No Wrong Turns: The Longest Road Trip Ever

by Kelsey Mulyk Feb 18th 2008 @ 8:00AM

My husband and I have decided that we are going to drive from Calgary, Canada, my hometown, with hopes of getting to Tierra del Fuego, the tip of South America. Our trusty steed, a red 1991 VW Golf named Marlin, will be ferrying us on our Latin American journey.

About a year and a half ago my husband, Tom, and I started talking about taking off on a trip to Central and South America. We both want to speak Spanish fluently and I have always been fascinated by Latin culture. So we started brainstorming, discussing where we'd like to go, what we'd like to see and how long we would go for. Somehow during these early conversations it was suggested that we drive. I am pretty sure Tom is the one who brought up driving but before long the trip morphed from a backpacking adventure to one seriously long road trip. I guess we unconsciously made the decision to drive as we never ever questioned whether it was a good plan or not, we just went with it. The past year has been spent preparing for this journey. We have quit our jobs, packed up our apartment, stored all our possessions, researched as best we could and said our farewells.

We don't have concrete travel plans but hope to see as much as we can. We both have certain places that are 'for sures' but as for the rest well...we are going to leave it open so that we can stay longer in places we like and leave those we don't like as much whenever we choose. I could list all the countries in Latin America but viewing a map is probably the easiest. Initially we are planning to set up a little apartment in Mexico as we have a design job for a museum in Calgary. So, in the first few months we will work, learn Spanish (we hope), experience living in Mexico and then move on with our adventure.

One place we will not be driving through is Colombia. Friends have told us it is beautiful but the reality is it is not safe for foreigners and, from my research, the last time anyone crossed from Panama to Colombia by land was 1998 in a souped up Land Rover. Marlin is tough but I am not sure if he is that tough!

So in No Wrong Turns, I will be sharing our adventures on this long trip. I'll be uncovering unique stories about Latin America: the people we meet, best 'secret' places, interesting tidbits about the cultures we come across, as well as the practical elements of such a trip. So off we go into the sunset, sunrise, bad roads, toll highways, potholes and colorful cultures.

Filed under: Learning, Stories, North America, South America, No Wrong Turns

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Feb 18th 2008 @ 8:33AM

Chris M. said...

Wow, that means that at least two of the bloggers from Gadling are based out of Calgary, which just so happens to be where I live. Do Canadians have some extra gene that makes them want to do nothing but travel? I know my fiancé and I both have this 'problem'. Good luck on your journey, I'm quite envious of the both of you and look forward to seeing your progress. Recently I've been planting the seeds of a South American relocation around here, so maybe we'll run into you in a couple of years, we'll be in Costa Rica next February for a wedding at the very least.

Good luck!

Feb 18th 2008 @ 8:51AM

Nikoleta said...

Good luck guys!! You are so lucky , Cant wait to hear all about your adventures! Take care over there!

Feb 18th 2008 @ 11:11AM

Amanda said...

This is pretty much my dream trip of a lifetime, I'm really envious of you.

Are you sure though, that the photo is of a Golf? With the round headlights, and being only two doors, it looks waay more like a GTi

Feb 18th 2008 @ 12:26PM

Tara said...

that sounds like a stupendous plan. I've wanted to drive all the way to the bottom of South America as well, though from a shorter distance of Texas (we've gone from Texas to Quebec City by driving but that's just practice...). My question is then, is there a ferry from Panama to Ecuador, therefore bi-passing Colombia? Also, I do offer warning driving into Mexico. Cops can be pretty corrupt in the north of the country and like to pull over foreign license plates for supposed traffic violations so always make sure you carry lots of small bills with you.

Feb 19th 2008 @ 1:09AM

Kelsey Mulyk said...

Thanks for all the good luck wishes. I am really excited for this trip.

Amanda---I just go with what Tom says about the car... eh calls it a Golf so I go with the Golf though the pic is not of Marlin...we need to take one soon.

Tara---From what we have found out there are ships that will take cars around Colombia. It can take awhile to sort out so we expect to spend a few weeks in Panama determining the best way to ship. I am not sure if we can accompany the car so we may have to fly and meet our car on the other side. But that is all I have found out thus far, I will try and post more as soon as I have more solid information. Also thanks for the tip about Mexico, we have heard this from a few people and are planning to stay on the toll roads.

Feb 19th 2008 @ 3:55PM

Biren Shah said...

Best of luck on the trip. What are you planning to do when you reach Tierra del Fuego? Please open a bottle of nice Agentinian wine and toast yourselves.
Are you planning on driving back?

Feb 22nd 2008 @ 1:36AM

Kelsey Mulyk said...

Hard to say if we will drive back. I suspect we might be over being in the car by then but you never know. Perhaps we will...but there are a few other options in the works.

Feb 25th 2008 @ 7:48PM

Erik Hidalgo said...

Muchas Felicidades en su Viaje...
I live in Tijuana Mexico just acros the border from San Diego (USA)... I actually have some good Mexican Friends that live in Calgary (CAN) right now... =) Enjoy your trip and if you need anything in TJ just send an email... Good Luck... ♪

Feb 25th 2008 @ 9:27PM

Kelsey Mulyk said...

Thanks Erik! I appreciate your offer lots. There are quite a few Mexicans moving to Calgary these days. I was starting to hear Spanish spoken lots just before we left.

Mar 1st 2008 @ 5:55PM

Sonia said...

Exciting trip. Good luck!

Here's a link you might like - about a couple travelling from South America to the North.
http://viajeros4x4x4.wordpress.com/
It`s in Spanish, but Google translator or alike can help - and later it can be good practise too, and maybe some useful tip.

Mar 1st 2008 @ 6:15PM

Kelsey Mulyk said...

Sonia,

Thanks for the link..it will be good for me to try and read it in Spanish though it might take me ages!

Apr 17th 2008 @ 2:56PM

Jake said...

I'm really excited that I found out about your guys trip because me and a few good friends have always talked about doing something that we'll never forget and can talk about forever when we graduate college. Recently we thought about driving from California around South America. Then around the U.S. and back down to California. After reading all about your trip so far I really think it might be possible for us to do this in a couple years. But one big question I have is do you think it would be possible to make it through Central America and down through South America in an RV? And do you think it would be safe enough or would it attract to much attention from the locals? I look forward to your reply and also look forward to reading how you get from panama to Ecuador. Good luck!

Apr 17th 2008 @ 4:26PM

Kelsey Mulyk said...

Hi Jake,

Glad that our trip might provide some insight on how to plan your own road trip to Mexico, Central and South America. So far, RVs seem to be common place in Baja Mexico (where we are right now) many tourists drive them down from the States and they don't really draw too much attention. I am not sure about the mainland Mexico, I suspect you would stick out more but as long as you stuck to the toll roads and stick to driving in the daytime I think you'd be ok. I did write about RV tours that I had found out about here: http://www.gadling.com/2008/02/23/no-wrong-turns-rv-adventures/
This might help you out as well as a company that takes RV tours down into South America from the US and Canada. Their link is http://www.adventuretrek.com/index.htm
Good luck with your planning and thanks for reading!

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