Major Tom Goes South America
Two square metres, is our home for the next eight months
We, Tamara Kuiters and Vincent Boon, are traveling South America in Major Tom. From October 2024, until June 2025 we are on the road.
We wil spend some time in Uruguay, then we head for Argentina. From there we will wander around the country. Making our way to Patagonia. Enjoying the mountains and beaches in Chili. And visiting the Salar de Uyuni, salt flats in southwest Bolivia.
This is our plan anyway. And to quote the great philosopher Taylor Swift : “Just because you made a good plan, … doesn’t mean, that’s what’s gonna happen.”
So we will see what time will bring us. We hope, it will be a lot of fun!
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You can always check this website. We will post updates of our travels and adventures on a regular basis.
So, are you curious on how we manage to live on two square metres? Or do you just wanna enjoy our photo’s and destinations; stay tuned!
Buenos Aires, Argentina
oktober 2024
Buenos Aires, what a great city!
We arrived in Buenos Aires on Monday October 28. Since we were passing by anyway, we didn't want to skip this city, although we were aware that finding a suitable parking space for Major Tom would be quite a challenge. And it was! After a long search we finally found a spot, where we had a pretty good feeling. The Airbnb we found was wonderful. The location was great. Time to make up the balance.
In Uruguay we were warmly welcomed by Alicia and we met our Dutch friends at Chacra Holandesa. Now in Argentina we suddenly felt a bit lost. The fact that we hadn't really made a plan in advance was a bit of a setback. So, ... time to make a plan and especially to enjoy the city. Well ... we did it!!! We thought we were in love with Montevideo, but now we're crazy about Buenos Aires!
Buenos Aires has so many faces. Such a rich history and so vibrant. It gives us a lot of energy. We did three tours with a guide. Very touristy but super well done by Juan and Santiago. Walking history books. Fantastic guides! And now after a week in the city, we are really looking forward to going to our car again. Nice and cozy chat on 2 square meters again, in Major Tom. And, ...we have a plan. We're going to Valdes. And from there on, we will see.
Uruguay
oktober 2024
We are in love with Uruguay!
The first week of the trip was great! It was especially colored by the warm welcome and wonderful stay at Alicia Cano Menoni, in Montevideo. We are already wondering whether we will meet even nicer people during the trip than this special woman. We also fell in love with Montevideo, not necessarily because of the beauty of the city, but because of the relaxed atmosphere and exceptionally friendly people. As well as the beautiful old cafes and the delicious food.
Picking up the camper also went very well. Apart from a discharged battery, nothing was wrong. The collaboration with the shipping partner and our contact person in Montevideo Eduardo Kesler was perfect. Now we have arrived at Chacra Holandesa. The place where many overlanders start their journey through South America. We are furnishing the camper and of course we brought way too much stuff with us. Vincent is busy doing odd jobs and I'm also doing some fooling around. All very relaxed.
Two weeks, to make our last preparations. Then we go!
24-09-2024
Major Tom in a container
02-09-2024
Suddenly last week everything accelerated. We were told that the ship we booked, would leave a week later then scheduled. We received a mail asking whether we wanted to book another boat. A week earlier. It that case our Swiss shipping partners should also be able to do so. And luckily they were! So we suddenly had to get Major Tom ready, a week earlier and pack in the things we wanted to store in Major Tom during transit. But we worked hard and everything worked out well.
Wednesday morning we left in time. Towards the port of Rotterdam.
All quite exciting, since this is the first time we are doing this; shipping a vehicle to the other side of the world. And especially if Major Tom would really fit in a container. In terms of height. We had measured him of course, but still. First see then believe!
At the warehouse everything turned out not to be that scary at all. The container appeared to be a High Cube container. Slightly higher than what we had arranged. So we could drive Major Tom straight in. Everything was ready within half an hour. Perfect!
And now we just have to wait and see when the container carrying Major Tom will be loaded on the ship. And whether the ship will leave in time, or not. Fingers crossed!
50 days …. and counting
19-08-2024
Just 50 more nights of sleep and then our journey will begin. Then we fly to Montevideo, Uruguay. Major Tom will go a little earlier. We plan to drive him into the container on September 3 and he will sail off on September 7. To the other side of the world. In the meantime, we have explored and learned a lot. We have found a shipping partner for our container. That saves a lot of money. We are in the proces of getting the correct vaccinations. We have renewed our passports. I mounted a Victron Orion DC-DC charger, so the battery is charged while driving.
And we did a four-wheel drive course. It was a great experience. But it also gave us quite a scare. The first few exercises went really well, but then things went wrong. When we wanted to drive uphill in low gear, we heard a big bang and the four-wheel drive stopped working. So we had to be towed away. So sad! What a bummer!
Thanks to Loes & Tom (hut.spot.live) for the video’s.
Fortunately, we were able to bring Major Tom to the garage the next day already. And guess what?! The heroes at SARIS 4x4 were able to fix him. They disengaged some vacuum hoses, so when we put Major Tom in 4x4 mode, no electronics are used. Maybe even better. What a relief! So now we only have to remember to put it out of four-wheel mode when we hit the road again. No electronics also means; no warning lights. I hope we won’t forget! :-)
8 Months in a small truck
03-04-2024
Living eight months in a small truck as Major Tom, will be a huge challenge. The living area is about two square meters. We do have some storage space. But it fills up quickly. So we need to think carefully about what we bring and what we leave home. And when we really, really miss something, … we just enjoy the view!
We have about 100 litres of water on board. So even a quick shower is possible. Outside, that is. But great for after swimming in the river or lake.
We have gas for cooking inside. We have petrol for cooking outside, on the beach, for example. For electricity, we have two solar panels. More than enough. We don’t use a lot of power. The little fridge is the main power addict. But essential for a cold beer!
But we don’t want to be freezing. In the Andes mountains, it can be pretty cold. For this, we have a parking heater in the living area, which runs on diesel. So it will never be cold. I like that a lot!!!
01-04-2024
Modifications to our vehicle
Major Tom is a 2004 Mitsubishi L200 4x4 camper car. It’s a former rescue vehicle of the ‘Sea Rescue Brigade IJmuiden’. I named our 4WD camper after David Bowie’s alter ego, ‘Major TOM’. Major TOM wants to explore space and see the world. Major TOM is my tribute to Bowie. My all time hero. We’ve made a tonne of modifications. Most of them you don’t even see. Such as heavy duty shocks, better leaf springs. New torsion bars, revision of the gearbox, etc. This was all done by 4x4 specialist Saris in Valburg. Fantastic craftsmanship. Thanks guys!!!
The things I added myself are extras like an exterior table, two Maxtrax skid plates, and a jerry can, for our Coleman stove. We do have gas inside to cook on. Still, we don’t want to depend on filling stations. So with this Coleman, we can always cook on regular petrol. I added a ladder. To get access to the roof, on which I mounted two solar panels. And I’m planning to mount 2 or 3 Nomad Fox Boxes to be able to store some extra lightweight items. Our Major Tom is great, but small! It will be a challenge to pack him with all the things we think we need for nine months. Probably a lot will be left home.
Besides all this we have a waterfilter installed. So we can always drink the water we collect. We have an extra 70 litre diesel tank. In addition to the existing tank, which is only 55 litre, we now have over a hundred litres of fuel. That is a reassuring thought when we go offroad.
