A Bike, a Bug, and a Trailer
When I tell people I am going to bicycle through South America, I get some shock, some awe, some fear (hello mom), and my favorite: "Living the dream huh?!"
Absolutely.
Ever since I saw my mom bike across the U.S. at 50, I’ve wanted to do the Trans America ride. My ultimate desire was to ride from Canada to Argentina, but as much as I hate saying there are some things that are extremely dangerous and limiting to do as a single female, cycling through Central and South America is one of those things.
But, at the end of my last trip to Brazil, the universe collided me with Rafael, a Brazilian about to embark on a year long (or more) journey from Rio de Janeiro, through South, and Central America, then up to Canada, and back down again. He was going to do all of this on a motorcycle hauling a trailer. Yes it was scary, and I loved that.
Over the next two months we planned taking the northern route together. I was going to meet him on my way back to Brazil in the Fall, then ride through Northern Brazil, Suriname, French Guinea, and Venezuela with him.
If you have listened to the news you have probably heard that there is a devastating refugee crisis right now on the borders of Brazil and Venezuela. Not the smartest idea to travel there. So our plan morphed again.
So did the modes transportation. Truth is hauling a trailer with a bed, all personal belongings, surfboard, paddle boards, and bicycles would be very unstable, especially on off-roading adventures (which can be normal day adventures with the current infrastructure). So, Rafael traded the Harley for a VW Baja Bug, and picked up my BikeFriday from Nova Era Co-living where I had left it in the Spring. The Baja Bug could handle both the trailer, sports gear and off-roading, and I could be re-united with my bike to cycle the route with him.
On October 4th I will be flying to Mexico for an interfaith conference then to Uruguay to meet Rafael, and together we will travel through South America via bicycle, bug and trailer. We will be stopping at co-living and co-working spaces along the way, I will attempt to learn how to surf, and bike my heart out over kilometers of mountains, beaches and the unknown.
Checkout the first installment of the video series, about the decision to make the switch from the motorcycle to the VW Baja Bug. And stay tuned for so many more.
