Where are you from?

The Netherlands

When did you start your interest in exploration?

For Jimi, it started when he visited Sri Lanka with his parents when he was 17. After this he decided to take a gap year after high school and travelled through South East Asia for 3 months.

Lara went to Thailand when she was 20 for a volunteer project and travelled through the country afterwards. This is where her interest in exploration began.

What is a brief understanding of your background story up until you started seeking adventure?

When we were students, we always saved as much money as we could to go on backpacking trips together. Due to our studies these trips were never longer than a month. We always said that we wanted to do a bigger trip of at least a year before we turned 30. After we graduated and got 'real' jobs we were able to save more money for a longer trip. At first our plan was to go backpacking for a year, but after we had to postpone our plans due to COVID, we stumbled upon some Youtube videos of people doing the Panamericana. We really liked the idea of travelling overland and having our own home while being on the road. After some research we changed our plans and started looking for a camper. Eventually we were able to buy one in Seattle and started our adventure there in September 2021. Fun fact: we never slept in a camper before we bought ours for this trip.

What special skills do you have to help with your explorations?

Jimi is the main problem solver and finds a way to stay calm and positive in every situation. He is also the one who speaks the most Spanish and can make friends with every local.

As a doctor, Lara has medical skills (although we luckily never had to use them until now). She is also the one with the organisation skills and does most of the planning.

Where have you explored so far?

Together we visited Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Ecuador. We also did a road trip to Italy and went on a few small trips in Europe. 

Jimi also went to Laos and Cambodia and Lara went to Ghana for an internship.

What is a brief understanding of your adventures so far?

We started our PanAmerican trip in September 2021. We drove from Seattle southwards through the USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. We are currently in Colombia waiting on our camper to arrive on the ship from Panama. After this we will drive towards Patagonia and hopefully reach Ushuaia in December.

What are the top three destinations you hope to explore next, and why?

After our trip we will first go to the Netherlands again for a while, but we would love to buy a camper in the Netherlands and explore Europe and Central Asia by camper. We also want to make a road trip through New Zealand. But Africa is also amazing, and let's not forget Canada and Alaska which we couldn't see on this trip.

Where would you recommend others visit?

We honestly think every part of the world has its own beauty and that most countries are worth visiting. You'll learn a lot from different cultures, religions and people that live on the other side of the world.

We're from a pretty cool town (Groningen) which is far away from Amsterdam but much more fun and prettier, so I would recommend you to drink some beers with us there ;)

How do you primarily travel on your adventures today?

Ford F250 1995, 7.3 turbo diesel with a 1986 Bigfoot camper. 

When we bought the camper the interior was just remodelled and in great shape. We just removed some decorations as the camper had a hunting and fishing theme. Changing the radio to one with bluetooth was a life changer. Adding solar panels as well. We didn't make any modifications to the car.

What are five pieces of equipment that you always travel with?

- Headlight

- Camera with tele lens to make wildlife pictures

- eReader (Lara) or swappable book (Jimi)

- Earplugs

- Small games for 2

What inspires you to explore more?

For us, travelling is the biggest luxury of life. It gives you the opportunity to see the beautiful nature of this planet, eat different kinds of food and meet people from different cultures. We had so many experiences on our travels that we would never have gotten if we stayed at home.

How do you engage with others?

We engage with other travellers by meeting overlanders at camp spots, travellers at hostels and sometimes through social media. We get a lot of attention from the locals by driving our camper through Latin America as the people here are very open and welcoming. This makes it quite easy to get in contact with the people here.

Why is it important to embrace global cultures?

There is this psychological term "Cultural relativism" which says you can only understand a person's beliefs and actions if you see it through their culture. We know how to judge others, but what gives us the right to do so? We like to think we are better than the guy next door. Truth is, the guy next door has some amazing stuff going on and we could learn from each other.

What are your goals when you explore?

Mostly to see as much of the world as possible, as it is pretty beautiful here. We love nature and wildlife so we try to find a lot of it. We also really love food and like to try all the local dishes. And of course we want to learn one or two things on the way as well!

What are some challenges you have experienced?

The biggest challenge on this trip was when we lost one of our wheels when driving on the highway. We were both fine but obviously had quite some damage to the car and camper we had to fix. Other than that, we had some more mechanical challenges and as a couple, being together 24/7 in a small space can sometimes be challenging too. 

What has been your most meaningful moment so far?

In Belize, we decided to go to a Mennonite community (a bit similar to the Amish) when we learned they are 10% of the population there. We met a man at the store who invited us to his house and we ended up spending the night there. They speak a mix of old Dutch and German which we could understand a bit and they invited their friends to meet us as well. We even got to ride in their buggy (horse with cart). Even though their lifestyle could not be more different than ours they were very welcoming and interested. It really taught us to never judge a book by it's cover.

How has exploration changed you?

We like to think that we are more open minded and flexible than before we started travelling. Driving through Latin America has taught us to be more patient and adapt more easily when things don't go as planned (they often don't). Also, meeting people from other cultures really helps to be less judgemental about others.

What is the number one lesson that you have learnt through your exploration?

That you really don't need any special skills or a lot of money to make an overland trip, you just need a good spirit.

How do you explore locally?

As the Netherlands is very small, it’s easy to catch a train or bus to anywhere you want to go. We really love going to one of the islands close to our hometown (Schiermonnikoog) which in our opinion is the most beautiful place in the Netherlands.

What does the explmore mantra mean to you?

That it’s a great privilege to travel and explore other countries that will give you a lot in return. We have never met anyone who regretted going on a trip.

What advice would you give to others who are seeking life changing adventure?

As we earlier said: you really don't need any special abilities or a lot of money to travel. The timing is never perfect either. The people who are travelling are not more special than you, the only difference is that they decided at one point to just go. You can do it too!