4 minute read

Vespa Roadtrip Sudamérica

SUDAMÉR ICA VESPA ROADTRIP

Advertisement

“JOHN SILVA PHOTO TRAVELER” IS A “TRAVELING” PRO-

J E C T, W H I C H P U R S U E S T H E D R E A M O F E X P L O R I N G T H E

W O R L D A N D G E T T I N G T O K N OW I T S P E O P L E , D I S C OV E R

H OW T H E Y L I V E , T H E I R C U L T U R A L L A N D S C A P E A N D T H E I R

S U R R O U N D I N G S , T E L L T H E I R S T O R I E S A N D S H A R E T H E M ,

E S P E C I A L LY W I T H T H E YO U N G E R G E N E R AT I O N S . I N T H E

S A M E WAY T H E G R E AT E S T E X P L O R E R S H AV E D O N E I T. I T

I S A B O U T R E D I S C OV E R I N G T H E VA R I O U S “ C O R N E R S ” O F

T H E P L A N E T, D O C U M E N T T H E M T H R O U G H P H O T O G R A P H Y

AS A PRACTICAL MEDIUM TO COMMUNICATE.

Its developer, 49 years old John Silva, born in Colombia, is a journalist and photographer, who for more than 15 years has performed as a photojournalist in important newspapers and agencies of Colombia and Ecuador, among them “El Espectador”, “La Patria”, “Diario Hoy” and “Agencia AFP (Agence France-Presse).”

The American continent is the current setting for this dreamer. Breaking his own mental frontiers, and completely changing his lifestyle. John Silva, began his journey at the end of 2011, departing from Quito (Ecuador) in a VespaPX200 scooter which he called “Matilda” and in which he rode through 11 countries during 20 months of traveling. There were more than 35,000 kilometers that took him to various and spectacular places where he was welcomed by friends, Vespa clubs, Scouts and even the president of a country. Trying to accomplish his dream of arriving at “The End of The World”, his trip was disrupted due to the intense cold that began in the autumn of 2012.

On June 30, 2013, he returned to Ecuador, closing a full circuit of travels and taking a long recess. During this time, John meets Emilio Scotto, the greatest traveler in history who made two roundtrips around the world (for ten years) and who, until today appears on the “Guinness Record” of the greatest achievements in history. They became friends and being very inspired by him, among other great adventurers, John started to plan his much-desired

SUDAMÉR ICA

The Way is The Message

journey to Ushuaia in The Land of Fire / Argentina. On October 10, 2015, riding a new Vespa GTS300, he set out from Quito, one more time, visited Colombia (his home country) and from there he undertook his final trip to the south. Crossing through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile in only 18 days. John continued his adventure overpassing the Andes Mountain Range and taking the mythic “Route 40” breaking through the inhospitable and extensive Argentine Patagonia and visiting places as amazing such as the Mount Fitz Roy and the Perito Moreno Glacier among others. Finally, he arrived at the most southern city on the planet, Ushuaia, on March 22, 2016 where he fell ill due to all the physical effort and debilitating pace of the trip.

Once recovered, John started his trip back, passing through several villages and cities over “Route 3” in Argentina which borders the Atlantic Ocean. He traveled to Brasilia (Brazil) to appreciate this city devised by well-known architect Oscar Niemeyer. Then, he went back to Argentina to assist the “1st Vespa Suramerica Days” on the exact date of the 70th anniversary of the famous Italian scooter...