When travelling, you meet other adventurers all the time. And as soon as you see the vehicle or hear the accent, you pigeonholed them straight away. Faster than opening the rear door of a campervan on a dusty motorway service area. But before any misunderstandings arise: No matter who nor where they sleep in, the willingness of travellers to help is enormous! However, there are some recurring patterns that are simply too good not to categorise with a pinch of humour.
Most travellers are from Europe. Lots of Germans and Swiss – they have money, of course. The French? Sure, usually with a bunch of kids in a camper. Spaniards? Mostly Catalans, the others seem less adventurous. A few scattered Austrians, quietly sneaking through the adventure. Eastern Europeans? Few, but if then with German or Swiss licence plates because they live there now.
There are also a few North Americans (Americans and Canadians), a few South Americans (mainly Argentinians and Brazilians) and, surprise! almost no Asians or Africans. But no matter where you come from, everyone fits into one of these categories:
The different types of travellers
🚐 The looong-term travellers
Travelling for years, often retired and in vehicles that are better equipped than some city apartments. The Germans prefer their reliable Iveco, the Swiss love their Mercedes Sprinter – but both groups have one thing in common: they have a solution for absolutely every problem.
👨👩👧👦 The traveller families
Mostly French, that teach their children in classrooms on wheels. Their motorhome is school, kitchen, bedroom and playground all in one – and somehow it works.
⏩ The express travellers
‘Alaska to Ushuaia in six months? No problem!’ – at least that’s what they think. Mostly young people who have taken time off to discover and then realise that America is a bit bigger than they thought. They travel in vans and are always in a hurry – for whatever reason.
💰 The low budget travellers
Often Argentinians selling handicrafts while travelling. They take forever to get anywhere, but are real survivalists. Their campsites? The main squares of the villages – always where the best sales opportunities are.
🚫 The camping haters
Campsite? Puff, unnecessary. After all, they have everything with them! They don’t need anything! But of course, there was a budget for a 200 000-dollar expedition vehicle with satellite dish, hot water heating and oven.
🏕️ The camping addicts
They travel exclusively from campsite to campsite – because ‘free camping is far too dangerous’. The route is carefully planned, the risk minimised. Adventure? No, thank you! They prefer to stay in the safe bubble of a well-rated campsite.
🛏️ Those who have a campervan but always sleep in a hotel
Why is that? Nobody knows. Maybe they thought camping was more romantic until they had to spend their first night in the car.
🚙 The rental campers
They rent a campervan for a few months, especially in Patagonia. Their main problem? They have no idea how the thing works. Neither does the landlord, by the way. And when the inevitable problem occurs, nobody knows what to do. Chaos awaits.
🎉 The locals or weekend travellers
It’s the weekend, time to pack the pick-up: chairs, tables, a cool box, the grandmother and – most importantly – the biggest jukebox they can find. Destination: a beach or a river to enjoy life for two days.
🏍️ The motorbike travellers
Usually travelling alone or in small groups, but with plenty of speed. They love hostels, are well connected with local motorbike clubs and always have an exciting route ready.
🧭 The Adventurers
Paved roads? Yuck! Tourist hotspots? No way! They seek out the bumpiest, most remote route they can find – the fewer people, the better. Tarmac is their biggest enemy.
What about us? Well, we’ll let you decide where we fit in. Probably a colourful mix of everything – the best way to travel! 😎👍
Just for your info, here some photos about how some of the vehicles look like.
