Canada

Let's get started! After arriving in Vancouver, I have spent the first week of my trip searching for a suitable car. Thanks to that, I've become quite familiar with the whole Vancouver area. After I outfitted my Toyota with a comfy bed, the trek would first take me to Vancouver Island! I decided to cross the border by ferry, from Victoria to Port Angeles, on the Olympic Peninsula.

Washington - Oregon

The border crossing from Canada to the USA was a comforting experience. Staying in great cities like Seattle and Portland was memorable, but making my way back to nature, in Bend, Crater Lake (missing on map) and even further southwest to those wild beaches on the west coast, grounded me.

California, northern coast

Southern Oregon & Northern California allowed me a lot of time for discgolf!

The legendary Hwy 101 & the coastal Hwy 1 would finally lead me to the much storied Redwood forest.  I had never imagined that trees, so massive, would dwarf my expectations.

The laidback town of Mendocino, and its kind people, urged me to wonder what other treasures Northern California had to offer.  

San Francisco, the city with which I had the highest expectations, didn't let me down either...more on that later!

Nationalparks I

We headed away from the coast, into the majestic national parks, and made a not-so-short stop over in Las Vegas (of all places!) for Halloween!

It was a journey through magical landscapes with such diversity, which is still impossible to describe.

For a more detailed view zoom in to the map.

Nationalparks II

Arches and Bryce Canyon: two of the most amazing natural sights in my life!  It was a real highlight on the end of my 3+ week stay in national parks. On the way back to the coast,  I couldn't resist the temptation of going back to the city of sin (Vegas).

I stopped in Sequoia NP on the way to the west coast.  Good thing, because I've just made it in time to celebrate Thanksgiving in Santa Cruz.

California, southern coast

I returned to the Bay Area. In Santa Cruz,  I had the chance to experience the quintessential traditional american celebration: Thanksgiving!

Back on the Hwy 1, uber-fancy Malibu & Santa Barbara!

In Los Angeles, I met people that made me want to stay longer..in Hollywood, I enjoyed the beauty of "daily" life.

Visiting Joshua Tree & Slab City finally caused me to be over the desert...now it is definitely time for the beach!

I made a big leap and went back to L.A., to visit again with those who inspired me so much the first time.  One of the reasons why I love that I'm not working within time constraints!

Mexico

I pass over the border to Mexico! After spending a couple of nights in Ensenada, my buddy and I agreed on getting to the southern tip of Baja as fast as possible - destination El Pescadero. We drove like crazy; we covered the whole of Baja, from North to South, in three days. We spent  Christmas in a surf-mecca and it was a wise decision.

After a few chill days on the beach, the journey would bring me to Cabo San Lucas to meet with friends from the US, and then to San Jose del Cabo for NYE.

Afterwards the ferry would get me to the mainland.

Mexico Mainland

Unfortunately I couldn't adjust the map properly here. The correct rout would be straight from La Paz to Mazatlan.

Once arrived on the mainland i was relieved to exit the desserty landscapes of the past view months.  Mazatlan wouldn't be as I've imagined it. Surprisingly touristy and clean, with a lot of creature comforts. Further down south I would meet my future traveling  buddys from Australia.

In Sayulita I had the pleasure of my first Tequila experience - more would follow!

Puerto Vallarta would turn out to be the perfect spot to cure myself afterwards. After this the journey would take me east through Guadalajara and the pictures towns of Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende.

Mexico City •DF•

There it was ahead of me, Mexico City. With 21.2 million people it is the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere. Thanks god, or rather my friends from Bent, I had a local guide by the name of Astrid. She would show me the hidden spots in this great city. 

I would join her and here friend on a three day long road trip down to Oaxaca! It wont be my last visit in this very traditional place.

CUBA

This wasn't planed at all!

Inspired by my Aussie friends, I've decided to join them on there trip to Cuba before the embargo with the US gets lifted. I thought it may be the last chance to see Cuba unspoiled of foodchains and advertises.

A couple days later I would sit in the plane from DF to Havana with big expectations. One moth gave me enough time to see most of the biggest Island in the Caribbeans.

Southern Mexico

Once back from Cuba I would stay for over one month in DF! A great time with friends and a good chance to start this blog.

Once my credit card arrived from home my trip continued once more to Oaxaca and short after to the beaches of Puerto Escondido, Mazunte and Zipolite.

To escape the heat I've decided to drive up to the scenic mountain town of San Cristobal de Las Casas.

Bye Bye Mexico

I would be stationed for a week in the beautiful town of San Cristobal de las Casas. From there I experienced the nearby villages and went as well for a four day trip to the jungle of Palenque.

Once back again in San Chris the rout would take me after over 100 days in Mexico to San Pedro la Laguna in Guatemala for my Spanish course. Here I life with a local family and attend my daily Spanish classes with my private teacher.

