The couple started their journey 18 years ago, with 4,000 euros and their Graham-Page. They left their world behind: work, family and friends; took their bags and left Argentina for Alaska. That was the beginning of a trip across the five continents that is now coming to an end.
During the trip, the Zapp family got bigger: Pampa, Tehue, Huyaa, Paloma and Wallaby. Each of them was born in a different country and their names were inspired by the culture of those places. Apart from being a mother, Candelaria is a teacher for her children, showing them the theory of what they will later experience for themselves. In their YouTube channel, Herman explains: “I’d like my children to learn that it՚s not about what they will live off in the future, but what they will live for, that is enough to give life a meaning”. He adds: “We will be in this world for a short time, and during that time, we don՚t have to gather things, but live them”.
On several occasions, Herman commented his desire to undertake this trip started thanks to his schoolteacher and his grandfather, who implanted in him the desire inspired him to live life to the fullest. In short, the Zapps remind us that life is more than working to pay the bills and that many experiences can be gained with very little in our backpacks.
They have acquired a fund of experiences that have shared with their faithful followers: from building a canoe to touring the Amazon, climbing the Everest visiting the Arctic sea in Alaska and Europe, walking along the Chinese wall, going around Australia, crossing deserts and driving to the Pacific Islands to places where no car had reached before.
The family raised the money to finance their trip thanks to the sale of crafts, their book Catch your dream and occasional jobs. The old taxi became their home which, however small, had the best view in the world. One tool that helped them to reach more people was their crowdfunding platform. There, the family explains that the dream they had created in their minds deserved a try and, that it does not matter how much you have, but how much you want to pursue your dreams.
Photo: The Zapp family