The Plan: expedicion Patagonia

54 degrees South, expedicion Patagonia

The plan was, is pretty simple, at least in theory.  The plan was to buy a Sprinter van, convert it to a camper, ship it along with equipment and gear, for the van and the adventure, to South America. The plan was to start in Peru (much more on that later), explore, head south into Chile, cross into Argentina, explore much more in Patagonia, and eventually, visit Ushuaia, Argentina, the furthest you can drive south, a city on the Beagle Channel with lies at approximately 54 degrees South latitude. That was, and is the plan.

The plan was hatched a couple of years ago, when, well, I felt that I needed a break. I had gotten pretty tired of my job as a professor at a small college in Maine, I never imagine having colleagues so lazy and apathetic, or a senior staff, including the president, who were so clueless about what is important at a small college. Students do not want $40,000 fire pits, they want great academic programs, professors who are around and who really care, and academic facilities which support the process of learning. The students at this small college deserved so much better than they were getting. Plus, I was ready to do something different, ready for new challenges, so it was the perfect time to take some time off.  I had saved some money, and planning really began two years before I actually boarded a plane for Peru, it was now time for an adventure, an outdoor adventure.

​This was to be an outdoor adventure, and I bought a new mountain bike, an inflatable SUP, and a van, modified so I could live, and work in it while exploring southern South America. The focus was primarily on Patagonia, with the amazing mountains, glaciers, rivers and lakes, wildlife and plants, and an incredible coastline to be found there. I also wanted to get back to photography, and maybe even a little videography, do some writing, and start this blog. I was ready for the physical challenges, and for new intellectual challenges as well. I would explore, bike, hike, and paddle, while writing and photographing to document the adventure, and the beautiful places and landscapes I experienced along the way. The van would give me flexibility to travel, and would allow me to stay in South America longer as I would live in my van, remote camp as much as possible, and avoid hotels and restaurants.The plan would hopefully allow me to explore South America for many months, allow me to spend less time driving, and more time biking, hiking, photographing and exploring. And along the way, I really wanted to improve my Spanish language skills, and many months down in South America would likely make this possible.

So, I planned, saved money, sold a number of things (including eventually my Nissan Xterra), bought a number of things, worked on my van, a lot, packed, moved my household stuff into storage, and by the late summer of 2016, I was ready to go. Subsequent posts will talk more about specifics, including the van conversion and other gear, and logistics, before the adventure really began. I am writing this while still in Peru, La Punta to be exact, so the adventure has technically begun, but as will also be explained later, not all aspects of an adventure go as planned. Thanks for following along.

​Brian C.L. Shelley  

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