It all started with an opportunity. We’d been stationed in Lesotho for 4 years. Enough time to develop a dream: to drive back to Swizzyland at the end of our contracts.

In 2012, the dream became a reality. Africa overland in our Toyota Prado for 11 months. 50’000 km along the eastern part of the continent, briefly touching Asia, and finally crossing Europe to reach Laufenburg, Swizzyland.

Along the way, we unexpectedly developed another dream. Not Swizzyland would be our final destination, but rather Ushuaia in Argentina – of course, with a stopover in Anchorage to enjoy 1 of their famous Indian Pale Ales.

In Turkey, at a junction near Ankara, we had to make the incredibly difficult decision of whether to turn right towards Ushuaia or left towards Swizzy’s Laufenburg. Our finances made the decision for us.

We headed to Burkina Faso to earn some money. Until mid-2014 when we definitely liberated ourselves from salary slavery. The much shorter overland trip from Ouagadougou to Laufenburg. 4 ½ months and 22 000 km only – a kind of side trip on the way to Ushuaia.

In June 2015, we started our journey thru Asia on the way to Alaska. However, an urgent family issue in July forced us to interrupt our journey and drive back to Swizzyland.

In April 2016, we resumed our journey towards Ushuaia. Taking the northern route thru Asia to reach Kyrgyzstan. Later, on thru Tibet to Laos and Southeast Asia. In June 2017 further east, crossing China, Mongolia, and Russia to finally reach South Korea. From there, Prado gets shipped to the US.

2018 and ’19, we explored North America, visiting the US, Canada, and Mexico. Of course, not without sipping the famous Indian Pale Ale in Anchorage, Alaska.

We then traveled south to Central America. In February 2022, after a 2-year break due to these Coronies, we finally arrived in South America and reached our final destination of Ushuaia, Argentina, in December. Time to expand our horizons. No longer fixated on Ushuaia as our final destination – but now looking beyond this lost town at the Strait of Magellan.

A year later in 2024, we’ve definitely gone beyond Ushuaia and were making our way thru Brazil, Bolivia, and Northern Argentina. After 4 months, we’ve realized it’s our final trip to South America – at least for the time being. And Prado was tired and yearned for retirement. We’ve almost visited all countries on the continent. Time to set our sights on new horizons.