Driving 'The Beast' through South-America

Arriving is not our goal

By Isabelle Demaeght, April 8, 2020

This is the first blog entry in three months, because today, April 8, 2020, we were supposed to fly to Mexico at 11:00. It all went a little differently....

On December 23, 2019, I arrived at Zaventem where I enjoyed a heartwarming reception committee. I spent Christmas at home in the company of the boys and lots of family. It was the Christmas we missed last year but for which I have made up now.

Elise, Isabelle, Veerle and Floris

The Beast survived the crossing from Colombia to Mexico, although somewhere along the way he met some individuals with sticky fingers, who took everything they could steal. Mid-January Adriaan also arrived in Belgium after he had imported our Land Cruiser into Mexico and transferred it to the capital. The Beast is now parked at a shelter not too far from Mexico City.

The Beast in Mexico

Adriaan at Brussel Airport Zavemtem

Adriaan was just in time for my cataract surgeries I underwent on 2 consecutive Tuesdays in January. Ten days after the second operation I had a complication: an infection that took away 60% of the vision in one eye. With proper care and medication, it came back to normal. Meanwhile, I worked in residential nursing until March 31.

This was one of the rare times in my life when my luggage was ready well before departure. The missing soaps, medications, electronics and clothing were purchased and sitting (for weeks) in a departure-ready suitcase. But that departure is not happening. We also have no prospect of a new date and so that suitcase still remains.

My residential nursing job is over. 'Team Enjoyment' is reunited in Odrimont, we are together again for 24/7. It's great to be here in the Ardennes. We take a walk every day, enjoying the budding spring. Sometimes it is not necessary to be on a trip. Adriaan feeds the birds in the garden, and (because of that?) we even have a new feathered pet...

New feathered pet

Regular pet

Spring in Samree (Ardennes)

I find it morally irresponsible to stand by while there is a need for nurses everywhere. Today I start in a nursing home in Vielsalm (10 kilometers from Odrimont). Their call was the loudest and I'm here in the neighborhood anyway. So I turned on my French mode. Television, radio and newspaper are now in French even though it takes some getting used to for Dutch Adriaan :) I consider it a new challenge.

The next blog entry? In a while...