Sometimes what happens instead of what you planned is the good stuff. While I didn’t make it Ushuaia on my motorcycle I did make it and the changed plans also allowed for a lot of other things I hadn’t originally even thought of. I ended up making it to the famous Iguazu Falls in Argentina and also to Uruguay and Paraguay which were never really on my radar for this trip.

I ended spending a lot of time in Buenos Aires which was nice. I made a lot of interesting friends from the hostels and from traveling around. After Ushuaia I reunited with my Russian military deserter and Brazilian who speaks 10 languages friends. We went out to eat a nice steak dinner with some other friends and a Romanian girl I had met on the bus. On one of my days in Buenos Aires I took a day trip on the ferry from Puerto Madero in Argentina across the bay to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. I spent a little bit of time walking the streets of the small colonial town. There was obviously, much like Buenos Aires, a heavy European influence. On another day as I was nearing my time to fly home from Buenos Aires I accidentally walked right through the start of a Milei presidential rally leading up to the country’s election. Curious, after I checked into my hostel, I went and grabbed some dinner and watched some of the rally. On the outskirts of the rally disagreeing citizens threw eggs and trash at each other while shouting what I am assuming were some pretty heated expletives. As I decided to head back to my hostel I heard the crowd erupt as Milei took the stage. I walked to the edge of the crowd to snap a photo to prove that I saw the president of Argentina in person if he does indeed win the election.

For a place that wasn’t even on my radar Iguazu Falls far exceeded any expectations I had. I was truly in awe of the sheer size of the falls! The falls are made up of roughly 275 distinct falls spread over a 1.7 mile edge. Since I was there during the start of the summer months, which typically experience heavier rain, I got to experience the falls at high volume which was incredible to feel the power of the falls as the mist sprayed me from hundreds of feet away. The only downside to visiting during rainy season, besides the 98 degree weather and humidity, was the increased volume of water can cause certain areas to be closed due to excess flooding. There were certain highlights of the falls that were unfortunately closed, but the open trails were still enough to fully amaze me!

From Iguazu Falls I traveled north briefly crossing into Brazil before heading west into Paraguay. Traveling through Brazil and into Paraguay marked the last new country and grand total of 17 countries I would visit during the entirety of the trip. I spent one night in Cuidad del Este, Paraguay before heading toward the capital, Asunción. In Asunción I stayed at the most cozy hostel of the whole trip. Unbeknownst to me, Paraguay has a reputation for being a boring country to backpack through considering the more exciting neighboring countries and waterfalls nearby. Maybe it was just a nice environment at the hostel, a special group of travelers, or the sheer boring nature of the country that forced us together but I ended up meeting a really great group of people at this hostel and enjoyed a slower pace of travel than I had been subjecting myself to previously and especially on the motorcycle.

One night we went out to a local soccer game that cost $2.66 for a ticket. I spent $7 for a jersey on the way into the stadium and then I bought two pizzas for $2 while in the stadium. The experience of this soccer game was much different compared to the packed crazy nature of a match at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires. Considering how cheap the tickets were, if I lived in Asunción I reckon I would be a season ticket holder! Another day I visited a underwhelming lake with some of the guys from the hostel. For such an underwhelming view comparatively to the surrounding countries the real adventure was the cumulative 5 hours of city buses we took to get there and back. I also was able to start finalizing paperwork for shipping my motorcycle back to the United States. On my last day in Asunción I met with Pastor Sutton and Pastor Degner, missionaries from my church synod (WELS), and got to visit their office and learn about their work before having a nice lunch with Pastor Degner. Interestingly enough, Pastor Degner’s sister-in-law was my 2nd grade teacher! It’s a small world! It was really awesome to hear about the work they are doing and the more advanced mission approaches through technology they are using to compound and extend their reach. I pray God will continue to bless their work! Despite being branded as a “boring” country a nice relaxing trip was exactly what I needed after being a little burnout from the rest of my journey.

