I just got back from a photo trip in Patagonia, where we drove a lot. I LOVE the region and South America in general. Never been to Central America but I've had some great trips in Mexico.

I have two jobs and I'm sick of both. I don't think the side job will last much longer, and the day job is about done for me. I probably need to stick it out until the end of year to get my bonus and pay off some 401(k) loans. But unless I get plugged into some interesting projects - I'm gone. I figure there has to be some advantage to dying alone with no kids. This would be the adventure of my life. I'd try to live-blog it as much as possible.

Our photo tour guide from the Patagonia trip is planning a 20-day partial boat tour next May that he's calling "an expedition". We'll get into some fjords in Southern Chile that hardly any one's ever been to - much less landscape photographers. So that's my parameter - be in Patagonia by mid-May.

I've done some cursory research, and it seems pretty doable.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/35876322/n...nyc-argentina/

http://www.worldlyrambles.com/summar...o-or-not-to-do

You have to ship your car across the Darien Gap - which is a PITA.

Very rough plan is to drive to Cabo, then take the ferry from La Paz to Los Mochis. Then head South. I'd probably zip across El Salvador and Honduras as fast as possible, enjoy myself in Costa Rica and maybe Nicaragua. I've been to Peru, Columbia, Chile and Argentina and know they're pretty safe. I feel like I'd want to avoid driving in Brazil, Venezuela (govt might seize my car) or the Guyanas. Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia should be fine. I know not to drive at night in sketchy places and find secure parking for my car.

I plan to mostly camp and stay in hostels. I can sleep in my car in a pinch. Maybe splurge on a hotel when I want some extra security for my car. On the way back I may either sell my car or ship to LA or Florida from Colombia.

Prerequisites:

1. Must learn reasonable conversational Spanish. I know a lot of words but no sentences, etc. I am using this online thing called duolingo. Looking for an an immersion program in LA. There are some Spanish classes by me but they don't start right away.
2. Lose at least 30 lbs. At 257 - I'm 40-50 lbs over-weight right now. It's just no fun in a lot of ways. I won't enjoy myself unless I get below 230. Plus I hope to get laid a decent amount with my fun story and mad Spanish skillz.
3. Maximize my social media footprint so hopefully the blog picks up some traction and has a lot of viewers. IE - finish photo website (pretending to sell photos), get active in 500px (2p2 for photographers), start blogging, get active on forum for people doing these driving adventures (forget the name), FJ Cruiser forums, Instagram.
4. Figure out what modifications if any I want to do to my car. A flat roof rack with a pop-up tent seems really cool. But as I'm going to be jobless maybe I should think about limiting spending. Or maybe some kind of hidden compartment to hide camera gear/computers/etc?
5. Research, get permits, visas etc. ahead of time.

Big question is whether or not to take my FJ Cruiser or buy an Outback or something for $5k:

Pros:

1. Great car, nice and high so I can see things developing.
2. Built like a tank to protect me in a crash.
3. Can get into fun places like camping on the beach.
4. I pan to blog the whole thing - so me and my FJ is a fun angle. Me and my Camry lacks the same zing.

Cons:

1. Everyone says try not to draw attention to yourself. Big ginger beard with CA plates in that car does the exact opposite. (I'm hoping people will think I'm ex-military or something lol)
2. I am stupidly emotionally attached to my car, and have put some customizations into it. It's got 100k miles so it could easily last me another 10 years. I really would have a hard time selling it at the end, even though supposedly you can get good money in Brazil. Also I know there's a very real probability it doesn't come back from being totaled, or stolen. I have to be ok with that.
3. 15 miles to the gallon/15 gallon tank (yeah wtf) - but I figure I can carry extra tanks.

Any thoughts or advice is mucho appreciated.

I am fine with the idea that I could have everything stolen and have to limp back with my tail between my legs. You don't have an adventure w/o risking something. If I get killed I had a good life. My biggest fears are getting kidnapped or paralyzed in a car wreck. Both seem fairly low probability.

Suzzer,

This guy did the entire Pan-American Highway a few years back, might be good reading for you. There's a lot there, but I found it quite compelling when he was doing it.

