What we´ve learned

The main thing we have learned on this route is to travel slowly and take the time to talk to “strangers” and listen to their stories and recommendations.

We have also appreciated learning by doing – we have seen the value of good planning, but equally allowing exploration without really knowing much or having expectations of what the experience would bring.

And, I think this expedition has taught us lessons about following our instincts, interpret weak signals of opportunities, but also to relax, enjoy the “the flow” of things happening and adapt to changing circumstances (though this I am admittedly still working on and will continue to do so until we return). We have learned, and I must admit this is a hard lesson, that it´s impossible to control everything, though I still claim it´s a noble effort to try to prepare for surprises (i.e. being prepared the famous unknown unknowns).

During our expedition, I think we´ve improved in taking quick decisions, and particularly one of us has come to appreciate that making a wrong turn is not the end of the world… And now, we have lots of empiric evidence that this is true 😊! We have, however, also learned to quickly correct when realizing that we´ve made a bad turn.

And not least, during a long overlanding voyage, you really learn to appreciate good company – and my teammate deserves all the credit in the world. It´s not easy to travel with a blue-eyed Viking, who´s social skills and demeanor sometimes struggle to interpret the layers of magic realism, subdued indigenous malice, Latin sophistication, and sense of drama. Life is really both a wonderful and complex theatre – but you must be prepared to loosen up what is “normal”, “the way it´s usually done” and firm ideas of “what works”.   

On a practical note, I also do have a list of mostly minor issues that need to be improved or replaced. On the mechanical side, it´s reserve filters for the vehicle and most likely some parts. On the camping side, it´s simply a question to find high quality items such as flashlights etc. which reliably works long term and under rough conditions (extreme temperature, humidity, vibration).

Another important concern is a better navigation system for 4×4 overlanding. Based on experience, we must avoid suddenly losing all maps when moving into areas without internet-coverage. Of course, we did have paper maps, but still this is an essential issue to further explore granted that we often were in zones without internet access, and often guided by locals, ended up on dirt roads that were not yet on the maps.

A second issue is a better and safer communication method. On several of our legs, sometimes in remote areas, it would clearly have been safer to have access to a communication channel which is not internet/mobile-phone dependent. Several times, on narrow dirt roads crossing rivers and big stones, it struck me what happens now if I blow another tire, knowing that my reserve wheel already was in a repaired state after an earlier incident. Getting stuck high up in the Andes, might easily become problematic and being able to make an emergency-call is something to consider……

Another issue we spent unnecessary time and effort on was finding push-on replacement gas bottles for our camping stove. Argentina and Chile mostly use a screw-on gas-bottle solution, and it will be important for us now to find a good converter between the push-on and screw-on system as we continue our tour. I know these exist and it should not be too much of a problem to find a solution. But small issues like this can easily spoil the prospects of a hot meal when most needed 😊!