6 Months In
Six months ago today we pulled out of our driveway heading south. We thought it would be fun to reflect on some things we've learned on our journey over 6 borders, 4500 miles, 21 gas stations, 10 airbnbs, 25 campgrounds, 5 lovely visitors, and 1 crooked cop. Sorry, dear reader, its a long post... it's a post mostly for us to remember these things too.... grab a cuppa....
Borders
Border days are the worst part of the whole trip. Eat a hearty breakfast. Involving plantains if possible.
Cross in the morning around 9am. This way you miss the buses but will be most likely able to cross before everyone takes lunch. Bring Gus with you to charm all the border guards.
At a border crossing it seems like you're always doing something wrong, this is how you know you're probably right.
Don't be afraid to go backwards thru things and places where it says no entrance! Ask everyone about everything with a smile and they will usually help.
Don't forget to stamp OUT of a country. They won't tell you this or make it easy to figure out where. This can sometimes be more arduous than entering a country.
Pack your patience. Getting irritated at the red tape of borders won't get you through any quicker. Think of it as an adventure and a game to solve how to get out.
Always have the address of where you're going to stay, even if you don't know if you'll stay there, they just need something!
Don't worry about fruits, veg, cheese, nuts. Just don't leave them out anywhere obvious and people don't really care about them when inspecting your van.
Celebrate with the new country's drink when you make it to your place for the night.
Oh and copies. Bring a zillion copies of everything - passport, title, registration, vaccinations for Gus....
Road Rules
Left turn signal mostly means it is okay to overpass, not turn left.
Emergency blinkers mean 'I'm about to do something.' See above.
Two lane road = Four lane road. In most countries people pass in an invisible middle lane and drive half in the emergency lanes.
With Latin American drivers no one yields. You just go when you can go. GOOOO! If you hesitate you'll get honked at or possibly rear ended. It's like a school of fish merging and flowing some crazy way.
Traffic signs have a mostly decorative purpose. Even the signs that say to follow the traffic signs.
Turn off A/C on mountain roads. They can be steep and our van is heavy, we need that extra power!
Add 1 extra hour to whatever google says for drive time and always plan to be somewhere by around 2pm to avoid driving in the dark. Also double check google maps and don't believe it. It can easily get you in a pickle if you blindly follow it and sometimes pulling in the mirrors isn't enough.
Never drive in the dark. Roads aren't well lit, there's lots of potholes and animals so it's our number one safety rule.
Don't do this trip if you don't like/trust your partners driving It can get hairy and you need to support each other!
Falkor's law: if it can spill in the van it will. All liquids upright no matter how tight you think the cap is - trust us, it will wiggle free.
Every country so far has pumped your gas for you. Watch them '0' out the pump.
If you get pulled over, don't give the cop your license as they can hold it while they try and bribe you. Hold it up to the cracked window with a smile first and see if that works!
Dogs
Be cautious with Gus entering a campsite and always carry a 'weapon' such as a water bottle, water gun, or leash to swing.
The same dog food is available from Mexico down thru Costa Rica. Yay for not having to change Gus's diet!
Dogs aren't given human names. Gustavo gets a good laugh and a quizzical look every time.
Ask is Gus can come. Places will say they don't allow dogs sometimes, but we've really only been turned down 2-3 times on our whole trip when we ask nicely if Gus can come.
Dogs can be a bit of a pain, cost you extra at borders, have annoying red tape, but overall I highly say the benefits of having Gus with us way outweigh the challenges. Hands down, bring a dog traveling!
Travel Lessons
Time will always fill. Just how it should.
The weather is always unseasonably hot or cold.
Cutting my (Megan's) hair short for travel was one of the best decisions she ever made after marrying Gordon. So easy and great for not having running water a lot.
Traveling by van allows you to see the real deal, small villages and everyday living. It's much much poorer than imagined and many people don't have job opportunities.
It's much safer than imagined, families and people are people everywhere. 98% are super friendly and curious about you. Many are proud to show you their home country and honored you would come visit it, just like we would be if they could visit us.
There aren't not as many overlanders/campers on the road as we imagined. Most campsites we stay at are empty.
Cell phone plans cost $25 a month for both of us and work great! Claro has worked for 5 countries - easy peasy!
Use only ATM's attached to banks and try and pull out uneven amounts so you get smaller bills.
Buy a VPN for security in public places and to watch US TV shows or you won't get the same programming internationally. And yes, you do need some downtime!
Trust your gut. If you feel something in the pit of your stomach, change your course. You don't have to understand why, but listen to it.
All countries have a pilsner as their basic national beer and they are all boringly equal.
Hot showers end in Guatemala and we're okay with that. You're more likely to die from your crazy electrical wired on-demand shower head than a cartel.
That old adage of pack half the stuff and twice the money is true!
Planning places to go and stay on this trip can suck up all your time if you let it. Sometimes go without a plan and let it work itself out.
Booking airbnbs last minute is great - a discount is usually offered and the choices are less so you can decide quickly.
Be thankful for trash pick up service. Many countries don't have it and burn everything that they don't litter.
Ants. Everywhere f'n ants. You can't set anything down on the ground for even a second.
We need a couch to sit on in an airbnb or Megan gets cranky.
A month is a long time. Consider two weeks as a start when we stay somewhere.
Declare 3 people when booking an airbnb just in case so we can have a visitor!
No heaters or A/C in most places. It's a rare find!
In big cities join a local expat group on FB. It's interesting to see what's being chatted about and you can find dog groomers on there.
Treat everyone with respect, even that 'annoying' vendor pushing gum or soda on you. They don't want to be out there selling that coca cola to tourists in the hot sun, they are trying to make money to feed themselves. When you can, just say yes and buy something small, it could be their only sale and $1 means a lot more to them than to you.
It's more fun to say yes.
If you can, surprise people by saying keep the change or paying extra. That tortilla lady makes a dollar or two a day standing at a hot oven on the side of the road all day selling a kilo of tortillas for $.75. Give her some extra, pay a little extra to the egg vendor, they work really hard and don't get much - it's charity wrapped in dignity.
For street food look for where locals are, they know what's good. Don't be shy to try it - it's usually a fun gastronomic experience.
A good frying pan is worth its weight in gold. And if I ran one of these countries I'd buy every household a knife sharpener.
You can drink the tap water in most of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Take that Mexico!
For vanlife, you really do need to learn some Spanish. English is often non-existent, especially when going outside the tourist areas. It is worth it to enliven your experience ten fold. We imagined a little more English would be happening, not so.
This has been the trip of a lifetime and we have felt so fortunate to do this, and have relatively few problems on our journey. Thanks for coming along!
Lastly, Gordon will wear sandals without socks south of Mexico. Another of Megan's dreams have come true.
