I have reached the end of the world
A couple of days ago — after over three months and nearly 14,000 miles of driving across 12 countries — the Drive Around the World expedition reached the end of the road in South America. Based from the city of Ushuaia (a staging area for Antarctic expeditions), we drove three hours southeast on Route J, which ended at a radio station along the Beagle Channel. This is as far south as one can drive in the Americas.
This milestone also marks my departure from the Drive Around the World expedition, as I am due to write stories about Rio and the Mississippi River in coming weeks. It’s been quite a ride these three months, and a privilege to be able to travel from San Francisco to the Straits of Magellan overland. It was also quite a trip to travel with eight other people after all these years of vagabonding by myself. I’ll miss my DATW teammates, and I hope to catch up with them somewhere in the world before long, as the expedition continues to Oceania, Asia, and Russia in coming months. Check out the DATW journal to see what we’ve done recently, and where the team is headed next.
At the moment, I have just landed in Buenos Aires, where I am making preparations to head to Rio for the 2004 Carnival celebrations. I’m due to write that experience up for a magazine, but I hope to at least share some photos here soon!
February 16th, 2004 at 5:41 pm
Congratulations … you survived your “anti-vagabonding” journey! I’m definitely interested in hearing your thoughts on your fast-paced travel experience after you’ve had more of a chance to absorb them. But be sure to follow your own advice and take your time!
February 16th, 2004 at 7:54 pm
congrats!
an unrelated question… how do relationships fit into you vagabonding lifestyle?
February 17th, 2004 at 11:30 am
Rolf – can you share with us who you’ll be doing the Rio and Mississippi River stories for? I’m looking forward to them both…
D.
February 17th, 2004 at 1:27 pm
Thanks for all the comments. Alexis, I’ll respond to yours by email. Julie, I’ll get you up to speed on my “anti-vagabonding” thoughts in person once I’m back in DooDah. And Dan, I’d love to give you some intel on the Rio and Mississippi River stories, but now that I’m in the glossy-mag game I actually have to sign contracts stating I won’t share specifics until the article in questions is ready to be published. I’m not sure why this is (maybe a competition thing), but it’s kind of odd. Whatever the case, I will announce the release of both articles on this blog, once they are ready to run — likely later this year!
February 18th, 2004 at 6:57 am
It was fun to follow you on the journey. I’ll be sure to check the DATW site for updates on the rest of the journey. Any news on when your next book will be published?