Full-time travel demands flexibility, especially away from the familiarity of one’s home country. Our latest video showcases the highs and lows each day can bring–we rarely know which to expect!
Leaving the beautiful city of Cuenca, which we shared in our last video, we drive south to Vilcabamba. This Ecuadorian town is known for the longevity of its residents and has become an expat/hippie haven. Though our solar panels are broken, we’re able to find a place to plug into shore power to keep our Lithium house battery charged during our four-night stay.
Then the fun really begins. We thread into the high jungle and off pavement. Little Caspian throws up from car sickness, multiple times. The next morning, what should be a straight-forward, hour-long drive to the Peru border at La Balsa becomes perilous when the rain starts falling. Tensions run high. There is mud.
Before I spoil too much, watch for yourself:
For all the difficulties, we make it into Peru! Including the U.S. where we started, Peru is country #12 on our drive around the world.
What’s new?
In real-time, we spent a week in Austin, Texas, and another week in Corpus Christi. Caspian turned seven! We are in awe of our little nomad and feel fortunate to witness the way his life is unfolding.
Corpus Christi was a blur. Originally, we added this stop to our trip back because it was time to go through our storage. My (Brittany’s) parents have been storing keepsakes, documents, and the like since 2014 when we started traveling full-time. Everything we own that isn’t in our Jeep Gladiator fits into about 13 large containers and 7 smaller containers.
With my parents in the house I grew up in, our things took up a small corner of the garage. But this past summer while we were in Ecuador, they rented their house and moved everything, including our things, into a storage unit. Our plan for this visit was to go through storage, get rid of what we could, and make sure everything left was packed up nicely.
But plans changed when my Grandpa passed away in October. My parents had moved to Toronto to live with and take care of him, and suddenly he was gone. With renters in their house, they had nowhere to live. They arrived in Corpus Christi the same day we did. They’d had their eye on a one-bedroom apartment and we were able to help them move in on Thursday.
I’m so grateful for how the timing worked out. What are the chances our short window in Corpus would perfectly align so we could help with the massive task of moving?
If you can believe it, our storage containers now live in the corner of my parents’ bedroom. They’ll wake up to them every morning. 😂 (I suggested to my mom that she find a pretty blanket or tapestry to drape over them.)
My parents have blessed us all these years by storing our things. The cost of a storage unit would be prohibitive for so much time, so this means everything to us. Between them and my youngest brother, who stores our Jeep Wrangler while we’re out of the country, we feel loved and enabled to continue our journey. There are so many friends and family members along the way who have provided priceless support like this.
Thank you for being part of it all.
-B
Leave a Reply