Around the world since june 2000

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hola amigos!

We are Anna and Pablo, from Spain and Argentina, driving around the world since June 2000.

Yes, we had a normal life before... but it was not the life we wanted to live. So one day we decided to start doing what we wanted to do (not what we were suposed to do...).
Before leaving we received lots of love and courage from family and friends, but lots of warnings too about how dangerous is the world and in how many ways we could die or simply disappear... But we decided to take the risk and start living our dream... traveling around the world in 4 years!!

Yes, we planned the trip for 4 years (one per each continent: Africa, South America, North America and Eurasia). But it is almost 11 years we are now on the road... So this is not a trip anymore... this is our way of life!

We have lots of stories and travelling tips in our page www.viajeros4x4x4.com (http://www.viajeros4x4x4.com). It's in spanish... so if you are not familiar with that language, you can try the funny google translator... it will give you a clue about what we are writing about...

We want to thank all the people from Overland Journal and Expedition Portal for their help and support (new tires, caliper, brake hose, beer, good talks... and shower).

We will be glad to share some pics and stories with you all in our stay in the U.S.!! Here you have some pictures from some of the stages of the trip. Enjoy them!

See you soon... somewhere... on the road!!:smiley_drive:



http://viajeros4x4x4.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/expo-final141.jpg

[trailsurfer]

Thanks for posting. We all look forward to your updates as you continue your travels.

[viajeros4x4x4]

http://viajeros4x4x4.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/mapa-viaje-en-ingles-made-in-sonoma.jpg

Hey guys!, This is the map of our last 150.000 miles (in red) and some of our future miles (in blue). Well, future miles, we are never sure which way we are going to take... And we'll probably go also to the east coast of U.S. and Canada, and that's not on the map....

So, since june 2000 we drove thru southern Europe, Middle East, Africa from north to south by the east coast, we crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a fishing vessel during 23 days and started to travel overland thru Latin America, where we've been during the last 7,5 years...

We've been assaulted with guns, knifes and fists (Kenia, Brazil and Trinidad & Tobago), we've got to fight a couple of times (both, Anna & me), we got 4 bad breakdowns: in the Sahara desert in Soudan, in Turkana area in Kenia (we've got to travel 500 miles to look for a mechanic and come back 500 miles with him, and his best friend, to our 4x4)... we've got a frozen engine in Bolivia's Altiplano (4.500 meters above sea level) and another breakdown in the chilean andes...

There are lots of stories... it's amazing how intense is the life outside, in this beautiful and wild world, outside our safe cities, far away from home... maybe, that's why we decided to continue living there, anywhere, in the road, where the night find us...

As the song says...
HOW DOES IT FEEL / WITH NO DIRECTION HOME / AS A COMPLETE UNKNOWN / LIKE A ROLLING STONE...

Good roads (although the bad ones are better...)

[viajeros4x4x4]

:wings: In Prescott is snowing...

[Mr. Leary]

It was so great to meet you guys at Overland Expo. You guys are an inspiration for all of us. I'm looking forward to reading your books.

Safe journeys, wherever they may be!


Leary

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hey Mike! It was really nice to be at Overland Expo! We met a bunch of travellers and lots of people with a traveller heart...
About our books, we can send them anywhere in the U.S. They are only in spanish for now... but they will fit great in any overlander collection!

So, if anybody wants them just write us here or to viajeros4x4x4@yahoo.com. Its a good support so we can go on with this around the world trip!

Thnx!

[expeditionerd]

Hola Pablo, Hola Anna!
Un gran saludo de un compatriota Argentino, en San Francisco.

I can't believe I missed you guys at the Expo. I remember finding your blog a while back and reading about your incredible story.

I'd love to get a copy of your book. You guys take Paypal?

.m

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hola expeditionerd!!!
Mira por donde volvemos a cruzarnos...

