As soon as we entered the mountains it was spring, with its amazing colors. We have not been a place, where it has been spring since the spring 2016 in Denmark. In California, USA we experienced the winter time, and when we came into Mexico it was the dry season. Thought on the Baja California peninsula we saw a lot of flowers in the dessert. Once again we are enjoying the spring.
After traveling through Mexico, Central America, Columbia and Ecuador we know how much we love the change in season and the change in the amount of daylight. Around the Equator the sun rises at 6 am and sets again at 6 pm. The weather is very stable and the range in temperature are small. The climate is very much the same all the time, and the fauna is the same years around. When we got further away from the Equator, especially in Central America and Columbia on the northern hemisphere where there are dry and wet season. It is the same on the southern hemisphere where there is wet and dry season in Peru and the Amazonia (some places it rains year around in the Amazonia). In the areas with wet and dry season the fauna is green during the wet season and yellow/brown during the dry season.
In contrast to the dry season the spring has so many colors
It all comes down to, that we both love the four seasons that we have in Denmark, but now we also experience spring and summer here in Chile. I especially love the many hours of daylight, where the sun doesn’t set before 9.30 pm. I love the bright summer evenings, even when it gets chilly.
As we travel further we learn more and more about ourselves and other countries, and the way we experience the similarities and differences in comparison with our home country, Denmark. This is the kind of knowledge you can’t learn from a book – it is life experience. We are growing, and so are the nature around us.
Not only had we learn more about ourselves, we also learn more about each other. Learning our similarities and differences in our relationship, and using the new knowledge to find out and talk about what is important to us in life. Including both individual things and what is important for our relationship. We love the nature, and we love spending our time together in the nature.
Even the birds are finding each other and staying together
After the change from motorcycle to Lance our van we have found out new things. On the motorcycles we each had our own motorcycle, and had our own way of packing and keeping everything in order (or in less order – isn’t it right Esben?). Even in the tent I had my side and Esben having his, though we did share our double sleepingbag. Now we share all the space in Lance, which can be a challenge because I like when everything is in order, and Esben enjoy the freedom of leaving stuff everywhere. What happen was, that I felt that I was cleaning up all the time, because it was impossible to do anything before cleaning up (the space in Lance is limited). We are trying to find a way together, where Esben don’t leave everything out, but at least put things away that he is not using. This way there is always room for me to do things, without having to clean up Esben’s things first.
Lance as giving us a home, where we have room to relax. Been in the motorcycles there was never room for us to relax. Riding the motorcycle through these countries we had to stay alert all the time, because the traffic is so different and much more intense. We really felt, that we were the smallest ones in the traffic. Also to navigate in these countries are more difficult and complicated, because the system of roads are so different and the maps on the GPS are not precise at all. So everything becomes a bigger challenge than we were used to. After getting of the motorcycles we had to pack everything out, and set up our tent, if we could find a place that was safe enough to camp. If not, we had to find a cheap hotel with safe parking, these times only taking the most necessary things with us. At the hotels it was impossible for us to use our camping stove (Trangia and a burner from Primus), so we ate a lot of sandwiches. Every time we stopped there was always some thing to do, checking the motorcycles, cleaning and drying motorcycle gear and camping gear. It felt like a never ending job.
Central America: trying to dry our gear after 12 hours in the rain, and trying to fix our tent after leafcutter ants ate through it
Once again we thank all the people who have helped us both before (our friend Douglas) and during our travel, Garry and Ivone in Mexico City, Felipe’s family in Costa Rica and Juan in Quito, Ecuador. You all made it possible, that we made it all the way to Santiago de Chile.
Sharing our life with Lance has made a big differens. We can now travel in shorts and t-shirt (on the motorcycles we had to get into all the gear every day, when we traveled). We can be on the road within 1 hour including making breakfast and coffee. Today (the 5th of January 2018) we got up, but it was windy with a little bit of rain and sun, so we decided to spend a day editing picture and writing on the blog. It is possible when we travel in Lance, this was not possible when staying in our tent while traveling on the motorcycles. It is so much easier to spend a day in Lance working and relaxing. Two days ago when the rain was pouring down, we did our laundry and had to kill 3 hours while waiting for the clothes to finish. We spend the hours watching a movie in Lance, on the motorcycles we would have been soaked, and the laundry would have to wait.
Editing pictures while the last clothes are drying
Maybe the biggest difference is, that Esben now can take a nap during the day, when he feels tired. Esben now feels less tired, which means that his energy is slowly returning. So now he has the energy to enjoy hiking and play with his new camera equipment. He is even taking part in the grocery shopping, making sure that there is meat for dinner, and making a fire to BBQ the meat. I really feel the difference, which makes our life and relationship in Lance to much better 
.
Noticing the wildlife around us – big and small
We have been trying to camp for free as much a possible, also called wild camping. In Mexico it was possible, but as soon as we entered Guatemala and traveled through the rest of Central America it was also impossible to wild camp (1) we had so much rain and (2) it was just not safe. After changing from the motorcycles to van we try to wild camp again. Here in Chile is it very easy, and it is the easiest way for us to save money. With wild camping comes no services, so showers is in a nearby lake and the toilet between the bushes. We can’t live without our “poop-kit” – you will get used to it. We do our thing and then cover it up, never leaving trash or toilet paper. The used toilet paper we put into our trash bag. We have seen so much toilet paper just laying in the nature. Please don’t leave it, pick it up and put it into your trash bag.
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