Blog # 1 (04 Feb 2017)
How i got started?
Gauchito Gil, an Argentinian "Robin Hood" who is the (informal) saint of gauchos and truck drivers
Travelling around the world was my dream when I was young. The original plan had been to make this journey as a backpacker after university. Getting a job immediately after finishing my studies this idea somehow got forgotten until I met in 2012 a Swiss travelling by car through Northern India. In 2013 I started preparing for the travel by choosing the car and beginning to read travel literature of people who had already done this endeavour. The only remaining decision was when to stop working which I timed for summer 2016.
August/September 2016 were busy with fine-tuning the car and selecting and buying the necessary equipment. Some hard choices had to be made in particularly what sports equipment to take with me and what to leave at home. The final weeks before departure were actually the most difficult ones: From many sides I was confronted with “what if…”, “be careful of…”, “consider the risk of….”, “how will you do…”. During the last days before departure this generated a feeling of uneasiness regarding will I be able to cope with all the problems and challenges?
Looking back at the first seven weeks of travel most problems turned out to be much smaller than expected (although Argentina, Chile and Uruguay admittedly are countries easier to travel then upcoming ones). Police and customs administration were extremely cooperative. Security was no issue so far. Logistics (money, fuel, food, water) and finding a place to stay/sleep turned out to be quite easy. Of great practical help is the link / mob phone App called ioverlander.com where the travel community constantly uploads all relevant information (e.g. where to camp, which ATM machine is working, where is a fast Wifi).
So far it looks like that even a world tour in fact is only a sequence of many small steps. Instead of preparing and planning too far ahead it is better to apply an approach based on: “Let’s cross the bridge when we reach it”.