Yes, we take paypal... The price for La vuelta al mundo en 10 años: El libro de la independencia is $25 and for Historias en Asia y Africa, $10. Shipping to US and Canada, $5. Our paypal account is pablorey@hotmail.com

Just write us a private message in Expedition Portal or to viajeros4x4x4@yahoo.com and send us your shipping details...

Y quien sabe, quizás volvemos a pasar por San Francisco, la ruta tiene muchas curvas...

Thanks for your support!

[Scott Brady]

We are greatly enjoying Pablo and Anna here at the offices. Great people and I love their attitude and passion for travel.

[expeditionerd]

Genial!

Paypal sent. Looking forward to reading both!

Yes, if you guys are around the Bay Area again, please do not hesitate to drop me a line.
Else maybe we get to meet somewhere on the road one day :)

[viajeros4x4x4]

We are greatly enjoying Pablo and Anna here at the offices. I love their attitude and passion for travel.

As someone asked the other day: After 11 years on the road, do you still enjoy travelling?
YES. No doubt. The road is a box of surprises (mainly good ones, but anyway surprises), a box of discoveries, our Aladino lamp of wishes and dreams. As we talked the other day, we realize that you don't go to see a mountain, you go to experience the mountain. You don't go to see a country, you want to experience the country...

So last night we went to Whiskey Row...

[viajeros4x4x4]

Thanks for your support expedionerd! We'll send you the books tomorrow thru USPS...

See you on the next crossroads... maybe soon...

[Ray Hyland]

Hey Anna, how is the alternator repair holding?

I was thinking that because the plug on the alternator is so exposed to the road on your van, if you are only running the spade connectors instead of the original plug you may get road-salt and other grime up inside the plug area, which could cause some bad corrosion in there. Maybe you can make some sort of a "cork" to fit in there to keep the salt and grime out.

Just a thought.

Looks like you guys had some fun in the snow with Jeremy!

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hi Ray!!
we finished the work with the alternator just after you left Prescott, but as you say... it is very exposed... so it is a temporary thing until we'll find a new plug, we hope not too late...
We will try to cover it with something... cork, tape... whatever we will find in the car... or in the office!!

And yes, we had a great time with Jeremy driving the jeep on the snow!!

How was your way back home?

Regards from Prescott, on a sunny and beautiful day!!

[Ray Hyland]

Trip back was good. Much of the snow melted when I was away. It is less than 1 foot deep in my yard now.

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hola expeditionerd!

Today we sent the books via USPS. They will be at your home before this weekend! Thanks for your support and welcome to Around the world in 10 years!!!

Dos abrazos!

[benedmonson]

Anna and Pablo it was so nice to meet you guys last week in Prescott!! I hope that I didn't talk too much about Chile during our wine at Scott's:sombrero:
I look forward to learning more about your travels and will be following along with you expedition from now on. Please don't forget to order your Mountain Khakis with the coupon I gave you, I want to see some pic's once you get and use them!

Cheers,

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hi Ben!

We just ordered our Mountain Khakis yesterday, we should receive them in the house of some friends we have in Sonoma. Thank you very much for that, we'll upload some pics next months... No doubt!

And anyway, welcome to our trip. It was nice talk the other night at Scott's, with Chilean road stories, wine, deserts, Africa... It has been a long time since our last real travellers talk about lost roads... I hope we'll find plenty of this in our US crossroads...

Regards from Prescott, Arizona.

[viajeros4x4x4]

After many days in Prescott is time to go back to the road. To get lost again. It's a beautiful feeling....

We want to thank Scott and all the people from Overland Journal and Expedition Portal who have helped us during this days, we have now a very happy 4x4 van, a very happy free cockroach with new shoes, new solar panel and new caliper....

Hope to see you again soon, far away, on the road...!!!

[Streakerfreak]

So last night we went to Whiskey Row...


That sentence just about says everything about your night, lol. I also had a "so last night I went to Whiskey Row. . . " night too.

