Vanenvan.com - California to Tierra del Fiuego in a VW Westfalia

juanb

New member
Hello,

I'm new here, although expeditionportal has been one of the great resources in planning this trip.

My girlfriend, our dog and I are traveling from San Francisco to Ushuaia in our 1989 VW Westfalia. We plan to take about a year to get there, although we really have no strict schedule. Right now we are in La Paz, BCS. After another week or two of beach here in Baja we'll take the ferry to Mazatlan and go from there. We plan to be in Mexico at least until early January.

Here is our blog:
http://www.vanenvan.com/

If anyone is along the way and want to meet for a beer or three, just say the word! We'd also love to hear suggestions on places to go or whatever else. Meeting people along the way and making new friends is a big part of what this trip is about.

Thanks for reading!

-Juan
 

juanb

New member
Wiley--totally right. We are loving Mexico, and it seems like we'll stay here longer than we thought.

We are in the north coast of the Yucatan peninsula now, after over three months in the road. And we skipped Oaxaca, so after the holidays we will back track a little to explore the Pacific coast over there.

Plenty of parts with us, although the van has been awesome, no real problems. Frankly, I think most people are overkill when they drive down here from north of the border. A vehicle that you know well is way better than a brand new 4x4 with two full size spares, a winch and 200 gallons worth of jerry cans. Maybe it's just me, but seriously, you're sharing the road with locals in their beat up 2002 Hyundais with 13' rims! I've had this van for three years now, took it on lots of shorter trips, replaced everything that made sense to replace, and if something starts failing I'm confident I'll hear it in time to fix it before we are stranded.

Anyway, we are having a blast! Camping very often for free, in front of a town square or like now, next to a palapa on the beach. My advice to anyone thinking of a trip like this: the hardest part is to make the decision to leave your comfort zone and just go for it. Once you do, just make sure you have a vehicle that you know well, someone to come with you, and for Zeus sake, please stray away from the Lonely Planet or the Church and Church trails every now and then :)

-Juan
http://www.vanenvan.com
 

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