Jessica, Jared, and Kobus

Names and ages
Jessica, 29 Jared, 30 Kobus, 34

Hometown
Seattle, Washington

When did you start your travels?
We left Seattle October 6, 2011.

Reason for taking this trip
All three of us love to travel and have done similar, shorter trips in the past. About two years ago we started talking about a longer trip, at least a year. After a few months of kicking around ideas, and discovering this website, we settled on a road trip from Seattle to Ushuaia.

Why did you decide to drive?
We like the added flexibility. Not having to carrying around heavy backpacks and being constrained by bus schedules and routes lets us see a lot more of the countries we visit. Plus the cost savings of camping versus staying in hotels/hostels every night is a bonus and helps offset maintenance and gas.

What type of car are you driving?
A 1997 Toyota 4Runner named Blue.

Did you make any modifications to your car for this trip?
Yep! We spent a couple months working on Blue while wrapping up affairs in the U.S. We added a dual battery system, power inverter, fridge, lockbox for our laptops and built a shelf to improve storage in the back. More info about what we did can be found here: http://www.liferemotely.com/trip-shenanigans/vehicle-information

How did you save up or finance your trip?
We worked a lot. It took about a year and a half to save up enough. We’re also working on the road to help offset some (hopefully all) of the costs. Jessica is a graphic designer, Kobus is a web developer and Jared is a software engineer.

How long do you plan on traveling?
At least 15 months. Maybe longer, it depends on how much money we make while we travel and what we feel like doing once we’ve seen enough of South America.

Where do you plan on driving?
So far we’ve spent a month in the U.S., mostly in the southwest. We crossed the border at Tijuana and are driving down the Baja peninsula. From there we’ll cross by ferry to mainland Mexico and drive through Central America. We’ll ship our car from Colon, Panama to Cartegena, Colombia and drive down the west coast of South America to Patagonia and eventually Ushuaia, Argentina.

A rough map and itinerary can be found here: http://www.liferemotely.com/itinerary-and-route

What were your family’s and friends’ reactions when you told them about your trip before you left?
We’ve done this sort of thing before, so there wasn’t a lot of shock. They were surprised at how long we planned to be on the road this time, and that we will be able to keep working part-time while we travel.

Telling strangers is much funnier – when we say we’re driving from Seattle to Argentina we get a huge range of responses. It takes about ten seconds to sink in and then they either call us crazy or ask a dozen questions.

Did you speak Spanish before you left your home country?
None of us speak much Spanish. We are practicing as we drive and while we sit around the campsite at night. The basics are coming quickly. We’ll be spending two months in Guatemala near Antigua volunteering, taking lessons and living with a local family. That should help a lot with conversational speaking.

Do you have a favorite place or country that you have visited during your trip?
It’s waaaaay too early to tell. The weather was mixed during our drive through the U.S. and in Baja, a lot of cold nights and rain, not so great for tent camping. We had our first taste of sunny white sandy beaches this morning so things are looking up.

What was the weirdest thing you experienced on your trip?
It’s too early to tell, but we have had plenty of strange conversations with people we’ve met on the road. A night in a bar with a genuine retired rocket scientist probably tops the list.

What was the worst border crossing?
The only one we’ve done so far was Mexico, at Tijuana. That went remarkably well so it’s safe to say the worst is yet to come.

Do you have any advice for others who may be considering driving the Americas?
Do it. If you are worried about anything, do some research online. This site and others will convince you it’s both possible and absolutely worth doing.

Would you do it again?
This specific trip? Not a chance. There are lots of other places we haven’t been yet!

Do you have a blog or a website describing your trip? If so, what is its address?
Yep – http://www.liferemotely.com