When the Highlight of the Day is a Gas Station

Notes from a life on the road 🚐

There’s a curious thing about living in a motorhome that few people imagine: sometimes,
the most important place on your itinerary won’t be a paradise beach or a snow-capped
mountain. Instead, it will be a gas station.

When you put a house on wheels, you quickly learn that traveling isn’t just about picking
pretty landscapes; it’s about learning how to sustain a life in motion. Every day, there is an
invisible checklist:

Filling the water tank. Emptying the grey water/waste.
Cleaning the “porta potti” (essentially a chemical toilet—fancy name, a lot of
work in practice!). Calculating energy autonomy.
Planning where to sleep (campsite vs. “wild camping”).

And often, in the middle of all this hustle, the great “tourist attraction” of the day was a fuel
station. Because that’s where the water might be. There might be a power outlet, or a longer
shower. Someone willing to say, “you can park right there” without any trouble. When you
live in a car, those words are music to your ears.

The Logistics of Survival

We’ve had days where we drove through entire cities looking for an open campsite and
found nothing. Other times, no station would let us use a hose to fill our tank. The result?
We ended up knocking on locals’ doors to ask for water.

We’ve sought help at tourism offices; we’ve even ended up at fire stations because the
motorhome needed water and so did we. And all of this after hours of driving or working
inside the van. Imagine that!

“On the road, a gas station isn’t just a stop. It’s infrastructure, shelter, and often, the
salvation of the day.”

Why does a station become a “tourist spot”?

Because often, it’s what saves you. It’s where you refill your water, charge your batteries,
take a shower, sleep in peace, or ask for help. You drink coffee at 6 AM watching truck
drivers start their day.

A gas station becomes emotional support.
Especially during rainy weeks, when your solar power fails and you desperately need a
socket. Yes, it has happened countless times that we’ve asked: “Excuse me, is there a plug we
could use to charge our batteries?” We received many “no’s.” But the “yes’s”… they were
everything.

Water: You Only Know Its Value When It’s Gone

One time in the Atacama Desert, we couldn’t find water anywhere. San Pedro de Atacama
left me with some reflections on how the tourism market works there. Our water was
running out and we were in survival mode.

We only solved it by knocking on a local’s door. We were welcomed by a kind man who
pointed to a faucet. In that moment, that faucet looked like an oasis. Something so simple
that, on the road, becomes pure luxury.

The Reality of Infrastructure (YPF & Argentina)

Brazil is still taking baby steps in this regard. Compared to the YPF network in Argentina, it’s a
whole different level.

There, you find stations with specific areas for ‘casas rodantes’
(motorhomes), power outlets, and proper water supply. I remember thinking: ‘Why hasn’t
Brazil looked into this yet?’

The Road Changes Your Perspective

I’ll never forget when we arrived in Chapada Diamantina. We parked near a river and I
watched women washing clothes on the rocks. There I was, traveling in a van with a mini
washing machine spinning inside.

I felt like I was in a sort of time travel.
The road does that. It places you in front of realities that no tourist brochure delivers. You
realize that “traveling” and “living on the road” are two very different things.

Traveling as a Couple

If you’re traveling as a couple, remember: you are both living this reality for the first time.
Once you hit the road, it’s just the two of you and the world. Take care of each other. Be
patient.

Talk. Because dealing with “perrengues” (hardships) as a couple in 8 square meters
teaches you humility very fast.

end

If you dream of having this experience… I hope, from the bottom of my heart, that you make it happen.

Because living in a motorhome isn’t just about traveling. It’s about having your life shaken from the inside out. Without a doubt, it was one of the experiences that most changed my concept of what it means to truly live.

In the next post, I might tell you about the time the police coerced us at our first international border in the middle of our “Portunhol.” hahahah That story deserves a chapter of its own.

If you’ve made it this far, I hope everything is going well with you, your family, and your physical, mental, and financial health.

Between briefings and bills, I continue to use my life experiences as the raw material for my writing.

Would I do it all again? Absolutely.

Living in a motorhome isn’t just traveling. It’s having your life shaken from the inside out. 😮‍💨