My Home is the Road
Dog.O.Mobil on Tour
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South America 2024 and beyond
Where do you find the Dog.O.Mobil at the moment?
Pictures from previous tours

Chile - Isla Grande de Chiloé

On X12
Chile

Puerto Grosse
Chile

Lago Gral Carrera
Chile

Lago Posadas
Argentina

Lago Belgrano
Argentina

El Calafate
Argentinien

Lago Amarga
Chile

Morning view
Bahia el Bote
Chile

R255
Chile

Volcan Lanin
Argentina

Reserva La Payunia
Argentina

The Andes from RN 149
Argentina

Parque Provincial Ischigualasto
Argentina

Quebrada de los Cuervos
Uruguay

Cementerio Central
Uruguay

Patio de Escuelas Menores
Salamanca, Spain

Black Forrest
Mt Feldberg

Denmark
Nyborg

Norway
Røssvatnet

Lodingen
Norway

Norway
Hinnoya

One of many lakes
Sweden

Demark
Øresundbron

France
Jura

Vosges
France

Boshtova
Albania

Bulgaria
Near Kasanlak

Klisura Rijeke Pive
Montenegro

Wrocław
Poland

Greece
near Arkadiko Chorio

Senj
Croatia

Slovakia
Štrbské Pleso

Danube
Romania

Bosnia and Herzegovina
near Kalinovik

near Constanța
Romania

Poland
near Poznań

towards Berat
Albania

Andromonástēro
Greece

Maramureș
Romania
Impressions

R7, rain, rain and rain
If there's one thing I'll remember, it's the bad weather along the Carretera Austral. Below travel blog post didn't quite apply to me.
Patagonia in the dry season (December to February). During these months the temperatures are very warm, averaging 20° C, and the amount of rainfall is much lower than in the rest of the year. This is the high season and best time to travel anywhere in Chile

Stuck
What do you do when your mind says no, but you really want to see the glaciers from your pitch..... 2 hours later I was out again.
Thanks to Elisabeth and Carlheinz. Without help it would have taken much longer.

In Chile again
After 2 weeks in Argentinian Patagonia, I crossed over to the Carretera Austral (R7) in Chile. The journey to Paso Roballos and the border station were definitely a highlight for me.
Next stop Cochrane. Refuelling and shopping

Santa Cruz Provice distances
I am still not able to grasp the sheer distances in the Santa Cruz Province and as I call it the Estepa Province
Hardly a journey between 2 must-see spots under 300 kilometers and mostly on tiringly straight roads. Only the wind forces you to stay alert

Fitz Roy
Finally I have seen Fitz Roy. For me the most beautiful place in Patagonia. Even after a 19 km hike I felt so balanced and relaxed

Perito Moreno
At 8:00 this morning I entered the NP Los Glaciars to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier. Paid 45 € and 30 min later I was one of many others, that drove the only one road that gets you to the Mirador. The viewpoint is nicely arranged with pathes that gives you the opportunity to see the Glacier from all angles.

Let's see how the adventure continues
New Year's Eve is like Valentine's Day
Some people party, others sit in front of the TV and I celebrate in Patagonia without fireworks and a TV
Happy New Year!

I wish you a Merry Xmas
I wish you a Merry Christmas
from the shores of the Pacific Ocean
north of Punta Arenas

A coffee outside would be great
After almost a week of rain and strong winds, I can once again enjoy a cup of coffee in front of the Dog.O.Mobil with a view of Tierra Del Fuego.
It's only 13 Celsius, but it feels so good. Afterwards I make myself a campfire to round off the Saturday in style

From Montevideo to the Chile border
Last spring, I wanted to know how many kilometers I would cover on this tour. Furkot had planned around 32,000 kilometers from Montevideo to Cartagena in Colombia. The distance to Tierra del Fuego was to be around 5,500 kilometers and the direct route (along the RN3) around 3,000 kilometers.
Up to the border in Monte Aymond it was finally 7,600 km. All the small detours to avoid traveling on the RN40 added up to 2,000 km.

Now it's got me, had to go to the workshop
In Rio Gallegos, at the wreck, the driver's door was almost torn off. It was windy, but the gusts of wind were fierce. The door wouldn't close, warped, and a hinge was broken. Drove 25 km with the broken door to the next workshop
A VW workshop repaired it. They just laughed about the rookie error.... But they were so helpful

330 km and only 1 small city
Drove from Puerto San Julián to Rio Gallegos and only saw 1 city next to the RN3. 2 junctions and the rest was Estepa, wasteland. Nothing on the left, nothing on the right. Only exits to Estancias which I couldn´t see
A little bit like in a Mad Max movie

After the rescue mission
Once upon a time, there was a proud drone owner who wanted to make beautiful videos of flamingos. But there was a flamingo that didn't know right from left. The drone is now R.I.P on Mar Chiquita

Comparsa in Palermo
A comparsa parades very slowly down the street in Palermo. A comparsa group of candombe drummers and dancers

Dog.O.Mobil made it to the harbor
I have just received the picture from the agent. Friday 25th 18:00 local time. The Dog.O.Mobil is in the harbor and with a bit of luck I'll be able to take delivery of it on Monday

Grande Francia in Montevideo
On Oct 23rd the Grande Francia arrived in the harbor of Montevideo around 11:00 in the evening. Now everything just has to be in and on the Dog.O.Mobil🤪. Over 9 month of preparation finally goes into action.

