The Patagonia Run was the driving force behind our honeymoon plans. When we started talking about our honeymoon shortly after getting engaged, Steve had talked about visiting the Patagonia. Not just visiting, but camping in it. This discussion led to other discussions about traveling America and the world – resulting in our “final” honeymoon plans. We owe it to the Patagonia discussion that really pushed us to make the big moves. Patagonia has always fascinated us, and when our good friends Joe & Karla visited Patagonia and sang its high praises it confirmed what we already knew – we had to go.
For this trip, we decided to rent a camper van. Let me tell you, this is far different than the camping we experienced when traveling across US. “Wild Camping” is the thing to do here, it is safe, popular and encouraged by locals. Wild camping is basically finding a place to park for the night and make yourself home. In the US, we had only done this type of camping at Walmart. Throughout the trip there are various campgrounds we plan on taking advantage of for showers and wifi, but for the majority of the trip, our plan is to wild camp as much as we can.
Our camper van is quite the statement piece. We rented from WickedCampers. WickedCampers has campers in New Zealand and Australia and recently got their foot in the South America business. There is only one reason why we chose WickedCampers – it was the cheapest while still providing enough mileage allowance we needed. We are renting it for 35 days, averaging the cost per day to $70 USD. If you are not familiar with WickedCampers – they are known for their crazy and wild designs on vans. Ours design is “V for Vendetta”. Pretty cool, however, at first I was a bit nervous to be driving in an “anti-government” themed van while driving in a foreign country. So far, many police officers smile, laugh and wave at us. Most people take photos. If you can overlook the outside, the inside is really what matters to us. We are renting a two-seater Chevy M-300 van. The inside has a full mattress, kitchen sink, traveling stove, and utensils. We also have plenty of storage under the bed. It wasn’t long after renting the van we knew we needed to buy more stuff. For example, butter knifes are just not good for cutting vegetables, and with a sharp knife you need a cutting board. We also needed kitchen towels to dry dishes. Other than that, our Walmart trip in Santiago was pretty successful in getting stocked up. One thing that is challenging is our small ice chest, which results in us having to grocery shop frequently. Other than those challenges, the van drives well and isn’t terribly uncomfortable.
As far as our plans, they are still a work in progress. We are relying on the apps MapsMe for navigation, and iOverlander to help with camping accommodations. We plan on going as far South as possible. We generally plan a few days out, which allows us to make changes easily. Even with Steve’s Chile & Argentina cell phone chips, we don’t have internet often – sorry to our faithful readers (Moms).
We are excited for this trip, and will keep you posted on our amazing journey!
