Back home in Argentina after driving around world for 22 years

GUALEGUAYCHU (Argentina) • An Argentine family is about to finish the trip of a lifetime: they have covered five continents in a 1928 jalopy on an adventure that began in 2000, while bringing into the world and raising four kids who are now adolescents.

The Zapp family - Herman and Candelaria and their children - have driven a total of 362,000 kilometres and had stopped off in this town on the border with Uruguay before their scheduled arrival yesterday back where they started on Jan 25, 2000, at the Obelisk, a monument in downtown Buenos Aires.

"I have very mixed feelings. We are ending a dream, or fulfilling a dream," Mr Herman Zapp told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "What will come now? Thousands of changes, thousands of options," said the 53-year-old, who is already thinking of sailing around the world.

Candelaria, who was 29 when the trip began and is now 51, said her biggest and best discovery was the people encountered along the way. "People are wonderful. Humanity is incredible," she said.

She said the family visited no fewer than 102 countries, although sometimes they had to take detours because of wars or other kinds of conflict.

The couple had been married six years, had good jobs and had just built a house, with plans to have kids, too, when wanderlust hit.

Their round-the-world journey began with a backpacking trip in Alaska. And somebody offered them a car, a 1928 model of an American make called Graham-Paige. The engine was bad and the paint looked terrible. "It would not even start," said Candelaria.

Herman said: "The seats are not great, nor is the muffler. It does not have air conditioning, either. It is a car that you have to keep your eye on. It does not look comfortable, but it was marvellous.

"It was good in cities, in mud and on sand," he added.

They went through only eight sets of tyres in 22 years and only twice needed to do major engine work.

Herman shows off the roadster by opening up a canvas on the top that forms a sort of tent for the kids to sleep under when it was time to camp out. "It is nicer now than when it first came out," he said of the modified uber-vintage vehicle.

While out on the road, and with the first two kids born - Pampa, now 19, came into this world in the United States, and Tehue, 16, during a visit back to Argentina - they enlarged the car by actually cutting it in half and adding 40cm of length and another seat. That made room for the arrival of Paloma, now 14 and born in Canada, and Wallaby, 12, born Down Under in Australia.

The last additions to the family were a dog named Timon and a cat called Hakuna during a stay in Brazil, where the Zapps were stranded for a while in 2020 because of Covid-19.

The car itself looks like something out of a gangster movie: The boot acts like a kitchen storage area, and the heat of the engine is used to cook or heat water. Clothes and tools are stored under the seats. And for all these years, it was home sweet home. "It is a small house but with a huge backyard, with beaches, mountains and lakes. If you do not like the view, you can change it," Herman quipped.

On the side of the car is a sign that reads, "A family travelling around the world."

The Zapps usually stayed as guests in people's houses - they estimate around 2,000 altogether.

But it was not all easy going. Herman once caught malaria, the family drove across Asia during the bird flu outbreak, and had to deal with Ebola in Africa and dengue fever in Central America.

Here on the streets of Gualeguaychu, people honk their horns when they see the Zapps' old Graham-Paige. Vintage car buffs have their picture taken with it.

And some buy a copy of the book the Zapps have written about their adventure, entitled Catching A Dream.

The Zapps have sold about 100,000 copies and say this is their main source of revenue for all this travelling.

For the record, they did the Americas, Africa, Oceania, Asia and Europe. They touched Mount Everest, ate duck eggs in Asia, danced with native people in Namibia, entered the tomb of King Tut in Egypt and sailed across many a sea.

For the kids, it was an unforgettable experience. After studies remotely and home learning with Candelaria, in-person classes now await them in Argentina.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE