Thanks for the reply and update!
Can I ask how much you had saved up?
Hi vivithemage!
Sounds like you are planning something
I'll try to give you some more costs info.
.
My guess is about 30,000 USD?
- Adding up our average cost for the whole trip, we are at about 65 USD per day for the costs mentioned in the last reply. As we have been on the road now for almost 18 months, this means we have spent 65 usd x 540 days = 35100 USD.
- We have had 4 service for the car, and including changing the bushes for the rear axle control arms, this is about 2000 usd.
- In Moab we bought new tires and wheels that sat us back about 3000 usd, but this would be cheaper for smaller tires.
- Before we left North America we "upgraded" the car with a solar panel, a big propane bottle (with hoses and conections), a satphone (with 500 minutes), and a water purification system. All this cost about 2800 usd, but we count on using this on later trips/expeditions/adventures/etc.
- Insurance is also not in our average travel costs. A travel insurance willl be different depending on citizenship. Shop around. We pay about 1000 usd per year (Columbus Direct). We also have a world wide coverage for our car (the company is Alessie in Holland), which gives us liability for all countries (exept Mex, Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Colombia where you must buy at the borders) and a comprehensive insurance paying us 40000 usd if it is stolen, burns, rolls/crashes, etc. This cost in total about 3500 usd per year (no kilometer limitations). Not sure if I would buy the comprehensive part in the future. This is the expensive part, and most other travellers don't have it.
- if you feel like flying home to check in on friends and family, this should also be taken into the budget...
- lastly, for the cost part, modifying the Patrol. The offroad modifications was done before we decided to go on this trip. I would probably not gone to the extreme for a drive along the PanAm. A normal 4x4 with a good set of coils and shocks will do just fine. Add a locker in case of trouble, and it will take you anywhere you want to go. Better to prioritize a fridge and an extra battery than fancy offroad stuff. We have met people driving down here in old vans (with and without camping interior), small sedans, "normal" RVs, and super modified offroaders. Many do it on a pushbike! Buy a vehicle you like, make sure it is well maintained, and you'll be fine!
.
You said you had gone out on 6~ month trips before, without the vehicle, were they all backwoods style camping? Or were they in and out of cities? Being unurban, I bet it was backwoods?
- Both. We have done several backwoods trips up to a couple of weeks, but you need cities/siviliazation to stock up on food and stuff. We were quite used to sleep in a tent, though, so we knew we would be able to live for a while in a roof top tent. However, for the PanAm, I think I would go for a live-inside-vehicle the next time. Most of the longer travels have been as backpackers, meaning that we travel by public transport. These runs basicallly between cities and villages.
.
Where/how did you plan your trip? Did you pretty much map out most of the cities you wanted to hit? Most of the hot spots, like arizona/flats/mayan ruins?
- We outlined most of the route at home before leaving. We started with making "x"s
on a map of the things and places we had heard about/wanted to see, and then we tried to draw a line through as many of the "x"s as we could without adding too many kilometers to the trip. We talked to a biker here the other day that had biked 25000 kilometer to Tierra del Fuego from Alaska, but we are getting closer to 60000 kilometers. So there is definitely many ways to do this. The details of the route we fill in along the way, and the info we find in tourist information offices, guidebooks (we use Rough Guides and Lonely Planets), from other travellers (blogs and fellow travelers), and of course, Internet.
.
Have you done a lot of off roading before, in your patrol?
- Yes, I've been playing a little bit offroad before we started on this trip. Both in my Patrol (not so much as it was relatively new) and my previous car (also a Patrol). But offorading is not important for a PanAm trip. There are rough roads, but it is still roads. I guess the worst thing you could come across is mud, but in our 18 months I havent seen anything that a normal 4x4 could not handle. Don't worry about it!
.
Good luck on planning! (and ask as much as you want!)
E&M