Where did you guys get the idea for this trip and
how long did it take to plan it?
[Ernesto] I think the seed got planted in my head
about 8 years ago when a cousin mentioned he wanted
to travel around South America by bicycle. I thought, it
would be amazing to join him it but it wasn't something
I could do at the time. I had just graduated from college,
had student loans to pay and had just gotten a job. Nev-
ertheless, the idea was planted in my head and I often
thought about it.
In 2008, one day while talking to my co-worker friend
Leti, from Chile, I loosely mentioned that I'd like to tour
the Americas but that I didn't really have a plan for it yet.
Her reply was the trigger that got me to seriously start
planning our trip. Leti and her family (mom, dad and
two siblings) had travelled the PanAm Highway from
Seattle to Chile in the 80's in Volkswagen beetle when
she was a kid – WHAT?!!! I had a hard time believing it
at first but as she was telling me her recollections of the
trip I realized that that was exactly what I wanted to do.
It took me over two years of talking my friend's and fam-
ily ears off about this dream road trip. It also took some
time to convince Taisa to get on board. It took another 3
years of actual saving and outfitting our truck. The last
3 years of planning were really amazing though. That's
really when the trip started. We were very lucky to meet
new friends and overlanders who gave us tons of helpful
advice and fueled our excitement while we were plan-
ning our trip.
[Taisa] It was Ernesto's dream for a long time. The
looong road trip part wasn't initially my thing, but after
some time, I realized that it would allow us a lot more
flexibility and freedom to explore the remote and the
beautiful spots. I was also excited about improving my
Spanish and immersing myself in the warm Latino cul-
tures again. As Ernesto mentioned, we talked about the
trip for a long time (ask our patient family and friends
:) and took about three years to pay off debt, to buy the
car, gear and to save.