“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Karin-Marijke and Coen are Dutch citizens who gave up the rat race for a life on the road in 2003. Both grew up in the east of the Netherlands, 10 kilometers apart, but never met at the time. Both went to highschool in their hometown, played field hockey, owned a bicycle to go from A to B, and left home at the age of 17. Another 17 years passed, and they met.
Karin-Marijke Vis
After highschool Karin-Marijke flew to the U.S. to be an exchange student, studied French in Nantes for a year, and returned to the Netherlands to obtain a Bachelor Degree in Hotel Management.
She never worked in a hotel but for an in-house catering company in different management and troubleshooting functions until she started this journey in 2003.
She had a busy life socializing, playing squash, reading books, tending her (vegetable) garden, walking her Bernese Mountain dogs, and maintaining a 150-year-old house in a hamlet.
Coen Wubbels
Coen took a train to the south of the Netherlands, studied drawing in an art college and specialized in commercial design.
He worked as an art director for an advertising company for a couple of years and then decided he would do better on his own. By working seven hours a week as a postman he made enough money to pay his bills so he could pick the jobs he really liked to satisfy his graphic-design passion.
He is a board game fanatic (particularly The Settlers of Catan), loves motorcycles, his Mac, food, the sauna, nature, and design.
The Duo
Karin-Marijke and Coen share their lives and their journey but not everything is done by both.
Karin-Marijke is the writer, planner, the financial director, managing director, warehouse manager, housekeeper, and cooks lunch and dinner.
Coen is the photographer, art director, driver, communication manager, mechanic, and cooks breakfast.
They work as a freelance duo, sharing their stories and photographs with car, travel, and food magazines.
How they manage to have lived together24/7 without killing each other for 16+ years on the road? Here’s the story.
Hallo Karin-Marijke en Coen,
Allereerst wille wij jullie feliciteren met de prachige website. Zijn nog niet klaar met lezen. Voor ons zijn de verhalen erg nuttig omdat we op het punt staan om met onze Landcruiser/camper die kant op te komen.
Wij zijn ook aan het proberen een wereldreis te maken. Na 11/2 jaar door Afrika en 5 maanden Noord Amerika en Canada zijn we een tijdje aan het werk op St Maarten. Onze Camper staat in Los Angeles te wachten op ons vervolg. Onze planning is om de Camper in september te verschepen naar Lima.
Weet niet wat jullie verdere plannen zijn maar het zou geweldig zijn om jullie een keer te ontmoeten.
We weten nog niet ons reisplan maar dat komt nog.
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Yvonne van Ameijden en Marco Brouwers
Hallo mede avonturiers,
Het zou leuk zijn jullie te ontmoeten, en dat kan ook als jullie vanuit Lima naar het noorden zouden rijden.
Een gekke vraag, Maar waarom rijden jullie niet via Midden Amerika?
Succes met de verscheping.
Adventurous greetings,
Coen
Beste Coen, bedankt voor de antwoorden ook van je email. De reden dat we midden amerika overslaan. We waren het van plan maar omdat we toch ergens moeten verschepen en omdat we bijna alle landen van midden amerika al gezien hebben ( uit de rugzaktijd) hebben we doen besluiten om het te laten liggen. Voor ons is zuid amerika nog nieuw en we hunkeren naar nieuwe landen. We hopen er te zijn rond midden september. Eerst nog het werk afronden op St Maarten daarna een maand Nederland. De camper gaat hopelijk begin september op de boot.
We houden contact en hopelijk tot ziens.
Vriendelijke groet
Marco
P.s. Ook bedankt voor de reactie op Facebook over de banden. Ik had alleen naar de kleur gekeken en dacht dat het jullie auto was maar zag later de kleine lettertjes dat het een landrover was.
hello guys, my name is Leonardo Rodríguez, im jurnalist, photographer and videographer for the venezuelan El Nacional newspaper, the most important in the country. I just heard about you a few days ago, and now im dying to meet you and to make a nice documentary about you and your stories. i would like to now where are you now, so i cant meet up with you. hope youre here on Venezuela. Ill be wating for your answere. Cheers.
Hello Leo, I will send you an email and we could connect person to person when we are back in Venezuela in July / August.
Adventurous greetings,
Coen
Wonderfull, wonderfull, wonderfull, yet wonderfull and again wonderfull :))
Gr8, Gr8 website, Gr8 stories & Gr8 source of information for everyone and soon 2 be overlanders 2 … We, family with 5 sons, are preparing our 1 year or more journey trough South and Middle America and I acknowledge you for your sharing, it helps us with our prep work.. Looking 4ward 2 meet you then & there :)). Big hug from Niels & Family
Thanks! Have a good trip here as well!
What a fantastic adventure you are having. I saw that you travelled between Visviri, Chile to Charana, Bolivia. Is there any restrictions? Someone told me that foreigners could not cross? Any information on either town I would be grateful for, accomodation, places to eat. Thank you.
Heya Barry, we could cross it, no problem. But accommodation… No idea, as we sleep in our own car. Places to eat would be easy as the market is filled with eateries as well. Good luck.
Hi guys, im excited just by looking at your pictures, last night i went to bed really late watching everything you guys have done so far.. at what ages stared to hit the road?
Salud from Mexico!!!
35 and 36. Glad to hear you are enjoying the stories!
I am Tobias from Germany. I truly love your detailed trip reports with all the important nuts and bolts you need to know.
I did a motorbike trip from Santiago de Chile to Brazil in 2013 and after covid i will move to South America and live out of a Toyota 4 runner 2003 version.
Your stories just confirmed that i am doing the right thing.
Have fun in your future travels
Hi Tobias, thanks for the compliment. Glad you’re enjoying the road and best of luck with your new adventure!
Hi Karin-Marijke and Coen,
Searching for a land cruiser, I crossed your website. I am not a big traveller, but admire the choices you both made, so I ordered ‘Van het pad af’ in January. I received the book just last week, after a journey of more than 12.000 kms. Excited to read it. It took me two days and I enjoyed your journey to the max. I am sure now, that such an adventure is not mine, but it is a pleasure to ‘travel with you’ in this way. Can not wait until your South America book will be finished! In the meantime I found my bj40 and I use it daily road and off road in the Philippines! And Karin-Marijke, after almost nine years in this part of the world I can assure you that in the daily life women are ruling here :). Even though this is a 95 Catholic country, there are many culture ‘hubs’ to take and adjust. Please continue your journey ‘off grid’ off the paved ways!
Thank you for your story. Well, our book must have made quite a world journey, taking so long to get to you – a ‘slow traveling’ book, how fitting is that?!
We were in the Philippes 5 years ago, without vehicle (which was being shipped to Korea). Maybe we’ll get there one day with our vehicle (now there’s a bureaucracy to tackle…). Three weeks at the time was not enough to truly appreciate it.
Net klaar met ‘omwegen’ en gelijk zin om mijn koffers te pakken 🙂 heerlijk geschreven en herkenbare verhalen. Safe travels!
Leuk om te horen, dank jewel! En veel plezier op je eigen reis!
Hello Coen and Karin:
I have been following your page and I think you are having wonderful experience. I live in Ecuador and offer few Airbb options and experiences for travelers. We are located 40 min from Quito and have a green space for receiving campers. My plan is to offer mechanical solutions in this beautiful area. I was wondering if you are still in South America and if you could recommend an Overland web site to offer my services. Have a wonderful journey.
Sorry, we haven’t been in South-America since 2016. You could try to contact overlanders through different Facebook pages that focus on the continent or country.