Two Years, 6 Countries and an 8-Meter RV: How Dimas Gabriel Took His Work on the Road

A brake hose failed somewhere in the emptiest stretch of Patagonia. The nearest city was over 300 kilometers away, had roughly 500 residents and virtually no infrastructure. It was the middle of the night, and the only traffic was trucks rolling past a few feet from the RV door.

That night in Argentina could have ended the whole experiment. Instead, it became one of those stories Dimas Gabriel, an iOS engineer at X-Team, now tells with a laugh — proof that a single bad experience, however alarming at the time, doesn't have to define a two-year adventure across South America.

In this story, Gabriel shares what pushed him and his wife to trade a conventional life for a rolling home, how a solar panel setup and a 600-liter water tank made remote work possible in the middle of nowhere and why Chile — with its untouched natural spaces and reliable cellphone signal — became the trip's undisputed highlight.

A Book, a Decision and an 8-Meter Learning Curve

The idea had been forming for a while before it became a plan. Gabriel and his wife had been talking about changing their lifestyle, wanting to get closer to nature and build more adventure into their daily lives. What finally tipped them from conversation to action was a book.

"The turning point was the book Into the Wild," Gabriel says, "which tells the story of Christopher McCandless leaving everything behind to travel to Alaska." After finishing it, he convinced his wife to sell their car and buy an RV. Six months later, they were on the road.

There was one small complication: Gabriel had never driven anything larger than a conventional car. The RV he purchased was eight meters longer. "It's not an easy vehicle to drive without training," he admits. He took lessons for large vehicles, worked through the early awkwardness and eventually came out the other side a convert. "Now I prefer driving the RV over a small car," he says. "It feels great driving a big vehicle."

Joining them for the full journey were two cats, who adapted to life on the road in their own way. They started out staying mostly inside. Over time, especially when the RV stopped in quieter spots, they learned to jump out, take a walk and return on their own. The one consistent hassle: border crossings. Every country required a veterinary visit and a fresh stack of paperwork — more documentation, Gabriel notes, than the humans needed.

Solar Panels, 600 Liters and the Infrastructure of Freedom

The RV had originally been bought for occasional trips, not as a full-time home. Before hitting the road for good, Gabriel outfitted it for extended living. The most important addition was a solar panel and battery bank setup that provided electricity wherever they parked. Without it, working remotely while traveling would have been impossible.

The rig also carried a 600-liter potable water tank. That capacity let them linger in places they loved — remote campsites, volcano bases, stretches of coastline — without constantly hunting for hookups or resupply. It also reshaped how they thought about consumption. "It showed us that you can live a good life consuming only a small amount of water every day," Gabriel says.

They traveled through Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia. Chile stood out — not just for the density of its natural spaces but for a practical reason that any remote worker would appreciate: "Almost the entire country has cellphone signal. We could use the internet pretty much everywhere."

The social dimension of the trip surprised him too. Campgrounds and boondocking spots — where travelers camp on public land — turned into meeting grounds. Fellow road-trippers arrived from across Europe, some on bicycles, some in other RVs, many following the same long-haul route that runs from Alaska all the way south to Ushuaia. Gabriel is still in touch with some of those people today.

Patagonia, a Volcano and the Case for Not Giving Up

The night the brakes locked in Patagonia was the trip's lowest point. The brake air hose on the RV had begun leaking — a malfunction that doesn't stop the vehicle from braking but gradually forces it to a halt. It happened on a narrow road in the middle of nowhere. A passing truck driver stopped, assessed the situation, drove to the nearest town and sent police and a tow truck. The following morning, they were pulled to safety. Then they sat for more than two weeks waiting for the right replacement part to arrive.

"Situations like this happen," Gabriel says. "It's part of the trip and it's scary, but when you camp in a beautiful place a few days later, you thank yourself for not giving up."

That beautiful place came not long after. Gabriel's favorite memory from the entire two years was two weeks spent camped at the base of a volcano in Chile, completely alone. No neighbors, no noise, no schedule. Just work, meals, cycling, walking and the texture of volcanic lava stones underfoot. "A normal life in the middle of paradise," as he describes it.

Back home in Brazil — in a small house they chose for its surroundings — Gabriel and his wife still have the RV. They have a young daughter now, and they're waiting for her to reach the right age before they head out again. The van life bug, it turns out, doesn't go away. It just waits.

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