Anyways, it was great to meet you two and chat with you guys. Thank you for the book. Now I just need to learn Spanish.

[Scott Brady]

After many days in Prescott is time to go back to the road. To get lost again. It's a beautiful feeling....

We want to thank Scott and all the people from Overland Journal and Expedition Portal who have helped us during this days, we have now a very happy 4x4 van, a very happy free cockroach with new shoes, new solar panel and new caliper....

Hope to see you again soon, far away, on the road...!!!

Safe travels my friends. Looking forward to the images and updates.

For now, here is a fun video of the Cucaracha in action!
22414919

[viajeros4x4x4]

Phil, if you want to travel south, you must learn spanish!!!

Regards from Vegas, heading to Death Valley....

[Christian P.]

Pablo/Anna,

I am glad that the team was able to help you! I wish I had been there...but I am sure we will meet soon again - please keep us posted on your progress.

[viajeros4x4x4]

Wooooowwww!!!
We love that flying toilet paper!! :) It is very glamourous!!! jajaja.

We have some pics from Prescott that we want to share with you all. We had a really good time there... and it was the best spa the Cucaracha had in a veeeery long time!!

You can see how much fun we had with Jeremy and the Jeeps driving on the snow, mounting brand new tires in our really old rims, the brand new caliper... and with Scott at the Overland journal HQ. (the pics from Whiskey Rd are not posted... and won't be!! jajaja),

Thanks to you all!
Big hugs!

[jdemonto]

This is an amazing story and you guys are living the life we all dream about.

Jason

[viajeros4x4x4]

Leaving for Death Valley.

10 days of solo drive thru everywhere, including Mengel Pass and Titus Canyon. We’ll follow the gps points included in spring 2007 Overland Journal magazine looking for the back road to Lippencott mine and the Racetrack… :wings:

We’ll see if that roads are as bad as the African roads…

Regards from the Free Cockroach, our Mitsubishi L300 4x4 home.

[viajeros4x4x4]

I have to recognize it. Death Valley is a great place to prepare a trip to African dry roads. It has dust, heat, small bush to prepare small fires, some lose stones, beautiful small creeks and has Mengel Pass.
That is for real men (take your hat out please).
We’ve been three hours there to make the first 7 miles from the Geologist Cabin in Stripped Butte with our 4x4. We don’t have a huge clearance so we needed to built part of the last 200 meters of the road before the pass, move a couple of big rocks and fill some holes with stones. It was tiring but it was so nice, so rewarding to be in the other side of the mountains towards Baker’s Ranch. Then, we found the big step in Goler Canyon…
Anyway, when we finished I had to promise our Free Cockroach, our Mitsubishi L300 (Delica) 4x4 where we’ve been living during the past 11 years, that it would never go thru that pass again.

Five days later we were at the entrance of Lippincott Road from the Racetrack. The previous evening I walked a couple of miles downhill and it looked quite a piece of cake (at least compared with Mengel Pass) (I take my hat out).
The next morning we woke up early, I took out the table to write and correct some pages of the new book about black Africa, and when I was sipping my first coffee I saw the right front brand new tire: it was flat.

I believe in messages from other worlds, mainly when they came from our beloved and passionate Free Cockroach (that’s the name of our 4x4 van). She abandoned us with serious breakdowns in the Sahara Desert in Sudan and in the Turkana Area in Kenya, 500 miles from the closest reliable mechanic. We slept at 4500 meters (around 14000 feet altitude) during a trip thru the highest roads in the Bolivian Altiplano and it woke up with a frozen engine…

So, this time I said: ok, you win. You made it thru Mengel Pass (I take my hat out). You’re released of going down Lippincott Road. But remember, this summer we are going to Álaska…

[viajeros4x4x4]

http://youtu.be/S8EfJjE0yIg

Is it posible to insert youtube video here?

[trailsurfer]

Thanks for the great update. Please keep it coming.