Hand over Hamburg
On Sept 9th I handed over the Sprinter in Hamburg with the support of Overlander Shipping Hamburg. The whole process took less than 45 minutes. Expected arrival in Montevideo is Oct 7th. As shit happens, the Dog.O.Mobil will be on a later vessel and only arrive on the Oct 19th

Salamanca
In addition to the renowned university, Salamanca has a plethora of language schools, one of which is mine 😎
The movie discussed was While at War (Spanish: Mientras dure la guerra). During the Spanish Civil War, the movie tracks the plight of philosopher and writer Miguel de Unamuno (born in Salamanca)

Vesteralen
The Lofoten islands are stunning but we decided to go for the Vesterålen and where hoping for less vans on the road..

Trondheim
Most people post pictures of the cathedral or the old town of Trodnheim. But Trondheim is a normal city

Free Miko
The beach at the Friseboda Nature Reserve was the first chance for Miko to stroll around

Little Mermaid
Covid is over, long live tourism and influencers... Almost couldn't believe how busy Copenhagen was today

Alps View
On Easter Sunday this view of the Alps from La Vue des Alpes, near Les Hauts Geneveys, was my litle gift. Great view, that's all I can say!

Skiing for whatever it takes
I wasn't sure if I would have skied under those conditions in the Vosges. Skiing at plus degrees on narrow artificial snow tracks: That is the 2023 reality of ski tourism

Nice Surprise
Stand there on the side of the road and took pictures of the Cantal. Suddenly out of nowhere the falcon <I guess> is over me and I just hold on to it. 2 deer were too fast for me, but everything was right with the bird

Route Montagne Cantal
To the north of the Route Montagne Cantal, the landscape is characterized by hilly farmland. You really relax when you drive towards Riom-ès-Montagnes.

Gascogne
The aim of my bike tour in the Gascogne region was to visit local chateaus around Condom. Not really a success story.... It was either a perfectly normal winery or, as in the picture, the gate was closed. I was able to visit 2 out of 6 planned chateaus

Col d'Aubisque
The Col d'Aubisque is one of many Pyrenees passes. With its 1'709 m, not the highest. Located southwest of Tarbes in the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. This are some of the facts. But it's definitely one of the passes that impressed me the most on my tour

Drôme
A lot of people talk about the Provence, but I was definitely impressed by the Drôme Département. Gorges and wooded natural parks, lavender fields, olive trees and perched solitary villages...

