Gregor and I were super excited to enter Argentina. We were 19 months into our Pan-American journey and we still hadn’t set Lucky’s wheels on Argentine soil. There was a good reason to wait: we needed Lucky to be in tip-top shape before entering the country. Frankly, Argentina is not the place for your vintage camper van to have a breakdown. Reputable VW mechanics are scarce and foreign car parts are inaccessible due to the country’s unfavourable import policies. (more…)
Entering Chile was like entering the first world again. Gregor and I had just finished driving Bolivia’s Lagunas Route, where the roads were pure dirt and we had little contact with civilization for four days. Once we crossed into Chile, we found ourselves on a pristine highway with speed limit signs, tidy shoulders, SOS stations, and runaway lanes – all indicators of a safety-conscious society. At the Chilean Customs office, the uniformed officials took away our Bolivian fruits and vegetables – the protocol of a highly regulated agriculture industry. And when we were charged $30 CAD to “camp” in a hostel parking lot, well, there was no denying that we had entered a country of means. (more…)