Guatemala & El Salvador

After a month in San Pedro the journey continuous! First the highlights of Guatemala have to be discovered. The surreal cascades of Semuc Chempey make the start. The colonial town Antigua are a must see! The Big Foot hostel would make a great base camp for the overnight hike up the Acatenango volcano. El Salvador offers best beaches and lush Jungles!

Nicaragua

Trough Honduras the way would lead to Nicaragua. Leon and Granada are pretty similar. Post colonial, touristic and kind of similar to Antigua but not as nice!
Islad de Ometepe is on the other hand unique. The island in the biggest freshwater lake of Nicaragua is formed by two volcanos and offers spectacular nature and wildlife.
The last couple of days in Nicaragua would be in and around San Juan del Sur. Here my camera got stolen and this blog finishes...not really!

Costa Rica & Panama

Originally it was planed to drive through Costa Rica as fast as possible, but of course it turned out different. So stuck in a great place called Montezuma the stay in CR extended to ever two weeks. After dropping Nadine departed other way back to Mexico I’ve decided to fast forward and drove from Uvita to Panama City in one go. Here the whole proces of getting my car and me over the Darian Gap begun.

Overcoming the Darian

On this map you can's see the blue routes because most of the way was accomplished on a sailboat! I drove my car to Colon where it went through customs and got by bus to Portobelo. This should be the starting point for a five days journey on the 'Solo Dolphin' to Colombia!
For the first time since nearly one year I left Schwarzenegger behind, not knowing if we'll see us again.

Southern Colombia

After receiving news that my car would be shipped three weeks after my arrival in Colombia, I’ve decided to travel the ‘common’ way by public transportation and stay in hostels. The plan was easy. To kill the time I’ll headed up the Caribbean coast towards Santa Marta. This place is a perfect hub to see the surrounding sights like Tyrona NP and so on. After spending over two weeks in the are I headed back to Cartagena. This is where I chose to give up on my car. Read more in the blog section...

Ecuador

After spending two months in Colombia I felt the urge to move on and experience a bit more than just crazy fiestas. That said I got stuck for another four days in the Salsa capital of Colombia- Cali. Here I met my good travel bud Jamie from New Zealand again and after getting fed up with Salsa tunes we decided on making the cross to Ecuador. That journey took us just 24 hours by bus! Quito and the Cotopaxi Volcano would be my first two stops here before Galapagos.

Galapagos

Here I was, traveling for a year outside of Europe on my own, and suddenly within a week my parents and my aunty would visit me in Quito to go together for a twelve days trip to the Galapagos Islands! Well thats what I call a game changer. This gave me the opportunity to plan it a bit more luxurious than originally intended. We would spend our first eight nights on the 'Golondrina' cruising from Island to Island during nigh time and visiting the sights during the days. After the cruse we booked Hotels on Isabela and Santa cruz for each two nights. This is where I did my dives and let my parents relax and cook!

Ecuador II

Once back from Galapagos I was ready to get back on the road on my own. To sort out my over 6'000 pictures from the Galapagos I've decided to visit the Secret Garden in Cotopaxi again. After a couple of days of rest the next destination would be Banios. A great place where I met a group of hilarious folks. The 'Tripple B' group would do every day some fun activities and celebrate the accomplishments at night. Jamie and Maddison would convince me to go with them to Mancora, Peru!

Peru

Peru, the country of of Machu Picchu and so much more! After a while on high altitude it was once more time for some beach life. In Mancora I found that mixed with a lot of party in the Loki hostel. Here I spend over one week preparing myself for my 31st birthday.
Lima would make a nice stop over before getting to the famous Nazca Lines and the Oasis in Huacachina. With Cusco and Machu Picchu a highlight of the trip awaited me. With the Titicaca lake my journey in Peru ended.

Speed up to Argentina

Bolivia-Chile-Argentina in a record time! Now that I have a timeline I'm more or less forced to speed up my travels. Meaning I pic pretty much just the highlights. Unfortunately I've got sick in La Paz what slowed me a bit down. After recovering it was time to see Potosi with its famous silver mines.

A ultimate highlight of SA is the dessert of Uyuni!!! After a three day trip in the salt flats I decided to visit Chile for a bit and then rapidly continued over to Argentina for a steak and glass of wine.

Argentina

Buenos Aires is a place where you get stuck easily! It took a lot to get my ass out of here. Tigre is located only one hour from the city, but its an entirely different world. The river delta contains beautiful little cabanas in lush green jungle. After two days me and my friends returned for a final night to Buenos Aires befor taking a flight up north to the world famous Iguazu Falls. Here I would get stuck in the amazing Mango Chill hostel on the Argentinian side.

Brazil

wasn't actually planed at the start of this great journey, but after hearing just great feedback's, it became the perfect spot to say goodby to this continent for a while.

First stop after Foz would be RIO!

Indescribably good times in a city that has million faces.

To mix the last three weeks up, I decided to see Isla Grande, 3h south of Rio. Its postcard like beaches would round this hell of a trip up! Thank you for having me.