Col de Muze
I love sunsets with a Gin Tonic, Rum or whatever in my hand. The Col de Muze is one of an unspeakable number of passes in the Diois massif, an area with lonely, beautiful pass roads away from all mainstream routes infested with motorbikes.
Previous posts
Isla Grande de Chiloé
After a 4-hour ferry ride, I arrived in Quellón in fine weather.
Rain on R7 from Tortel to Chaitén
After the Paso Roballos, I was hoping for a good Chilean road. Too bad. The road through the Patagonia National Park (Chile) is pretty battered.
Laguna San Rafael
In Puerto Río Tranquil I turned off onto the X728. Pitches were a dime a dozen and the North Patagonian Ice Field was my backdrop.
West Patagonia, AR
After I had crossed the border in Cerro Castillio on 1.1.25 in the morning at 9.30 a.m. in 40 minutes. The Chileans had checked my van on entering Chile, but no Argentinian wanted to look at it.
Patagonia, Chile
On 20 December, I took the Dog.O.Mobil in the direction of Mont Aymond. After I refueled the van I left Rio Gallegos towards the Border
El Bolson to Monte Aymond
As we travelled on from El Bolsón, I knew that El Bolsón was/is the hippie capital of Argentina. As in Germany, it dated back to the 60s and 70s. I certainly didn't notice much of it.
Parque Marino Isla Pingüino
Ute and Stefan had checked the whole thing out in advance and Darwin Expediciones had gathered enough people to drive to Isla Pingüino.
Bariloche and the 7 Lake District
On the weekend north of Lago Ñorquinco, I tackled all sorts of things. Saturday was just perfect in the sunshine to carry out repairs, clean the van and take a dip in the Rio Remeco.
Mendoza to the 7 Lakes district
After the disappointment of buying wine, we headed south on the RN40. We travelled via Tunuyan and San Carlos on the RN40 to Pareditas.
From Jachal to Mendoza
I was having breakfast at the El Mangrullo campsite in Mendoza when I realized that I hadn't made any notes over the last few days.
Fray Bentos to San José de Jáchal
When you see the usual posts on Instagram, YT or Pinterest, you think Argentina consists of the Andes and Patagonia. Together with the Hyggies, I made my way to the mountains
Parque Provincial Ischigualasto
The Parque Provincial Ischigualasto was the first national park in which we planned to do a guided tour with our own cars.
Uruguay - en el campo
I hadn't found much about Uruguay beforehand, and hadn't actually done much searching. The few things I did find didn't send me into raptures. I would have done Montevideo in 3 days if I hadn't had to pick up the van.
Montevideo
Montevideo has around 1.3 million inhabitants and is the capital of Uruguay. The city was founded by Spain in 1724, where the Ciudad Vieja stands today.
Preparation
The Dog.O.Mobil is on the vessel and I am waiting for the flight to Buenos Aires. Preparation completed ✅
2023 Kitchen remodelling
The Dog.O.Mobil scratches the 3.5to mark on every tour and I tried to figure out what makes it so heavy. I found the YT video from bergbrise-camping EVERY SECOND MOTORHOME OVERLOADED? informative and rejected the idea of increasing the load to 4to. It was more of a coincidence that I noticed that my Ikea kitchen is significantly heavier than I thought. So I saw potential here
Norway and Sweden
As usual I have a plan and their is reality. My plan was to explore Norway from South to North and go back south in Sweden. To reduce costs we decided to go with the Dog.O.Mobil to Copenhagen on the road, cross the Öresundbron (bridge) and explore Sweden first. I have to say... Like many other in 2023
Hiking on the Black Forrest
I use Komoot for 3 years now. In case I am too lazy to plan my own tour , I am going to use a Komoot recommendation.
Vosges - Route des Crêtes
February at the Swiss border had been sunny and actually much too warm. Since I had assumed that things would continue like this, I had considered the trip to the Vosges.
Initial Tour Ideas
My journey to travel with a van started a few years ago with an off-road training and the idea of driving down the Pan Americana from Alaska to Patagonia. It was the book and blog of Dan Grec who in one go inspired and scared me away.
Looking back at 6 months
2 weeks before the end of the sabbatical, my sister-in-law asked me "Did it bring you what you were looking for?" After about 17'500 km and my last hike to the Puy de Sancy, I started thinking about it on the way home
Mountains, Valleys and Lakes
Once again I'm sitting here and don't know what to write about the wonderful Pyrenees. I can't get a song about mountains, valleys and lakes out of my head, and it took me a while to find it -> "Mountains and Valleys" from Bender & Schillinger
Mountains - Borders - Surprises
This morning I started in Font Romeu in France, or better said the ski resort. It was fresh at 9:00 <only 15 degrees>. My planned path should lead me past the Spain enclave of Llívia to Andorra.
France - Occitanie
The Ardeche valley was beautiful, but hot and crowded. I couldn't bring myself to look for a parking space in the valley itself. I prefer it cool at night 😉
The French Alps
The first thing that struck me was the better developed roads on the French side of the Col de la Lombarde. Isola, better Isola 2000, the first stop, is a typical winter sports resort. While there are some summer tourists, the ski slopes, lifts, and ambiance screams ski-resort.
Back in the mountains
After a week in the Maremma with well over 30 Celsius almost every day and, worst of all, mosquitoes, I'm on my way now. The time with my friends in Ribolla was nice, I ate too much and didn't really move.
I am on the road again
After 4 weeks at home I left today <10.08>. It started at 31 degrees and a bright blue sky
Kraków - Oswiecim - Wrocław and Poznań
I entered Poland near Zwardoń. I didn't notice much of border, only the trucks had to drive to a parking lot, while I went overland to Kraków
Slovakia
I've been pondering what I should write about Slovakia for so long. On the one hand, that was because I hadn't been in the country long enough, but I didn't want to stay any longer either
Rubbish update Romania
For me there is a big gap between what I was told and what I saw in Romania
High Tatra Hike
If I'm honest, I didn't have a plan for Slovakia, apart from hiking in the High Tatras
12 weeks and 10'090 km on the road
When I started the Dog.O.Mobil this morning in brilliant weather <26 degrees at 800 m>, I saw 90 on the display
Creasta Cocoşului Hike
The hike to Creasta Cocoşului should be my last hike in Romania
Transalpina - Transsilvania - Maramureș
After my detour to the Iron Gate <Danube breakthrough> I wanted to continue north again. The motto was Transalpina - Transylvania - Maramureș.
South America Videos
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Updated02 February 2025
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