March 2017: That makes a year

March 2017 makes twelve months, a year on the road. On the 2nd of April 2016 I arrived in New York. Now I’m stuck in southern Colombia with a broken van. This is just my standard month summary post. There will be a larger “one-year-on-the-road” post coming up soon.

The Good

• The van made it three times across the Andes without mayor problems (the generator dying had nothing to do with the mountains).
• Loads of great hikes

The Bad

• I only missed the Mocoa flood wiping away the town by half a day
• Van breaking down on the Trampolina de la Muerta, barely being able to make it to a campsite
• Bogota was wet, gray and insanely expensive
• My phone dying was a pain, since I use it for navigation, music and communication.
• The rain… so much rain…

The Unforgettable

• Driving for 5 hours to get past 60km of single lane unpaved mountain road (Trampolina de la Muerte)

The Stats

• No days: 31 (406 total)
• No. km: 3449 (46059 total)
• Countries: Colombia
• No. Border crossings: 0
• No. of places stayed at: 18 (17 campsites, 1 hostel)
• Hikes: 89 km height difference 4225 m
• Books: 3
• Movies: 0
• New Beers: 4
• Photos: 908
• Weather:
  • Days: warmest 30 coldest 13, average 22
  • Nights: warmest 22, coldest 10, average 17

The countries are bigger again. March was the first month since August where I did not cross a border but on the other hand I drove much more than I have in a long time. It’s also clearly colder in the mountains. It’s more jeans and sweater weather. Less shorts and T-Shirts.
Daily costs for March

• Camp sites: 4 Euro per night (plan was 10)
• Food: 6 Euro per day (plan was 6)
• Fun: 2 Euro per day (plan was 5)
• Total: 12 Euro per day (plan was 21)

Camping has been so so cheap. I like Colombia!
Overall driving (12 months):

• Distance: 46059 (plan was 45815)
• Fuel costs: 62 cents/l (plan was 62 cents/l)
• Efficiency: 11.0 km/l (plan was 11 km/l)

Other costs:

• New phone 110 EUR