[viajeros4x4x4]

Some pics from our days in Death Valley... from the best spirit of the old west to the Butte Valley (in the Mengel Pass remember to take your hat out), the Goler Canyon, the Teakettle Junction (that's from Alice in Wonderland...!!!) and the bush mechanics...
Yes, we had to repair a flat tire and a broken vc joint with duct tape, old inner tube rubber and staples...
And the dust...

Regards from the road!

[WheresMurph]

Pablo/Anna,how was Death Valley?.
Looks like some great times you had.I love it there.I just got back from Baja and am now heading to Colorado.Then in August/Sept trying to head south to Honduras.
Regards,safe travels and I would love to meet on the road somewhere.......

Murph

[viajeros4x4x4]

Yesssss, this is how we went thru Mengel Pass....

S8EfJjE0yIg

[Christian P.]

Pablo

looks like I am going to miss you - I am leaving San Francisco tomorrow heading to Paris.
I may be back in a couple weeks, if you are still around you are welcome at my house!

Christian

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hi Christian!
Paris soundz nice! We are now in Sacramento... I hope we can met in SF... maybe... the road has the last word...
Enjoy it!

[Ray Hyland]

Are you guys planning to visit us in BC this summer?

Ray

[viajeros4x4x4]

The road is taking us up there Ray... End of june or july... or august...

[Redman]

Hola Pablo y Anna!

It was great to get to meet you both yesterday, and to have you join us at our property to picnic with the Sierra Treasure Hunters 4WD Club. Your stories and insights were entertaining and enlightening, and we're proud to have been a small part of your incredible odyssey.

Should the road bring you back our way, we'd love to meet up again.

Travelers beware...... Pablo plays a mean game of "washers"


Will & Desirae Corbett

[viajeros4x4x4]

Gracias Will!
That was the first time I played washers... I guess it was a mix of good luck and lots of stone trowing on the edge of lost roads waiting to be towed... in 11 years around the world we got... 4 break downs???

Sh....!!!

See you on saturday... regards from Sonoma!

[viajeros4x4x4]

Horror stories about crossing from Colombia to Panama from la Guajira and not from Cartagena...

mN4n66gBOUo

[Lince80]

Very nice adventure guys!
Donde van a estar para la final de la Champions?
Arriba el Barca! :wings:

[trailsurfer]

If that were my van, I couldn't have watched. Thanks for the video. Awesome!

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hola Cool!! El final de la Champions la veremos en Sonoma, creo.... ya estamos sacando las banderas de Barcelona....

Tomorrow saturday we will see the final of the European futbol cup in Sonoma, I guess... I want to see that match!!!!!

If someone want to learn about futbol (soccer) must see how Barcelona's team plays... it's probably one of the best futbol teams in history and the match with Manchester United promises to be a very good one... With Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Chicharito, Rooney...
:wings:

[viajeros4x4x4]

Reading the last message...

BARCELONA 3 - MANCHESTER UNITED 1

Barcelona is European Champion, again!

Regards from Klamath Falls, Oregon, after several snowy days in Lassen N.P. and Lava Beds...

[viajeros4x4x4]

The last june 20th was our 11th anniversary on the road. Este es un enlace a una entrevista que nos hizo la revista Rutas del Mundo, Roads of the world, de Espania, from Spain...


http://viajeros4x4x4.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/entrevista-para-la-revista-rutas-del-mundo-espana/

[viajeros4x4x4]

Saludos amigos!
Estos dias comenzamos el estiron final para llegar hasta Alaska, y no solo hasta la frontera. El objetivo es llegar a Prudhoe Bay y a Inuvik, los puntos mas al norte donde se puede llegar con un vehiculo y por carretera. A partir de alli, el Artico.
Tambien fue nuestro cumpleaños, el lunes pasado cumplimos once años dando la vuelta al mundo mas lenta jamas contada... No era lo planeado, pero aqui estamos, viviendo en la ruta.
En este tiempo editamos dos libros que nos ayudan a seguir adelante y vamos vendiendo en la ruta y por correo a cualquier lugar del mundo, incluidos Estados Unidos y Canada... (cuestan 10 y 25 dolares)
Pues eso, saludos a punto de volver a la ruta. Les dejamos algunas fotos de La vuelta al mundo en 10 años...


