Journey for Life

Couple travel the world for 11 years having four children along the way...and they're still going



But for the Zapp's, their 83-year-old vehicle has become a home for the last 11 years, as they travel around the world on a never ending trip of a lifetime.



Spanning four continents, Herman and Candelaria Zapp have covered an incredible 142,000 miles while becoming parents to Pampa, eight, Tehue, five, Paloma, three and Wallaby, one.
Instead of returning home to buy a house, the couple decided to keep driving and show their family the sights of the world.

Former IT specialist Herman, 42, and his wife Candelaria, 40, set off from Argentina in 2000 and began driving across South and North America, as well as Australia, New Zealand and now Asia.



Herman, who was born in San Francisco, moved to Argentina to work on his grandfather's cattle ranch when he was a boy.

While in Argentina, 10-year-old Herman met his child hood sweet-heart Candelaria when she was only 8, and the couple have been together ever since.

They married in 1996.
Herman and Candelaria Zapp in 2000 in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The picture was taken on their first jaunt before their children were born yet.

When the money quickly ran out on their first trip, they decided to rely on the kindness of other people who give them shelter, food and petrol.



We were happy, we had everything a young couple could want, but we felt we had to go,' said Herman, currently in the Philippines with his family.



'My grandfather knew that we wanted to travel and to never stop so he gave me the old Graham-Paige car he used on his farm and gave me some advice.

'He told me, 'If you want to get far, you need to go slowly', so what could be better than a vintage car.'


The only hard rule the couple have to stick by is the 40 mile per hour speed limit the 83-year old car is restricted to.

The Zapp family are always on the move, only stopping for short periods on their journey.



They began in 2000, setting off from Patagonia, Argentina to Alaska.

After returning to Argentina in 2004, they settled down for a couple of weeks before deciding that they missed travelling too much and had to get going again.