehicle permit, cleared customs, got our passports stamped and bought some Quetzals at an only somewhat ripped off price. Then we passed into no man's land between the two countries. We were required to drive through some sort of fumigation station (it looked like a drive thru car wash but it sprayed noxious poison up underneath & all around poor LoJo). Next we parked the rig behind a bunch

The forecast for the next few days calls for rain, thunderstorms, and high winds. The harbor just north of here is closed through the weekend...and this is a problem. In my continuing quest to see as much wildlife between here and Argentina as possible, we planned to spend a couple extra days in the Cancun area to see the whale sharks. We tried to see them in La Paz, Baja (bad weather) and Placencia, Belize (too early). John and I have been in Mexico for 7 months and we are r