Malos caminos por la zona del Turkana, Kenia, donde rompimos el motor en una inundacion y tuvimos que hacer 800 kilometros (500 millas) para encontrar un mecanico
http://www.delica.ca/Photos/albums/userpics/11830/Disaster_in_Sibiloi%2C_Turkana_area%2C_Kenya.jpg

Reparando un neumatico en Etiopia, con decenas de espectadores... nunca cobramos entrada.
http://www.delica.ca/Photos/albums/userpics/11830/Anna_changing_a_tire_in_Ethiopia.jpg

En Egipto no es tan dificil encontrar un parking. Eso si, hay que compartirlo.
http://www.delica.ca/Photos/albums/userpics/11830/Parking_in_Gizeh%2C_Egypt.jpg

En el kilometro Cero de la ruta Transamazonica, antes de tomar uno de los peores caminos del mundo...
http://www.delica.ca/Photos/albums/userpics/11830/The_zero_kilometer_of_the_TransAmazon_Road%2C_Joao _Pessoa%2C_Brazil.jpg

Y todo para llegar al fin del mundo, que al final estaba en el centro de Argentina...
http://www.delica.ca/Photos/albums/userpics/11830/End_of_the_world%2C_Argentina.jpg

Mas historias, fotos, videos y datos en www.viajeros4x4x4.com

[viajeros4x4x4]

I hate this automatic translations... It seems Tarzan works for google... but is something...


Greetings from Alaska! Finally!
Yes, the route was long ... It took four and a half years to cross the American continent since we left Buenos Aires!
11 years and 25 days since we left Barcelona ...
Alaska was farther than we thought ...

We are now in Fairbanks, preparing for the final stretch to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay, about seven hundred kilometers (mostly dirt roads) to the Arctic Ocean ... must carry water and food, fill all fuel tanks and find a public library to connect to internet ...

The last few days we have been going faster thru British Columbia and Yukon, Canada, because our U.S. visa is finishing in less than a month. And if the weather continues the same, at any time return to snow. And we are in July.
For this year, it seems northern summer never came. Most days go cloudy, with rain on even days... The route is beautiful, miles and miles of paved walkway through a green forest. There are many lakes, and many mosquitoes, but after almost 4000 miles becomes so monotonous that we can not wait to get to the tundra. To the endless landscapes.

We continue uploading new stories about the road in www.viajeros4x4x4.com every sunday.

Indeed, a friend from Vancouver gave us a new toy. Spot, a device that automatically connects to a satellite to mark exactly where we are on a map. You can see our camps in Canada and Alaska http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=06gaJ9lzHYnBpeBiB8d9EAgsVaq9xuV Et

For that, two, three or four days reached the extreme north of Alaska ... will be celebrated ... and bought a bottle of Marques de Riscal ... one does not come every day to the Arctic!

Regards and good routes (although the bad ones are better)

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hi overlanders!!

we finally made it to Prudhoe Bay!! it was July 25th when we arrived to Dead Horse. What an unglamourous place to arrive... but we enjoyed the road!!

It doesn't mean that we are finished with our trip around America... we'll be around here, crossing from Canada to the US and viceversa, for the next year and a half... it is a big continent!!

So we hope to see you around!!

Big hug and regards from Dawson City, Yukon, Canada!

Anna and Pablo
www.viajeros4x4x4.wordpress.com

[Bull0080]

I have a few places for you to stay in Minnesota if needed! Would love to hear some stories in person. Good luck and cheers!

