The Birth of the Journey
(by paula)
I’m not exactly sure when we figured on the route for this trip. The notion, the idea, the birth of this journey has been in our hearts and minds since the first day we met. But the where and the how of it was amorphous. It became like most things in our relationship - an evolution of sorts. John had been reading Overland magazine for a few years, ever since we went on safari in Tanzania. There, he discovered a desire to drive some place. On our own, figuring it out as we went along. John kept saying over and over, "we could do this ourselves". And I thought, yeah, except for the AK 47 our camp crew is packing at night, and knowing where not to disturb lions and elephants, and the network of other guides our guide James could call for help…which in our case meant more Chardonay in the Serengeti.
So we would drive. But where? Africa, Asia, Europe? We talked about wanting to be in a new culture, to keep costs down, and it had to be warm. So the more we researched buying a vehicle, modifying it, and loading it for a year+ trip, the more we realized we needed to prep the rig at home.
And the only place to drive from San Francisco and stay warm was South. All the way South to Argentina. And probably Antarctica…which isn't warm but I'll make an exception for all those penguins.