Leaving Deux-Sèvres, they traveled to America aboard their camper van

It feels like we've been gone for two years! Their journey actually began five months ago, but what a journey: Clémence, Nicolas and their daughter Capucine hit the road on August 15, 2024, leaving their village of Échiré, near Niort, for a year-long journey in a motorhome.

After crossing Norway, Finland (including Lapland) and Sweden, they experienced the transition to 2025… in Costa Rica, from where they told us, in mid-January, the first part of their road trip .

Police officers stop them… to visit the camper van

The adventure is not easy, “but it’s very beautiful, it’s definitely worth it!” “, smiles the Deux-Sévrian family during a video interview, organized taking into account the seven hours time difference.

Costa Rica is the second Central American country they visit after arriving in Panama. Before that, the campervan had to be put on a boat in Belgium. “We flew in and picked it up at the port three weeks later. » Not without difficulty: “Seven hours to do the paperwork with the Panamanian administration! »

Arriving in Costa Rica a few days before Christmas, “under torrential rain”the Deux-Sévriens discovered this small country nicknamed “the Switzerland of Central America. An incredible natural environment, we have never seen so many animals” and postcard beaches.

Their French camper van does not go unnoticed. “On the road people honk their horns, they take photos of us. A police patrol stopped us, in fact they wanted to visit, see the inside! Our social media accounts (Facebook and Instagram) are posted on the camper and we receive a lot of messages, kind messages like God bless. »

The Genex's long-term adventure arouses curiosity and sympathy: “On December 31, we met a Costa Rican family. Capucine is a bit like our passport to meetings, it makes contacts a lot easier! They invited us to spend New Year's Eve with them, we had a great time. »

Contacts with other travelers

If they have not encountered any insecure situation, the couple “Be careful. We don't travel at night and we are in contact, through a WhatsApp group, with other Canadian and French tourists who travel like us. We exchange a lot of information; there is always someone who has already been to more or less the same place before us who can advise us. »

Next steps: Nicaragua, Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, then the western United States, which they will go up to Canada. Clémence and Nicolas then plan to cross the country from west to east, to return to Deux-Sèvres.