Forrest

[viajeros4x4x4]

Thank you Forrest, we'll draw a big circle on our US map, on Minnesota!

Regards from Hyder...

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hi overlanders,

We are back in Vancouver. After driving north to Deadhorse and Inuvik during the summer months, we are planning to stay around Southern BC until the end of the year.
In Vancouver we met the ideal person to translate our book into English (the First Chapter is almost ready) and we must be around to work together on it. I also want to finish the new book before the end of the year.
We thought that maybe some of you know someone who wants to rent a basement or a small apartment (anything bigger than the van will be big for us!) in Vancouver (preferently close to Burnaby) or maybe a cabin outside the city... We're responsible people, we'll take care of everything as it was our own home, or even better!. It would be perfect to rent the appartment /basement suite/room from october to december. We are thinking of something affordable, utilities and internet access included. A safe place to leave the van is necessary, too. It can be a street parking, but it must be in a safe area.

So if you can help us to find something, we will appreciate it very much.


Thanks for your help and hope to hear from you soon!

[viajeros4x4x4]

This is what a Mitsubishi L300/ Delica can do... Crazy russians...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evKmc8maVU8

[JJMAC]

May I ask how you pay for all of your expenses?

[viajeros4x4x4]

Hi JJMAC,
we rented our appartment in Barcelona and we work on the road, too. We sell books and handmade bracelets, we go to book fairs, 4x4 exhibitions, we give lectures in schools... if you want to help us, you can buy our book in Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461084733/ref=kinw_rke_rti_1

Cheers!

[JJMAC]

Hi JJMAC,
we rented our appartment in Barcelona and we work on the road, too. We sell books and handmade bracelets, we go to book fairs, 4x4 exhibitions, we give lectures in schools... if you want to help us, you can buy our book in Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1461084733/ref=kinw_rke_rti_1

Cheers!


Thank you! Good luck to you and yours, be safe and enjoy!

[viajeros4x4x4]

Thank you Adrian, we are just working now on the translation of our second book into english! We also want to give all northamericans who just speak english, at least a fast view of our trips around the world, so we are also translating some of the stories. You'll be able to start reading them during next january...
By now you can find one of our stories in the Overland Journal winter issue, with an amazing trip thru the peruvian amazon in a... wooden raft...
You can find more stories about Around the World in Ten Years in www.viajeros4x4x4.com. They are in spanish, but it could be a good training for your future trips to latin america!
Regards from the road...

[viajeros4x4x4]

Jo jo jo jo!!!! Santa Overland Trip Around the World!

79374

Merry Christmas from La vuelta al mundo en 10 años: escritores en ruta

[Abitibi]

We've had Pablo and Anna with us in Vancouver for quite a few months, you can call us spoiled! In no time they felt like good old friends and it was sad to see them go back to the old continent a few weeks ago but we know they'll come back... we kept their van! Hahaha

Have a great holiday guys, your van is safe and I'll make sure a few of us will join you on the trip to the overland expo in May... I'm working on going anyway!

Vancouver might be home to the largest Delica club in Americas, so it's very nice to have world travelers join us...

Cheers
Mr. D

[viajeros4x4x4]

Oohhhhh this pseudonyms... Mr. D....

It was great to be in Vancouver for so long working on the new book. And on our 4x4 van. And it was great to meet this bunch of people doing strange experiments and modifications with their Delis.... I said to Anna, I have to say to the Delica folks of Vancouver, we learnt a lot from you guys...

See you soon, canuks! Take care of our Cucaracha! Don't let Santa go out with it!

[Abitibi]

It be tempting to convert it to run on veggie while you guys aren't watching... A vegetarian cucaracha!

[viajeros4x4x4]

Yes, I'm sure it would be very interesting cucaracha... ;) After all the talks I think I'll run it on veggie anyway without the conversion when we'll come back.... we have the extra tank for the veggie and the main one for the diesel...