It terms of your points, more than conversational Spanish sounds necessary. At each border, it appears one of the hassles is getting the paperwork filled out properly to get you and your vehicle into the next country (or across the Darien Gap in that case). Seems like you need to be pretty fluent conversationally, as well as reading.

For vehicle, look at the above as well. Seems as if you want something with good clearance, durable, and pretty easy to fix. I don't think either of your vehicles qualifies; I imagine you'd want something a few years older, to increase the chances of parts being available in the less-developed world.

Anyway, tons of good info on Dan's blog.

I'd be really interested to follow your adventure, best of luck to you.

Thanks a lot for the link! I love the map he drew on the hood. I might do something similar. I've done almost the entire way North from LA - to close to the Arctic circle. I'm not gonna do that part again.

Reading Spanish is actually easier than understanding it I think. We did that dance back and forth between Argentina and Chile each way with 3 cars. It was definitely confusing.

As far as the car it's a 2007 FJ Cruiser (you might be thinking of PT Cruiser). Toyotas are pretty popular, but not sure about FJs. My car is in very good condition and almost never breaks down. That's one downside to buying a car - even if its something dependable like another Toyota or Subaru.

Pretty similar to this:

for learning Spanish try languagetransfer.org.

Why do you want to travel by car? There are good reasons why tourists in South America never even rent cars, let alone spend weeks driving in their own. Stuff is really, really far apart, and safety and infrastructure are not at all comparable to the developed world.

Worth a read although a bit dated, from 1992, is a book by Tim Cahill called Road Fever

Brief Description of Book from Amazon:
Tim Cahill's Road Fever is the adventure of a lifetime. Along with professional long-distance driver Garry Sowerby, Cahill drove 15,000 miles from the southernmost tip of Tierra del Fuego to the northernmost terminus of the Dalton Highway in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, from one end of the world to another,

These are legitimate questions.

I like driving. I like the idea of really seeing the country, not just blowing through. As a photographer I may find some really interesting things off the beaten path. When I meet people along the way I will have a cool story to tell. I like the idea of having an adventure. I have this fantasy that one day I might be like the Indefinitely Wild guy and turn a blog into a way to make a living. The FJ/driving gives the whole trip a potentially interesting angle vs. just some guy bumming around (everyone does that).

For these reasons I think it's worth the risk/hassle. I know it will be stressful and not fun a decent chunk of the time. But when it's done I should be a richer person for the experiences.

I suggest you check out Kombilife. He did Pan-Am, Cali - Alaska and much more

https://kombilife.com/category/travel-hacks-advice/

Driving is the best way to go. The safest? Probably not but you'll come across so many more experiences and cool places then if you were just taking busses.

Just registered UshuaiaOrBust.com. If I don't have a rudimentary blog site up in a week, the first person to quote this gets $100. I plan to stencil a big map on my hood and update it as I go.

I'm enrolled in Spanish immersion 4-5 hours/week + homework and "field trips". I'm also reading up on Guatemala, as it would be my first stop after Mexico, and getting really excited.

Pretty much at this point something extraordinary would have to happen for me to call this off.

I plan to leave sometime between October and Jan 1st (if I have to stick it out til the end of the year for my bonus - need to investigate - I heard it was pro-rated). If anyone here is interested in coming along for legs - let me know. I have one guy who may come along for a lot of it. More eyes and ears are always appreciated.

That's me

Can´t say anything about El Salvador as i haven´t been there.

Regarding Honduras i gotta say that outside of the Big Cities, you are most likely to be just any fine as in any rural area in Mexico, Guatemala or Nicaragua, while big Cities in those Countries are going to be just as dangerous like San Pedro Sula or Tegucigalpa. Especially in Managua and Guatemala City most areas do feel really sketchy. Btw the Statistics (murder-rate) are probably skewed a bit due to the Presence of those Mara-Gangs. But the vast majority of the Stuff they do is gang-on-gang related, so its unlikely youre going to be involved with that at all.

