This is now a road trip.
Meet the couple who are halfway through a ride around the entire planet.
Nick Chazee and Mathilde Vougny have so far driven 110,000 km (68,350 miles) through Australia, Europe and South and North America in a very sturdy Land Rover Defender 110 that they have converted into a mini house on wheels.
In a chat with MailOnline Travel, they reveal the countries with the most hospitable people, the countries with the best and worst roads – and how Instagram has helped keep their spirits high.
Two of the countries that surprised the couple the most were Honduras and El Salvador. Mathilde says: ‘They’re not necessarily emphasized as much and they have a reputation for being dangerous, but we didn’t think they were dangerous. We still wild camped there. You still meet very nice people. There are still beautiful beaches.’
Mathilde Vougny and Nick Chazee travel the world in a converted Land Rover Defender 110. They are pictured above in Australia, where they are currently based
LEFT: The couple rides the Frenchman’s Track near Cape York in Australia. RIGHT: An attempt at the Reynold River tracks in Australia’s Litchfield National Park. During their travels they want to ‘get off the beaten track’
Nick and Mathilde camped in the wild for most of their trip. They are pictured above in Ecuador’s Cotopaxi National Park
Where did they find the most hospitable people? The couple quickly answers: Colombia, followed by Canada and Argentina.
Friendly Colombia is also among the top five places the duo has visited, along with Peru, Argentina, Norway and the US. But it’s a difficult choice. Malthilde, originally from France, says: ‘I think every country has something. For the best beach it’s Costa Rica. For the landscape – Argentina.’
South America also gets compliments for its relaxed attitude to wild camping, which the couple did for most of the trip.
They fondly remember waking up there “far from everything, with only llamas walking by.”
However, South America also presented the pair with some of the toughest driving challenges.
They chose their Land Rover Defender based on its pop-up roof, which allows them to ‘stand inside’ and has a safety bonus: they can reach the driver’s seat without having to get out of the car. The photo above was taken at Canon de Macho de Monte in Panama
The couple climbed the Cordillera Blanca, a mountain range in northern Peru (top left and right). They say the most difficult roads they have experienced so far are in South America
The images above show some of the winding roads in Cordillera Blanca. Nick explains that many of the roads in South America are ‘very high’ and full of trucks taking goods from one place to another
French-Italian Nick says they had to overcome a number of precarious mountain passes that were full of trucks.
He explains: ‘The roads are very high, 5,000 meters [16,400ft] or so, and many of them are filled with trucks taking goods from one place to another. And so they are very steep paths full of gravel and rocks. They are very slow and sometimes a bit dangerous.’
In Bolivia, the couple faced a 400km area of ’sand and dunes with no tracks’, while in Peru’s Rainbow Mountains they had to overcome ‘very rocky ruts’ at ‘really high altitude’.
But for Nick and Mathilde, the fun of the trip is in the challenge.
They say: ‘Honestly, if you wanted to, you could drive from Alaska all the way to Ushuaia – the bottom of South America – in a two-wheel drive electric car, and you’d be driving mostly on asphalt. We wanted to get off the beaten track. We didn’t want to go on asphalt. We didn’t want to make highways.’
The couple are pictured here driving along a beach on K’gari Island in Australia
The Pan-American Highway, a road network that runs across America, is “not that interesting,” the couple says. They explain: ‘It is very dusty with busy and flat roads. When people say they’re driving the Pan-American Highway, they usually leave that main road and go on the funky tracks.”
In the Andes, where the couple faced delays, Mathilde said the drive was “more rewarding because there were people everywhere.” They add: ‘Even if there are delays, have a chat with people along the road.’
Meanwhile, in Australia, where the couple are currently based, they say driving has “probably been the least rewarding because you have to travel 700 km/434 miles to go anywhere.”
So how did they plan their epic adventure?
After feeling frustrated about the limits of a two-week vacation allowance in their jobs, the couple said they drew a “rough line” of the countries they wanted to visit and then consulted Overlanding Facebook groups to get advice and refine their route.
Mathilde says Costa Rica has the ‘best beaches’. This photo was taken on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica
Mathilde and Nick have found a ready-made support network of Land Rover Defender fans around the world. Here they are pictured on the Old Telegraph Track in Cape York, Australia
LEFT: The couple in the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. RIGHT: Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina
The couple’s ‘living room’
They chose their Land Rover Defender based on its pop-up roof, which allows them to ‘stand inside’ and has a safety bonus: they can reach the driver’s seat without having to get out of the car.
And with a Land Rover Defender, you have a ready-made support network around the world.
Fans of the brand have been following the couple’s journey on Instagram, with Mathilde revealing: ‘In every country there was someone with a Land Rover Defender who would help us if we needed anything. They would always receive us so well.”