Canada, Quebec – D-Day of our Pan-American road trip: up to Ushuaia!

Welcome to our blog! This is the very first article in our series on our Pan-American road trip! The first article of many that will take us along the legendary Pan-American Highway: from the northernmost point of the Americas, on the Arctic Ocean, through Alaska, then across the iconic American West to Mexico. From there, we’ll cross all the countries of Central America, ship our Jeep to South America, and travel through the Andes Mountains, the Andean Altiplano, volcanoes, and the vast plains of Latin America. We’ll journey all the way down to Ushuaia, reaching the southernmost road-accessible point in the world… until we finally take a dip in the Antarctic Ocean!

How do I know we’ll do all this? Because we are cheating a little bit! We are writing this introduction two and a half years after our departure 😉

So yes, over these next two and a half years, we will experience all of this… and so much more. And every one of these crazy adventures, from our road trip issues, unforgettable encounters, incredible experiences, the most intense emotions, and even our most brutal disappointments, everything, absolutely everything, we share it all here on our blog.

But let’s go back to the genesis of our expedition. When we were still brand-new adventurers, excited for the journey ahead, but completely unaware of the incredible adventure we were about to experience, an adventure that would change our lives. We hope you will enjoy reading it, and we hope these stories inspire you, amaze you, and perhaps one day, like us, encourage you to discover the incredible world we live in.

After two years and three months of preparation, it’s finally time to hit the road. It feels a bit surreal. To say we’ve been eagerly anticipating this day with excitement for the past two years would be an understatement. We’ve spent the last 24 months wondering how we were going to cook, shower, sleep, shop, find a place to spend the night, organize all our stuff, have hot water, heating, and electricity. In short, how to live on the road, in a car, while having as much comfort as possible.

Today is no longer the time for questions. It’s time to take the big leap and do what we’ve been preparing for all this time: travel. Today, we embark on our two-year expedition, our road trip along the Pan-American Highway, from North America to South America, from Alaska to Ushuaia.

Sunday, May 15, 2022

This past week has been quite intense. On Thursday, we left our respective jobs. We are now officially unemployed. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we emptied the apartment and loaded up the Jeep. Sunday afternoon, we handed over the keys. We are now officially homeless. Our new “apartment,” parked down the street, is packed to the brim. Everything is optimized, everything has its place, there’s nothing extra… but we’re leaving for two years.

On Sunday evening, after a few stops to take care of last-minute details, we finally hit the road. We leave Montreal Island with a touch of sadness but filled with excitement. However, we don’t go very far. We spend one last night in a cozy bed! Thank you, friends, for your hospitality 😁

Monday, May 16

The next day, we need some reassurance. Before starting our road trip in the Americas, we make a final stop at Christian’s, our preparer, to have the Jeep examined. It’s sagging, right? Definitely, yes. The rear suspension of the Jeep has dropped quite a bit since we loaded it. Christian lies under the Jeep, inspects the springs, checks the weight at the back of the Jeep, tests the suspension, and takes it for a drive. The verdict is in: no problem. We can hit the road safely, Jeepy is fine, and it’s not carrying more weight than it can handle. A big thank you again to Christian and the whole team at Passion 4×4 in Laval for taking the time to check our vehicle on short notice and reassure us about its capabilities… and especially for supporting us for over a year in preparing and outfitting our Jeep!

We can finally officially hit the road, heading towards Ushuaïa! Well, it’s a bit far, so we’ll start by heading to Grenville, just 1.5 hours from Montreal. We’re super excited to finally be on the road. Spring has truly settled in, and a fresh, vibrant green has taken over the landscape. It’s a real treat!

We spend the afternoon at Christina’s, the carpenter who made our furniture for the back of the Jeep. After testing it this winter, especially during a memorable camping weekend in -30°C, we’ve got a few improvements to make. All our stuff is scattered on the ground while she works on the drawers, and of course, it starts pouring rain.

Our first night in the tent is spent in the rain. It’s a real baptism of fire. The wind blows, it’s cold, and the rain comes down hard. On top of that, all our stuff is wet. We left one of our drawers at Christina’s, so all our belongings are piled up haphazardly in the Jeep. We can’t find anything! A soup, some pasta, and off to bed, nice and warm in the tent! We can definitely say this first evening of our road trip on the Pan-American Highway is throwing us right into the deep end!

We still have a few things to take care of before leaving Quebec for good: finalize our drawers, do some shopping, and stop by the garage to install the GPS trackers, which are required for insurance. After that, we’ll finally be able to officially start our road trip on the Pan-American Highway and head west, with a first stop at the beautiful Gatineau National Park.