Also Hondurans from the Countryside in general have been among the nicest, most helpful people i have met all over Centralamerica.

Anyway, even if you plan to rush through Honduras, as a Photographer you might not wanna miss out the Lago Yojoa Area at least. Tons of amazing Views of landscapes and wildlife around the Lake. Check out D&D Brewery Hostel if youre there. Not close to a party place as the name might suggest, just a remote quiet Hostel situated in some Village close to the lake, that for some Reason also sells some variants of Craft-Beer to their guests.

Awesome - thanks for the advice. The more I read about the rural stuff in Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua - the more excited I am getting for this trip. Everybody says the chicken buses are the worst part - which I won't be on for the most part - woot.

I also heard really good things about El Salvador having friendly, helpful people. The cool part is I will have an instant story to tell anywhere I go. At least as long as my car holds out.

I spent an hour in bed this morning trying to do the math on renting out my place. I'd be losing money over my house payment + HOA. But not by much.

I could try to AirBnB it and get more. But I'd need some management company which would take a cut. And my downstairs neighbor is a PITA who demands extreme silence. I told him to get lost and he hasn't bothered me since. But he could put a stop to my AirBnB plans pretty quick.

Storage for all my stuff is gonna be $100-$200/month. Makes much more sense to just rent it furnished I guess.

Also what am I going to do for health insurance?

So much damn stuff to figure out.

Been reading a lot about the Darien Gap. What a PITA. Sounds like it will end up costing about $2k and at least a week each way - all to get around a 90 mile stretch of jungle. Reading the blog sites the price has doubled twice since the mid 2000s. There used to be a ferry, which came tantalizingly close to re-opening in 2016. But it never happened.

I think the only thing that makes sense is selling my car down there. Which also might take a few weeks of hassle at the end of the trip. Or possibly ship from Columbia to LA or Florida (then do a little US road trip I've wanted to do for a while) - which is barely more expensive than shipping Colombia to Panama.

I've put in a sunroof and a nice stereo/nav system in my 2007 FJ with 100k miles. If I treat it right I could drive it for another decade. I love that car, it's paid for, and I'd rather not ditch it at the end of this trip. I might just buy a used Rav4 or something for $5k and drive that instead - then leave it down there.

Buying a car in Colombia seems like an option but also a hassle. Also the story gets exponentially less fun the shorter amount I drive with one car.

Argh - all this because of a stupid little stretch of jungle.

This guy's stories are pretty awesome. Korean dude with very little Spanish decides to drive an old Mercedes Turbo Diesel from Texas to Tierra Del Fuego.



Colombian girls are just insane. When was the last time you saw a shipping clerk who looked like that?




This is why I'm excited about driving. Counter-intuitively it forces you to interact with the locals more and you see a lot more of real life vs. shuttling around with the backpackers everywhere.

Eh. I've never had a car and it was never a problem to avoid the tourists and meet the locals. Mostly it has to do with being able to speak Spanish.

Looking forward to this. I lived/traveled in South and Central America for a few years.
In 2011 I bought a 125cc in Santiago and drove it around South America, I even went to Venezuela (I probably wouldn't do that right now). I was really surprised how easy it was, the only difficult border crossings were in Venezuela because you have to do a bunch of paperwork to get in. It really was a trip of a lifetime, so much more adventurous than all of the traveling I've done before that.

Yes you can avoid other backpackers and connect to thr locals by traveling by public transport, maybe it is even better to get to know locals by traveling that way. But the freedom you get by having your own vehicle is huge advantage. You can go places that are hard to get by public transport, you are not limited by schedules, you can stop where ever you want, etc.

There also are some cons having your own vehicle (and some of these are bigger cons for cars than for motorcycles);
- bad driving (Peru was the worst IMO). Driving on a 2 lane road and trucks overtaking from the opposite direction and expecting you to go get on the shoulder isn't fun.
-mechinacal/technical problems. Especially fun in remote areas on a road with no traffic what so ever.
-finding safe parking spots can be hard sometimes.
- corruption, I had to bribe my way out of Venezuela or had to wait for 3 days at the border because they closed it during local elections. I guess a American license plate attracts quite a bit of attention. I've lived in Paraguay, probably one of if not the most corrupt country of SA, and I can assure you that you will get stopped at checkpoints all the time.

