Arriving in Oct/Nov

kels

Registered
Joined
Jul 19, 2009
Messages
68
Likes
3
Hi there,

We are a young couple who is driving from Canada to the tip of South America, and we plan to end our journey in Buenos Aires where we'd like to settle down for a bit.

We are hoping to continue our Spanish studies in the city as well as find some decent work. We run a small design company that specializes in exhibit design but we do work in print and some web design as well. We have both taught English as a second language but design work is what we would prefer if possible.


So, here we are, we are hoping to get some tips and advice on how to smoothly move into BA. All suggestion and help are greatly appreciated.

Kels
 
If your target is the local market you will both probally end up teaching.

Maybe you can try to both teach a bit so that one of the 2 can search for work in your field and still have an income
 
How are you gong to get past the Darien Gap? Even if you put your car on the boat, that region of Colombia is really considered a no go zone by anyone not associate with FARC. If you're planning on going through there, don't expect any help from your government or the Colombian government if you get into trouble. Maybe Hugo Chavez will do one of his PR moves and negotiate with FARC for you, but it took those 2 American soldiers who were let go around the same time as Bettancourt over 7 years to get out. Forced marches with 40 pounds of chains around your neck may not exactly be on your Wish List of things to do while in South America...

Anyway, would love to hear more about your route. There were a few guys that tried to do it a few years ago, they had 2 trucks and a full support crew -- not sure what happened to them but they had a blog for awhile so you might be able to find them.

Driving from Canada to South America is one of the toughest overland challenges that exists. My best tip -- make sure you've taken some mechanics courses before you leave.

It's already essentially August -- are you sure you really want to rush to get down here by October? Even the Dakar rally gave their racers 2 weeks just to do the loop from Buenos Aires - Santiago and back via the North!

Re: design work

I'm a web designer here -- all of my clients are in Canada and the US. My partner is back in Vancouver and does all client contact, I do design. Surviving off of design in Argentina is pretty tough. Most people I know do contract work with Euro or American clients. I suspect that will be your best bet as well.
 
Sorry I guess I wasn't clear, we have already driven more than halfway (we are in Bolivia now!)

To tell you all the truth it is not that tough to drive, there are challenges of course but once you get through the first few border crossings and deal with a couple of corrupt cops you get the hang of it. We started a site for those interested in driving called www.drivetheamericas.com with a couple of friends of ours.

The Darien Gap is un-passable by land but one can ship there car from Colon, Panama to Cartagena, Colombia or from Costa Rica to Ecuador. We shipped to Colombia and though it is a bit of paperwork and hassle it is totally do-able.

Our personal journey is www.joydrive.ca if anyone is interested. As for the mechanical part my husband is pretty good and the mechanics is Latin America are by the far the most creative types we have met!

So I hope this is a bit clearer, we will be there in about 4 months or so and hope to find a place to live and perhaps some work.

Syngirl...do you have a visa to work there or since your work is out of country do you just leave every few months? I am Canadian and my husband is from New Zealand and we are not too sure whether we can get visas to stay for about a year or so.

Thanks all!
 
I'm married to an Argentine now so no longer have the visa worries... well, kind of -- the paperwork will probably be "in process" for the next 4 years, haha! My business is registered in Canada and I've never given up my Canadian residency so still pay all of my taxes there, pay for my silly MSP even though I never use it, and my CPP. All of this so I can continue to contribute to my RRSP and not have to get financially involved in Argentina! I don't know how you would get a visa to work here -- if you're planning on working for yourselves you won't qualify for any of the categories. Your only option is the technically illegal one, in and out of the country.

Out of curiousity -- what are you going to do about the car though? Do you not need paperwork to be able to import it into Argentina? How will you sell it, or are you really going to drive all the way back?
 
kels, Wow, what a great adventure! Thanks for sharing your travel blog. Good luck with the rest of your journey and enjoy BA when you both get there. ;)
 
kels said:
Hi there,

We are a young couple who is driving from Canada to the tip of South America, and we plan to end our journey in Buenos Aires where we'd like to settle down for a bit.

We are hoping to continue our Spanish studies in the city as well as find some decent work. We run a small design company that specializes in exhibit design but we do work in print and some web design as well. We have both taught English as a second language but design work is what we would prefer if possible.


So, here we are, we are hoping to get some tips and advice on how to smoothly move into BA. All suggestion and help are greatly appreciated.

Kels

kels dont listen to all the hater responses...if you can design for web application then youll find some thing im sure. search work websites including craigslist and im sure if you are doing this in north america then your level should be at least at par or better then what exist here and therfor you are needed and there you have it

best of luck
 
Indafold -- I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying it is technically illegal. They won't be getting work visas for design work that's for sure. Designers are a dime and dozen, they don't tend to get sponsored for work visas.
 
How many % of the temporary residents from first world country actually have a work-visa?

I should not worry about it. A trip to Colonia, Punta, Foz and the year is over
 
Back
Top