Through a motorcycle adventures Facebook group, I was able to get linked up with a motorcycle collector and rider named Hernan. Hernan lived right near the airport I needed to ship my motorcycle out of. When I first dropped off my motorcycle at Hernan’s he let me stay the night at his house since I arrived late. Through broken English and Spanish, he showed me his motorcycle collection and told me about his adventures and those of his many motorcycle friends. I’m very thankful to have met Hernan and to have received his help. On my last full day in Argentina, I prepped my motorcycle to be ready to ship in Hernan’s garage. Then Hernan helped me load it up to take to the airport to drop off for shipping. After a stressful experience with some motorcycle export “experts” the motorcycle was eventually fully ready for customs inspection complete with a canine search. After passing that the motorcycle was saran-wrapped and I said my goodbyes hoping for an uneventful reunion in Chicago a couple days later.

After 68 days since the start of this trip I arrived back in the United States after a long day of flying. As I sit and type this post, I am stuck waiting at a bus station in Toledo after my Greyhound bus broke down before making it to Flint where I was supposed to be picked up. If that isn’t reflective of a good portion of this trip than I don’t know what is. Just another reminder—the harder the way, the more worthwile the journey. God is good!

The long shot motorcycle fix that I was optimistic about in the last post did not work out unfortunately! However, like my favorite sport coach, John Wooden, said, “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” In the true spirit of making the best of my situation I have decided to continue my overland journey to the end of the world. This time instead by bus. No flights for this guy!

I began my over 50-hour bus journey in Buenos Aires and headed south over the span of three different days. This involved three different buses, none of which I booked in advance, and varying layover durations. My first layover dropped me in San Antonio Oeste right on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. I had assumed when booking that is town was a larger city since it is what an internet search has suggested. This, however, was not the case. Instead, I was dropped at an abandoned train platform and not even at a bus station. Luckily, I had about 2 hours until my connecting bus so I started figuring out where I needed to go. The train station looked like it only functioned on certain days of the week and this wasn’t one of them so I couldn’t get into the station building to see if there was any information there. So at 5 in the morning, I started wandering to different potential bus stations that Google Maps research has provided. Luckily, the town was pretty small so it wouldn’t take long to find out if I needed a new plan. After checking all my options and talking to an older local gentleman I determined I needed to head south to the next town where they had an actual bus station in which I could buy my next bus ticket at. Thankfully, there was a single taxi cleaning out his cab for the start of the day near the train station and he took me 15km to the bigger station for the equivalent of $4.50. I caught my bus with maybe 30 minutes to spare. The next transfer was supposed to be a 2-hour layover. By the time we had gotten to the transfer location after multiple delays I hopped off the bus just in time to use the bathroom and purchase a ticket and hop on the next bus as the last to board! Perfect timing!

If you’re wondering where I slept during all of this, the answer is on the bus. They seats recline fairly far and most buses have a footrest that can be set fully horizontal built into most of the seats. My last bus took me into Chile and back out into Argentina again. It also took me on a fairy across the Strait of Magellan. Eventually three days after departing and 1,250 miles later I arrived at the end of the world, Ushuaia! I accomplished my overland goal albeit not via the originally intended method of transportation, but that still one heck of a road trip!

I booked a cruise through the Beagle Channel for the morning and then went and explored the city and grabbed some dinner before heading to bed in my hostel. The next morning, I headed to the docks and began my journey through the Beagle Channel with a bunch of other tourists. The cruise took us past a famous lighthouse with sea lions sunbathing on the rocks around it. Next, we continued through the channel seeing Puerto Williams which has a greater claim to actually being the end of the world. Eventually we made it to the farthest destination on the cruise, Isla Martillo. Isla Martillo is famous for having a penguin colony there. Since I cheaped out I didn’t pay for the expensive tour that takes you as a small group to the island and actually allows you to get off the boat and walk near the penguins. Instead, my boat pulled up close and we got to take some photos from afar. There weren’t as many penguins with it being the beginning of the season here for them, but regardless I got to see some penguins in the wild!

Since my motorcycle is staged and ready to fly in Buenos Aires there is more fun to be had ahead! When life gives you lemons you visit countries and visit the famous Iguazu Falls. The rest of the traveling should be a lot easier now that I will allow myself to fly since I have completed the greatest north-south roadtrip of my life! God is good!