Angela, Arturo, and Matheus
Names and ages
Angela Gomes, 26 years old
Arturo Valenzuela, 24 years old
Matheus Mello, 25 years old
Hometowns
A. Gomes: Lisboa, Portugal
A. Valenzuela: Lima, Peru
M. Mello: Goiania, Brazil
Reason for taking this trip
A. Gomes: It has been a long date dream to travel around the world, I have had the experience to travel around Europe and so I flew to the Sstates to discover the USA. During my stay in San Diego I met Arturo and Matheus and got really excited about their trip throughout the Americas – at the time they had invited me to join them, and one month later I flew to Mexico City to unite with them on this beautiful journey.
A. Valenzuela: To expand my mind to other ways of living, to see the world through other people’s eyes, and to grow as a person. I think this trip will change our way of being.
M. Mello: I have always wanted to travel and meet different cultures, since young child I enjoyed to be the peacemaker on my group – during child’s play I was usually the one setting the terms of the play and had joy seeing everyone getting along, that’s also one of the main reasons why I decided to take International Relations as my major in university. When I did my first exchange program back in 2007, I meet a guy from my city in Brazil whom was always been travelling (at the time he had finished his second world tour) and he had inspired me to keep on the road. So at the time I thought about how little I knew about Latin America (our backyard) and how exciting would be to discover the culture, language and habits of my fellow Americans (as the American continent).
Why did you decide to drive?
A. Gomes: I wanted to keep traveling once we all met in San Diego, and after the invitation I did not hesitate in taking part on this adventure, it sounded to me great to accomplish my dream of seeing the world (at least a 1/3 of it aboard Sexy Panchita with two hotties), I believe there is no better way to seize your trip than on the road.
A. Valenzuela: The reason I chose to drive is because, that way, your get a closer look at people and their way of life. The road makes you stop and see places that you wouldn’t when you take a plane or a bus or a train. It grants you a freedom you wouldn’t have otherwise.
M. Mello: There is to me no better way to be with people than on the road, I believe this is the best way to take part on the daily lives of people we meet on the way, an amazing time to know cultures, habits, learn languages… Feel how is to live your life on that part of the world. There is no greater sensation of liberty than being on the road, it does not matter if you hitchhike or drive! BE ON THE ROAD!
Are you also taking along pets?
All: Even though we fell in love with a Chihuahua somewhere in Mexico, we heard it would be very bureaucratic to cross the animal through the border…. Maybe even quarantines! So no animals, but us.
Are you also taking along children?
All: We are all children of the Earth.
What type of car are you driving?
Volkswagen Transporter (T25) 1.6 TurboDiesel Westfalia
Did you make any modifications to your car for this trip?
A full inspection, refurbishing and tune up was done before starting the drive.
How did you save up or finance your trip?
A. Gomes: Worked as a Salesperson over 8 months in Portugal and saved most of it!
A. Valenzuela: Worked hard as autobroker in Florida for over a year, saved and cut expenses. - go back to live with mom.
M. Mello: Worked in Florida as a server, bartender, barback and busser then went to Canada to work on a private yacht (on a trip from Vancouver to Alaska) and managed a marina in Vancouver; all that over a year – saved as much as I could for this trip!
How long do you plan on traveling?
All: About 6 months (but we think it is going to take longer, maybe double)
Where do you plan on driving?
All: The route starts in Vancouver, Canada and runs along the Pacific coast of North, Central, and South America, then up the Atlantic side of South America.
What were your family’s and friends’ reactions when you told them about your trip before you left?
A. Gomes: As I’ve been travelling for a while already my family’s reactions were in a sense of support and joy because they know I am achieving a dream that I have since a little child.
A. Valenzuela: Mixed reactions were received from family and friends; some were worried, some were excited, some were confused on the likelihood of finishing the trip.
But now, 4 months into the trip, they are all happy I’m accomplishing such a great adventure, and showing a lot of support.
M. Mello: I’ve been planning this trip over three years (when I did my exchange program back in 2007). I’ve been telling my friends and trying to get my crew together since them, they always tended to be thrilled with the idea, but thought it was nothing but an idea, commonly they would say that I was full of crazy ideas, they did not expect me to take this further. My family on the other hand I knew that I could not tell them until I had everything arranged, otherwise they would try to spoil my plans (as south American family, my family is very traditional and tend to overprotect the children and keep them under their wings), therefore I told them a few months before departure and as expected they were very worried and demanded me frequent calls, emails and etc.
Did you speak Spanish before you left your home country? How much Spanish? Are you taking more Spanish lessons as you travel? If so, where and for how long?
A. Gomes: Yes I’ve spoken Spanish before, I would say I am intermediate in my Spanish proficiency which I’ve learned during trips to Spain.
A. Valenzuela: Yes, fluently.
M. Mello: I’ve learned some Spanish from my Argentineans “hermanos”, which every year invade the beaches in South Brazil; as well I lived for almost 6 months in Cordoba, Argentina when I was 18 years old. When I started the trip my Spanish was very poor (I could understand a lot, but not speak and express myself) due the years that passed by without practicing, but with Arturo’s help and the Mexicans that I meet little by little my Spanish is getting better.
Do you have a favorite place or country that you have visited during your trip?
All: Mexico… thus far.
What was the weirdest thing you experienced on your trip?
A. Gomes: The control of people that we see in Mexico through the quantity of cops and military personal that you see on the streets and roads showing their heavy armory, even though you hear how “dangerous” Mexico is – which for us was not true.
A. Valenzuela: I was surprised to meet people from different trades of life, all doing the same or similar trip as us.
M. Mello: The Mexican currency, once we entered Mexico I went to the bank and checked my balance and I was shocked as I had some many digits in my bank account, and it was not only weird, but confusing to be expending large amounts of money at the same time that it was 10x less expensive in reality.
What was the worst border crossing?
A. Gomes and M. Mello: El Salvador (just because of the time we had to spend there – it took too long compared to other borders)
A. Valenzuela: Canada-US border. We got called the side to the secondary inspection point and had to wait in a room full of cops while they inspected our van. It was scary and nerve-racking.
Do you have any advice for others who may be considering driving the Americas?
A. Gomes: I must say to you, just DO IT!!! GO! Don’t buy the media bullshit – Most of the time I felt just as safe during the trip as I was in Europe.
A. Valenzuela: Do it.
M. Mello: Prepare yourself, research, set goals, talk to people that did it already, join communities such as couchsurfing.org, facebook.com etc. Your chances of success are totally linked to how prepared are you to do this trip, learn Spanish, make friends in foreign countries, get to know basic mechanics (in Spanish the name of tools and car parts too). Emanate good vibes and you’ll inevitably attract good people and good vibes to you too.
Would you do it again?
A. Gomes: Yes, I would do it again. I plan on doing the reverse route after this.
A. Valenzuela: I'd love to do the drive back, visit all the places that I did not see and re-visit the places that I liked.
M. Mello: Over and over again.
Do you have a blog or a website describing your trip? If so, what is its address?
