Join us as we drive through South America with our two dogs.
Uruguay, the starting point for our drive through South America – with our 2 dogs and our own car.
Have you ever thought about leaving everything behind?
Flying off to a foreign country.
Possibly bringing your 2 dogs.
Possibly shipping your own vehicle.
Starting with no set plans beyond the first few weeks.
Just driving, seeing, and experiencing as much as possible.
Well, we did it!
Join the two of us as we travel and live in South America: Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
Our adventure began in November of 2012. We packed our car with everything we thought we might need for one year in South America. We spent months rewriting the list of “Things to Bring,” but the true test came when we had to actually fit it into our car.
Next, we added our two dogs.
Apex “Is it time to go?”
Apex and Sedona: brother and sister, 7 years old, and a Cocker Spaniel/Cavalier mix. Their stuff alone took up a chunk of space.
Sedona “Are we there yet?”
We had never done a trip like this. I read books, posts, and blogs to learn what I could, but no one was doing a trip quite like what we planned. Just choosing the right vehicle was a major undertaking. Each option gave us a slightly different scenario. Do we get something we can sleep in? How big of a vehicle would we need to feel comfortable for that length of time…especially with dogs, too? How much money were we looking to spend? Do we want to camp the whole way or will we be staying in lodging?
We bought a second laptop. Our old one was missing a few keys (thanks to Apex), but it was great to not have to share. More importantly, we needed to have a back-up in case something happened to the other (it did!). This was our only connection to the rest of the world.
We chose 3 credit cards. Within a few months, we learned enough to change our choices.
We researched options for shipping a car.
We drew up a budget… that we totally threw out in our first country, Uruguay.
Most days, I tried to write something in my journal/diary. Some entries seemed a bit boring at the time, but I realized there were nuggets of information that could help other travelers. The following blogs are entries from my diary. Plus, I included additional useful or fun information.
Just saw this on Facebook:
http://worldobserveronline.com/2014/01/13/top-37-things-youll-regret-youre-old/
Next post: flying with dogs
Along with the “37 things…”, (being the “med-head”-medical type that we are) is also “The top 5 regrets of the dying”:
1. I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not what others expected of me.
2. ” ” ” hadn’t worked so hard (taken more time to live).
3. ” ” ” had the courage to express my feelings.
4. ” ” ” had stayed in touch with good friends/had “lifetime friends”.
5. ” ” ” had let myself be happier.
So glad you kids are following your own path!
Brad and Carol
My mantra has always been… I don’t want to get to the end of my life and regret saying “no” too many times.
looking forward to reading about your adventure Molly . Takes courage . TB
Thanks TB. What took the most courage was making the decision to go.