But like I said before I would do this trip all over again if I ever get the chance. The things you seee, the people you meet will stay with you forever. GL OP!

Awesome - every bit of real world advice like this helps.

I have been to Peru and seen the driving there. Size seems to dictate who gets off the road. So at least I will win vs. most cars.

Just for ****s and giggles I was looking at the road across the Amazon (Puerto Velho - Manaus - Boa Vista) - up to Venezuela then cutting over back to Colombia (assuming Venezuela is not in chaos by then). I found this site. http://www.landcruisingadventure.com...ransamazonica/ (which is down right now for some reason)

Unless the road has been improved a lot since they wrote this I'm probably not down for that big of an adventure. Although I do have a pretty good car for it. I've taken that thing on some roads in the desert that were barely even tracks anymore. I really need a traveling companion for that part though - to make sure I don't drive off improvised bridges and such.

Did you spend any time in the Guyanas or Suriname? There doesn't seem to be much infrastructure at all in those.

yea, plan seems fine. my uncle does this alot from the usa to nicaragua and then rents cars to surfers for extraordinate sums of money. I bought/had a car in peru. its fine. You can sell for fairly high prices both there and brazil (only places I have experience). Didn't read the whole thing but can't drive across darien gap afaik. If you have extra money for random things that pop up I don't see a problem. Learn spanish. Be smart about when parking on the street is okay and when it is absolutely not and you need secure parking.

I don't see a ton of FJ cruisers in SA, but occasionally sure. Just saying this because if you break down and your car doesn't exist in that country, ur looking at big delays or towing fees to get it fixed. I learned the hard way, but had a subaru which is huge in Peru but nonexistant in ecuador.

biggest suggestion would be try to avoid central american capitals. just ****-holes, almost every one of em

Thanks a lot! Yeah I'm hoping that FJ being a Toyota - a lot of the parts will be similar.

I went on a boat from Manaus to Porto Velho, cool experience and pretty cheap if you have a small moto. I imagine a lot more planning money is needed if you bring your car. You can also go to Belem from there.

Road from Venezuela to Manaus is good. I'm pretty sure you can also go through the Guayana's from Boa Vista (also like Manaus a weird isolated city in the middle of nowhere) by road but the visas are more of a hassle. I think doing Ecuador and Peru is a better option, especially with the current climate in Venezuela. I would personally prefer Chile over the Bolivia (Paraguay), Argentina route.

I have been to Bolivia 2 times and didn't really enjoy it apart from the mines in Potosi and the salt lake. I went through Bolivia because for some odd reason you can't pass the border to Peru with a Chilean vehicle. Road is paved all the way from the Desaguadero border crossing with Peru to Villazon (border with Argentina). AFAIK Santa Cruz to Asuncion (Paraguay) is still unpaved for the most part on the Bolivian side.

I'm definitely doing the Western route through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile on the way down.

It's on the way back up I am exploring going through the Amazon through Venezuala. Then I would either sell my car or ship it from Colombia to Florida (which seems surprisingly affordable - roll on, roll off). For the most part I figure I will wait until I get down there, talk to locals, see what the situation is in Venezuela, see how I feel. I could also ship my car from Sao Paulo.

Most locals from neighboring countries will tell you not to go to Venezuela, especially the Colombians. It was like that even back in 2011. I was there only for 2 weeks, but had a good time In Venezuela, it really is a beautiful country with very nice people and petrol is basically free. I hope to back there someday and explore more of the country, but the situation at this moment seems to be really bad.

Going from Puerto Velho by Manaus by road is pretty much impossible like you said, so you'd have to go through the Guyana's. Selling your car in Paraguay is also a viable option if you want to sell, I'm sure you'd get a good price there and it's not impossible to sell your car there like in Argentina or Brazil.

Seeing Angel Falls would be really really cool. Other than that I'd mostly try to high-tail it through the country.