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'I left my campervan in Argentina'
May 25, 2020
Imagine breaking free. You sell your possessions, buy a van, pack it with what you need, and go. For months or years you live a frugal life, going wherever you want. But for thousands who made this dream a reality, coronavirus brought them to a sudden halt, writes Paula Dear, and left them stranded with a van and a vanload of kit on the far side of the world.
For Radka and Ivar the plan began to form when they met in 2016. Both working as personal carers for a disabled man in Trondheim, central Norway, they would cross paths as she finished the night shift and he took over for the day.
"We met for like five minutes, to change the shift. I was very charming in the morning," jokes Radka.
"And then you would stay for breakfast sometimes," Ivar adds.
Radka was the more experienced traveller. She had previously hitchhiked from Russia to south-east Asia and was preparing to do the same from Argentina to Alaska. But after falling in love with Ivar, who was in the process of retraining as a nurse, she faced a dilemma.
"There were lots of conversations. I said, 'You have to promise me that once you're done studying you'll go with me.' It was a deal-breaker, and Ivar adopted my dream very quickly!" she says.
In the meantime, Radka took a six-week trip to Patagonia with a friend, and at one point hitched a lift with a woman called Silvia from Ushuaia in Argentina, the world's southernmost city. They stayed in touch, and three years later this would turn out to be a critical stroke of luck.
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