The holidays are approaching.
We're already making plans for buying killing our own turkey. Then it's Christmas, and the New Year.
It's fun to spend those times with people you know and love, so that's why we're still here in Pana. We'll be celebrating the holidays with dear friends.
But after that? We're hittin' the road! We've got the travel itch and it's time to scratch.
By the time we leave Panajachel, we'll have spent almost a year in Guatemala.
One year!!!
That's a long time for us to be in one place.
And as much as we have thoroughly, completely and absolutely enjoyed our time here, we can't help but dream of quiet beach towns in El Salvador and Nicaragua; of exploring primary rain forests and swimming with dolphins in Costa Rica; discovering the mysteries of Machu Picchu in Peru; camping in the wilderness of Bolivia; investigating the Andes and the Amazon; reaching Ushuaia, the end of the world; and eventually celebrating the Olympics in Brazil.
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It's funny... you can long for travel even while you're traveling.
Our current living situation could still be described as 'travel' since we're living in a country that is not native to us.
Yet every time we talk to, see pictures or hear about the adventures of others, Greg and I look at each other with yearning. "I want to travel," we say.
But until we're 'on the road again', we'll enjoy ourselves and our friends, finish up our projects, and help you find the way to fund your dream lifestyle.
Wouldn't you love to do a little traveling too? Where would you go?
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OOOOH, I know the feeling. I live in Thailand at the moment, but I miss just getting out on the road, too. I love living one one place because I enjoy deeply connecting with a culture and a language, something I wasn’t able to do in one month in Germany (well, I did to a small extent, but not like Thailand), for example. But I am ready to move on.
Where to go is hard to say. So many countries in Asia I still have left to see.
Yes, there are benefits to both, and too long doing one thing makes you long for the other 🙂
Hi, This is Larry Rowe in Panama. I keep wondering about Nicaragua. Something keeps telling me to go there.
Hi, I would love to hear what route you are planning to take to have good Internet connexion *almost* all the time in South America. We are planning our trip there and need a really good connexion (daily 3G, except on weekends). Do you guys also need to be online everyday are you OK with checking in every couple of days? Would love to hear more. This is the online thing that is holding us off from going to South America.
As long as you’re traveling along main highways, you’ll have good cell coverage, and if you’re using an internet USB ‘stick’ then you’ll have service anywhere you have cell coverage. If you need something even more ‘sure’, then plan to be in the cities.
We personally have no idea what route we’ll take – we’ll simply follow where the road leads and where our heart dictates 😉
Hey Guys,
Totally understand where you are coming from 🙂
We’re just preparing to leave New Zealand where we have been for the last 5 months. Only about 3 weeks before we leave here and although we have absolutely loved our time here Tracy and I have both had itchy feet for probably the last month or two.
We have a pretty busy next 3 months and we’re hoping to do the continent hope to Central America in the middle of next year so hopefully we’ll finally get the chance to meet up with you and your family 🙂
Cheers,
Colin
A meetup would be fantastic! I’m going to email you, to see if we can interview you for our new project. Enjoy your new adventure!
Just curious, have you already purchased tickets for the Olympics? Would love to hear more about that.
No, we have not. Haven’t even looked into it yet 😉
Hi there,
New to your blog. We share your wonderlust, but we’re more small scale :). 12 years ago before kids my husband and I travelled all 50 states in a year – the lower 48 in a motorhome and flew to hawaii & alaska. Then we took trips to Guatemala, Belize, Vietnam, and Thailand….and then we had kids. We waited about 3 years and then much to our family’s chagrin we took our 3 and 1 year olds to Kenya for 3 weeks. We have since taken them to Costa Rica and Nicaragua for 2 summers.
We are moving to Costa Rica (with our 3 kids) in January for a year (maybe a little longer?).
For a half second we considered driving down. Once we realized we would have to pay 79% import tax on our vehicle (my understanding is that it’s mandatory if the car is in the country more than 90 days), we decided it made more sense to buy there. How have you dealt with import taxes on your car? Have you faced that yet? Also, have you had any safety issues traveling by car?
Hi Amy,
It sounds like you’ve had some incredible aventures! What fun.
It is possible to renew your vehicle permit at least once (total of 180 days) but if you are staying there longer than it will be an issue. You may want to spend some time in another country nearby, and then when you come back to Costa Rica (after 90 or 180 days, not sure) you’ll get another 180 days. Otherwise you can buy a vehicle in Costa Rica, but they are more expensive than the states because of this import tax. We’ll only be passing through CR this time so 180 days will be plenty for us. Perhaps we’ll see you!!
A couple more questions. I believe you said you run your vehicle on vegetable oil? My husband’s truck is also run on vegetable oil. Where do you find sources for good vegetable oil in the road? I’m assuming if you don’t you just purchase diesel?
Also, how do you fit 5 kids and 2 adults in the truck? Do you just put 4 kids in the back and forgo seatbelts?
Hi Amy,
While the regularity of our seat belt use varies 😉 We do actually have enough seat belts for all of us. We have a bench up front, the car seat for Atlas is in between Greg and I, and then Greg installed a fourth seat belt in the back row so the other four kids sit there.
We usually find veggie at restaurants and the usual places, the only difference being that most places don’t store it, like they do in the states. So you have to go in a few days before, ask them to save it for you, and then go back later to pick it up.
Hi Rachel. I love reading your blog! I live a very different lifestyle than yours. My community involvement and children’s extra curricular activities require us to stay where we are most of the year. I would love to travel to Australia and the East Asian countries in the near future though, and financial freedom will definitely help. I’m very excited and grateful for your Academy and I look forward to more posts from you!
@thoa Thank you! I hope you will find a lot of value in what we’re preparing! I’m excited about it!