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Since 2000, the Zapps have travelled to over 102 countries across five continents. For most of their trip, they depended on the kindness of strangers. When Herman and Candelaria Zapp set out in a 1928 jalopy — the car is called Graham-Paige — from Buenos Aires, the world was a different place. There were no smartphones, the internet was in its infancy, a place of knowledge and hope rather than disinformation and division, the twin towers stood tall in New York, and Russia was a diminutive shell overshadowed by its Soviet past. Since 2000, the Zapps have travelled to over 102 countries across five continents. For most of their trip, they depended on the kindness of strangers. The couple estimates that they have been hosted by over 2,000 families — for the rest of the time, they lived out of the car.
The Zapps’ home is the road. They have had four children in different countries, and in an era of strict visa regimes and rising insularity, managed to treat borders as what they truly are — arbitrary and artificial lines on a map. As the family expanded, so did the car. It was re-purposed and expanded to make room for the growing family. The trunk carried kitchen supplies, the engine doubled up as a stove and grill. And then there are the trials and tribulations — between them, the family has suffered from Ebola, dengue, malaria and been stranded during the pandemic.
When the couple left their home to become nomads, they had been married six years, had well-paying jobs and a home. The giving up of the middle-class paradise, though, was clearly worth their while. Already, Herman — now 53 — is contemplating sailing around the world. For all that has changed in 22 years — poor countries have become middle-income ones, wars are back, as are tensions on the high seas — some things hopefully haven’t. On their second trip around the world, too, the Zapps will hopefully find hospitality.
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