Departamento de Luján

We’ve been asked a few times now what the best part of our trip has been so far, and the answer, without a doubt, is the people we've met! You’ve read about many of them in other posts, but I want to tell you a little more about Mike and Geneva.

Sam met them via the PanAmerican Traveler’s Association facebook group. They started their travels about seven years ago, selling most of their belongings and heading due south, starting from Arizona. When they found out that we were buying this vehicle (it turned out from some friends that they’d met along their travels) they offered to meet us in Santiago and travel with us for a while to show us the ropes.

Now my mother and grandmother are the two most generous people I’ve encountered in my life, and Geneva and Mike are not far behind. Those of you who know my mother or were touched by my grandmother's kindness know that this means a lot! Geneva and Mike have been invaluable in helping us adjust to life in the camper, but the real gift has been watching and learning from their way in the world. Here are a few things we’ve learned from their example.

1. Share more - If you’ve read Deepak’s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, you remember the Law of Giving. Deepak says “always have something to give” and Geneva and Mike embody this principle. They’ve shown up at our camper with fresh baked bread (made in the Omnia camping oven - delicious!), fruit, snacks, tools, meds, and more. And their giving doesn’t stop with us. When we were in Pomaire just rolling into town, before Sam and I were parked they had already met a couple of bikers, offered to have them set up camp behind their vehicle (for safety and wind protection) and invited them over for coffee in the morning. Giving seems to be a natural way of being for them, and also serves as an icebreaker when meeting new people and navigating language barriers.

2. Invite often - Maybe this is an easy thing for you, but for someone with social anxieties the simple act of inviting can be a big deal. Mike and Geneva are masters of making the invitation: Hey let’s meet in the garden for lunch? Come on over for breakfast! Let’s check out this museum! Hey, how about we do dinner at your place? (Wait what?! I didn’t even know you could do that!) After a few weeks of hanging out with them, I too aspire to master the art of inviting.

3. Make friends - When you live in a camper, there’s not much room to collect physical things, but with their open hearts Mike and Geneva collect friends. Everywhere they go they’re not just meeting new people but making new friends. One day we were parked in Vitacura, outside the hostel where we picked up our camper. A man that they had met while traveling in the South of the Chile recognized their camper and pulled over to say hi. It just so happened that he lived in the neighborhood! He and his wife invited them over for dinner, and of course, they invited us. You never know where your new friendships will lead you. They've shared that some of the people they've met on their travels are as close as family.

4. Be optimistic - Mike and Geneva have great trust that things will workout and that help will be there when you need it. They shared that any time they’ve had issues with their vehicle it happened at an opportune time or place where the help they needed was available. Luckily they’ve been around to help us through our mechanical challenges. It was this belief that led to us finding Zuko. While Sam was working under the hood and I was online looking for shops we might try, they took a walk, talked to some locals and found the help we needed.

5. Trust your network - Mike and Geneva are not afraid to rely on their network. They are fast with the Whatsapp messages and don’t hesitate to shoot a question or request to someone they’ve met. When it looked like we’d need to head back to the city to see a mechanic, before we even had time to think about where we’d be going, Geneva had already messaged Claudia, explained the situation, made arrangements for us to park at her place, and got her recommendation for a mechanic. That's how we met Milenko.

6. Help where you can - How often do you get an unprompted message saying, “Hey what can I help you with?” Or “I’ve love to spend a few days helping you figure that out?” Well these are everyday occurrences with Mike and Geneva. Helpfulness is in their blood.

Early in our trip we wondered when they’d get tired of all the mechanical issues and leave us to get on with their travels. We messaged them a couple of times to let them know that we’d understand if they wanted to get moving. Their response: “We are with YOU like a tick on a street dog!”. They committed to hanging with us through our first border crossing (which Sam wrote about previously), and they did just that.

They live up to their surname Saint-Amour. We feel so blessed to have their help and support on our journey! Huge thanks to you Mike and Geneva!!

I hope all of you are met with such extraordinary kindness on your next journey and in your everyday life.Read more