A family completes an incredible 22-year life journey

(Gualeguaychu) They had left for six months, the trip of a lifetime, they return 22 years later, after a lifetime of travel, four children born on the way: an Argentinian family completes Sunday in Buenos Aires a rare journey and a little crazy, with the deep-seated belief that “humanity is wonderful”

In Gualeguaychu northwest of Buenos Aires, one of the last stages a few hours and 230 km from the end of the trip, Herman Zapp wonders whether he should say to himself “my dream is over” or “I have realized my dream “. It doesn’t matter in the end. “Everything was more beautiful than we had imagined”.

In the beginning was a couple of 31 and 29 years old, earning a good living, a house in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, desires of parenthood. But just before, there was this old dream for two: a six-month backpacker trip, from Argentina to Alaska, with 4000 dollars in his pocket. And then…

And then someone offered them this tired old collector’s car for sale, an unlikely means of transportation: a 1928 Graham-Paige, wooden rims, “that wouldn’t even start,” but that they fell in love with. The journey would therefore be made in antiquity.

Ah, the Graham-Paige… Almost as much as the Zapps — “ Family driving around the world “, as a sticker on the vehicle proclaims – she is the star of the journey of 102 countries crossed, 362,000 km covered. Even if she only rode a few hours per stage, and not every day, out of respect for her advanced age.

The car that opens doors and smiles

“It doesn’t have the best seats, it doesn’t have the best shock absorbers, and it doesn’t have air conditioning. It’s a car that forces you to be on alert […] But she was wonderful, ”summarizes Herman to AFP. A “machine for opening doors”, smiles, helping hands.

It has changed, of course, since the first kilometers – it only covered 50 on the first day, January 25, 2000, before the first breakdown… car, “add” 40 cm to it, as the family grew. Pampa, now 19, born in the United States, Tehue (16) on a return to Argentina, Paloma (14) in Canada, and Wallaby (12) in Australia. Without forgetting Timon the dog and Hakuna the cat.

Often, the car has been a “main residence”, with the children sleeping on a tent on the roof, the parents inside, all surrounded by a large tarp for privacy. “The house is small, but the garden is huge, with beaches, mountains, lakes. And if you don’t like it, you can change! Herman jokes.

But to tell the truth, the Zapps have mostly slept with locals, guests in more than 2,000 homes around the world, they estimate.

“We never imagined that people could be so beautiful in the world. This humanity in which we live is incredible,” Candelaria, 51, still cannot believe it. A meal, accommodation, free repairs… “Many helped us because they wanted to be part of a dream”.

Discovery is people

Of course, all was not rosy. Diverted several times by a conflict, a crisis, they lived in Asia with avian flu, Africa during Ebola, Central America with dengue fever, Herman caught malaria…

Every three years, they allowed themselves a stay of 2-3 months in Argentina to see the family again. Then they left, attracted in reality by something other than the landscapes, from Namibia to Everest, from Egypt to Peru: “what we discovered were the people”.

It is difficult to envisage the future, after two decades so full, which filled three books — catch your dreamsold 100,000 copies which partly financed the adventure.

Herman speaks of “thousands of options”, evokes a round the world sailing trip. Young children are not enthusiastic about the idea of ​​face-to-face college, after years of education by correspondence, or by their mothers. But with unequaled geography lessons.

A shift is perhaps to be expected, with sedentarization in a world that seems to be going from crisis to crisis. For Herman, this should not change the compass. “We are coming out of COVID-19, we are entering a huge war. If we wait for the right moment, there will always be a reason not to realize our dreams”.