Among Dumaguete’s latest visitors were the Zapp family, an Argentinian family touring the world in their vintage car. Their life has been a wonderful story in itself, which is written about in books they have published, and in their website www.sparkyourdream.net. They left Dumaguete Saturday on their trip to Iloilo City. (Photo from the Zapp website)
Herman Zapp, 42 was born in San Francisco, California and was raised in Argentina. His wife Candelaria Zapp, 40, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They have four children, each born in a country different from the other: Pampa, eight, was born in the USA; Tehue, five, was born in Argentina; Paloma, three, was born in Canada; while Wallaby, one year old, was born in Australia.
According to their website, Herman and Candy both grew up in the country, amongst ponies and cousins. At eight and10 years of age, they met, and the impossible love that they felt at that time grew and became a reality when she was only 14. For another 10 years, they dated and grew up together with a dream accompanying them. But after six years of marriage, they took their first steps pushed by their desire to have children. They said, “First let’s complete our dream, then we’ll have children.” There couldn’t have been a better way: their first son arrived together with the dream, one dream inside another.
During the trip from Argentina to Alaska, they printed their first book, Atrapa Sueños which was the bestselling book at the International Book Fair in Costa Rica. This was enlarged, translated into English as Dream Chaser and printed seven more times. By the time they got to Alaska, they had sold out 12 thousand copies, simply by sales from people meeting them while in their vintage car during the trip.
The trip was a Big Dream, but when it was over, their dream kept growing. They returned to Argentina and wrote the book Atrapa tu Sueño which became a best-seller in Argentina in 2005. Today its 8th edition is in print. They translated and edited it into English, and Spark Your Dream was published in 2007. Today its 3rd edition is in print. They are still writing … and more books are certainly on the way in the near future.
The Zapps travelled all around Argentina, where their second boy was born. Since then, they have not stopped. Their car was shipped to Florida and so began a new journey driving along a fresh route. They headed north to Montreal, then west to Vancouver Island, where their princess Paloma was born, and finally, they went south to Los Angeles, California.
They then went to Australia. As soon as they got there, their fourth baby arrived and, with him aboard, they covered a complete loop around the country. They’ve been in deserts where only kangaroos live, and where fuel is not available for a stretch of at least 500 kilometres. Then the car was shipped to New Zealand, where they travelled through both the North and South Islands. Having completed their piece of Oceania, they headed for Asia, their next continent.
Currently, they are in the Philippines. They are poised to drive through 18 more countries within Asia. The Zapps have been on the road for the last 10 years. Some may say they may not have the ideal car to circle the world, and some may say they don’t have the required funds needed, but when you read the book and the many extraordinary experiences they have had, you will likely come to believe they have the perfect car, all the resources they need, and have something more important than anything else — the willingness to chase and accomplish their dream.
