The final journey Chicago to Baltimore

After leaving Chicago, we made our way east to Baltimore, where the next big chapter of our journey was to begin — preparing our Motorhome for its voyage back to Australia. After leaving Chicago, we headed to Baltimore to prepare our Motorhome for its journey back to Australia. The trip wasn’t without excitement, with a huge storm, tornado warnings and flood warnings in Ohio! It certainly added a little adventure to the journey!

Our first stop in Baltimore was the hotel, where we had the rather sad task of emptying the Motorhome of all our personal possessions. From there, we delivered it to the Port of Baltimore, where a port-based cleaning company carried out the extensive cleaning required to comply with Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) biosecurity regulations.

The cleaning process took three days, after which the Motorhome was moved for its inspection by Wallenius Wilhelmsen. They carried out a very thorough inspection of both the Motorhome and our scooter to ensure everything would meet the requirements for shipment to Australia. Finally, after being cleared, we were allowed to move the Motorhome into the Quarantine area, where it will remain safely parked until it is driven aboard the Tonsberg next week, on August 26. It was actually quite heartbreaking to see our beautiful, freshly cleaned Motorhome sitting there in the rain after all that work. It had probably never been this clean since 2012 — yes, 14 years ago! Of course, within a few days, the Baltimore weather had already done its best to undo all that hard work.

But there has been another interesting realisation during our stay here. After spending six days in a hotel, with another nine nights still to go before we leave New York and fly home to Cairns, we have really come to appreciate just how good life on the road is. There is something incredibly special about bush camping in our Motorhome. You can find a beautiful, quiet spot, open the door, step outside and simply enjoy the freedom of deciding where you want to be and what you want to do. No check-in times, no checkout times, no hotel rules, no regulations telling you where you can park, when you have to leave or what you can and cannot do. Just freedom, independence and the adventure of the open road. Hotel life is certainly comfortable, but after living on the road, you realise just how many little rules and restrictions come with it. Here, everything has a schedule and a regulation. In the Motorhome, we can wake up in the middle of nowhere, make a coffee, enjoy the view and decide what adventure comes next. That freedom is something you simply can’t put a price on.

A very special thank you to Alvaro, Carolina and Salome, and all the wonderful staff at Lanodir, for looking after us so well during our stay. And a special thank you to Michael Orders, Port & Cargo Operations Manager in Baltimore, for guiding me through the Port procedures and showing me exactly where we needed to park the Motorhome in the Quarantine area. Your help made a complicated process much easier to navigate.

For now, we are going to make the most of our remaining days in Baltimore and enjoy this vibrant Inner Harbor area before heading to New York for a few more days in the city that never sleeps.

we are both already looking forward to another Overland around Australia and the wonderful feeling of freedom on four wheels.