How long have you been overlanding and how did you get into it? Which Oasis areas have you worked in?
I did Quito to Rio as a passenger back in 2015 and loved it from day 1. Within a week I’d emailed the office to find out more about working for them. After some more independent travel, some more overlanding and living abroad for a year I officially started with Oasis in March 2018 and have run trips in South America ever since.
Where are you now? Next trip?
I’ve just had some time off between trips and been back in the UK seeing family and friends and actually having a holiday. I’m heading back to South America to run our two Carnival trips (don’t forget to pack the biodegradable glitter if you’re joining me for Carnival). This time we are starting in Colombia which I’m super excited to be going back to.
What was your first Overland trip? Any particular memories?
I did Quito to Rio in 2015/16. There are so many amazing memories from that trip, we had a great group, many of who I’m still in contact with. The friends you make are a definite highlight of group travel for me. That year was the first Christmas away from family for quite a lot of us. We cooked a whole roast dinner over open fire and drank an awful lot of wine. Just before we ate some Argentinian students who were on a cycling holiday came and asked us if they could have some boiling water for their instant noodles. Well we weren’t going let them have that for Christmas dinner, so we invited them to join us. It’s probably one of the best Christmas I’ve had, plus they helped do the washing up.
Funniest overlanding moment:
Having to abandon ship to catch a flight has to be a contender. On the first night of a 6 night boat trip down the Amazon our boat broke a propeller which meant we ended up moving at walking pace. The trip ended up being 7 nights and 8 full days, with a plane to catch on the afternoon of the 8th day we had to pay the crew to take us by tender boat to the closest town so we could get a taxi boat. All the locals on the boat waved us off as they stared in amazement. Unfortunately we had gone through a time zone and the Brazil Immigration was shut for lunch, so we headed to the airport to check in while our taxi driver made some phone calls. We then headed back to Immigration where the lovely lady stamped us out before a made rush back to the airport to enter Colombia. We got through to departures with 15 minutes to sp
are. As we sat down one of the passengers turned to us and said “ I didn’t think we’d make that, it was quite exciting, shall we have a beer now”.
Happiest overlanding memory:
Any that involve sitting around a fire, in the middle of nowhere, with a glass of wine and get company.
Favourite places/ activities:
I love Torres del Paine, it’s one of my favourite places in the world and my happy place. Driving in just makes me smile.
Activity wise I also love going to stay with Tom in the jungle and sandboarding and desert camp out is always good fun.
Where would you like to travel next?
There are too many places, I’d love to do the Silk route at some stage.
Best truck meal:
Anything cooked over an open fire. I love spending a free day at a campsite cooking on while the passengers go off exploring. Soups and lasagna always goes down well when I make them.
Advice for Oasis travellers:
Packing cubes are the best invention ever and make life living out of a rucksack so much easier. Investing in a water filter water bottle is also another great idea, in the long run it saves money, you never have to worry about if you can drink the tap water and cuts down the use of plastic.
Final words of wisdom:
Be willing to try new things that take you out of your comfort zone, you never know you might just find a new passion!