Home is Where the Van is

They say “home is where the heart is”, which has mostly rung true for us throughout our travels. When we flew back to Colorado we were excited to be back with our friends and family, back in our house, and in a town that we love. But part of our hearts were still in a container somewhere between Chile and Texas. We deeply missed Chimera. After a year of impressing, thrilling, frustrating, and challenging us, and always providing a safe and comfortable shelter, our van really feels like our home. So for us home is where the van is (and the dog).

After a month of waiting and figuring out how to fit back into the still life we happily jumped on a plane and flew to Houston to liberate Chimera from the container that safely brought it across the seas. As expected, the process was a hassle and took longer than it should have, but before too long there we were in the port standing in front of the container that we loaded up in Valparaiso. The port crew were happy to let Tim and Corey hook the batteries up and unload the vehicles themselves, which they were eager to do.

Liberation.

Liberation.

Free at last.

Free at last.

Corey happy to be reunited with his Cruiser.

Corey happy to be reunited with his Cruiser.

It felt so great to climb back into our little home with all of its familiar smells and memories. Before long we hit the highway and once again we headed north. We drove late into the night, for the first time on our entire journey, then stopped when the thunderstorms got too intense, and slept at a rest area tucked between big rigs. We drove the whole next day, luckily avoiding the major flooding in northern Texas, and by late afternoon we crossed the border into Colorado.

Welcome home!

Welcome home!

Just after the sun went down we pulled into our driveway in Boulder, which we had pulled out of 431 days earlier as our journey began. Now our whole van family is really home. This marks the end of this wonderful adventure, but as with most explorers this journey has only fed our wander lust and we’re starting to dream about where the van will take us next. So stay tuned, it might be a year or three, but before too long we will hit the road again heading to new places and new adventures.

Thank you everyone for following us through to the end. We are so grateful for your support and encouragement.

Subagon North

In the style of Forrest Gump, when we hit the end of the road at the tip of South America, we figured since we’d gone this far we might as well turn back around and just keep on going. So that is what we did. We turned the van north heading for warmer weather, some final adventures, and eventually the port city from which we would be shipping Chimera back to the United States.

Perpetual pampas.

Perpetual pampas.

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Colorful Colombia

Colombia is an incredibly beautiful country and our first few weeks in South America were filled with colors. First we took in the lovely streets of old town Cartagena with its many terraces spilling over with bougainvilleas, then we spent a great week climbing at a spectacular sandstone cliff with an unbeatable view. Next we visited the picturesque colonial town of Barichara, where we camped overlooking another amazing canyon and walked the quiet streets. As we made our way towards El Cocuy we drove up and down mountainsides, across stream beds, and through rolling farm lands where spotted cows lazily munched away, and fields of purple potato flowers decorated the landscape.

On the road in colorful Colombia.

On the road in colorful Colombia.

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