San Francisco to Tierra Del Fuego leaving Nov 2010 (Nissan Xterra)
- Thread starter coydogsf
- Start date
Ruined Adventures
Brenton Cooper
Ditto :jumping: Keep us informed on travel conditions!
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
Good choice on route and book. I drove that route last winter and used the same book. The book is outdated but still very very useful.
The west coast of Mexico is one of my favorite areas in all of Mexico. The Mex200 is a fantastic drive and you could spend a month or more just doing the Mex200. Hit the small towns along the way not justt he big ones. The little villages along the coast have hardly any N. American tourists and are cheap, safe, friendly and very nice. Just north of Acapulco is camping in Pie de la Custa, not much in the way of cheap places to stay or camp near Acapulco. San Juan de Alima is worth a stop, beautiful beach and tiny little town. Definately hit up Puerto Escondito and Playa Azul. Dozens of other places to stop along the way down the Mex200.
I wouldn't worry to much. I did the trip by myself and broke most of your rules and everybody elses rules. Drove at night, got bribed, ect ect ect. These things are part of the journey and adventure. Also most of the guys hitting you up for bribes speak at least a bit of english. Such as, Amigo, one ticket, $20 bucks! Just don't break any traffic rules, make sure all docs are in good order and stand your ground.
If you are into surfing a great book is " Wave Finder: Mexico" which has some stuff about camping and places to stay in it.
I am heading south next month myself. But am heading straight for Central America. If you make it to Santa Catalina, Panama by April look me up, I will be there until April.
Have fun!! :sombrero:
coydogsf
Adventurer
Whoa, if I can come back with a story about *getting bribed* that would be awesome... just messin' with ya.
Thanks for the response and route info. Have a great trip as well. Keep an eye out for us as you buzz by and we'll look ya up in Panama.
Dave
lostworldexpedition
Explorer
It was really nice meeting you last week Dave. I hope everything in the final days before departure is not driving you insane... just remember that the adventure of a lifetime starts next week.
Please let us know if there is anything Lacey and I can do to help. I wish I could start all over again knowing what I learned the last year and a half... Take care, have fun and trust your instinct. Drive on.
Please let us know if there is anything Lacey and I can do to help. I wish I could start all over again knowing what I learned the last year and a half... Take care, have fun and trust your instinct. Drive on.
RMP&O
Expedition Leader
heh....I have no doubt you will have many stories to tell. At this point all I can give you for advice would be, get out of Acapulco as fast as possible without speeding! Oh and tell the cops all you have is plastic money, aka credit cards and ask them if they take a visa!
No worries. There will be a cold beer waiting for you there. Purple house on the right, green Tacoma in the driveway with Wyoming plates.
naterry
13 Cheeseburgers
Enjoy your trip! We'll be embarking on a similar adventure next year and I'm eager to read up on your experiences.
I also like the encouragement from others not to worry too much about it. After all, I watched crowds overtake fire engines and paddi-wagons this week in the Mission so it's all point-of-perspective anyway..
I also like the encouragement from others not to worry too much about it. After all, I watched crowds overtake fire engines and paddi-wagons this week in the Mission so it's all point-of-perspective anyway..
coydogsf
Adventurer
Great to meet you too Luis although listening to you on the radio in Humbolt just now (http://khum.com/) only added to our pre-departure insanity. We're ready to go!
And you may notice above in the thread that I hooked up with efuentes through the forum, and we're excited to meet him down in Los Mochis. We're coming Edmundo!
For anyone interested, below is a repost from our blog about some of our latest pre-trip prep...
Dave
coydogsf
Adventurer
Are we gone yet?
The lease with the couple from Boston, friends of friends, who are renting our house as they (and their 7 month old baby) get settled into a new job in San Francisco is finalized. Going away dinners and happy hours are on everyone’s calendars. I even finished my buy-10-get-one-free punch card at the cafe down the hill. We sleep each night with a Lonely Planet on the bedside table, pages still warm from the now extinguished bulb of the reading lamp. We’re ready to be on the road.
It’s a rainy San Francisco Saturday, a week and a half before we plan to be packed up and heading south, and there’s not much to do besides break out the dueling laptops.
After a few completely unnecessary but nonetheless productive web site tweaks (including adding a third column to the right side of the site layout with quick links to deeper spots in the blog), I decided to consolidate the sections on books, travel blogs and web forums onto a single resource page to make some space in the sidebar. While there, I figured I’d click a few links and check in on some of the other travelers who have been informational and inspirational to us in planning the trip.
Coincidentally, I got an email from Luis from Lost World Expedition, one of the blogs that’s been the most helpful and entertaining, earlier in the week saying he’d flown in from Panama and was in San Francisco. The next day, I met Luis, Christian (2aroundtheworld), and Espen and Malin (unURBAN Adventures) for lunch at Crissy Field. Fun to get together with some people who had done similar trips or who we might see along the way. We talked about the usual – gear, trucks, budget and security. It was good to hear that 99% of stories people were hearing about robberies etc were the result of particularly poor decision making – driving at night, camping in random spots, being flashy. I asked Luis whether they were tending to accumulate stuff along the way or get rid of stuff. He said it felt like they were a hot air balloon running out of fuel the way they were jettisoning unneeded weight over the side! Good to know when fighting the pre-departure pack-creep.
While catching up on the latest from “Bumfuzzle” (if you haven’t heard me say this already, this is the site that got us thinking in the first place - go to the archive page of the above link and start reading from the beginning), I came across a link to a book called “[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578057298?ie=UTF8&tag=advofdavand07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0578057298"]Get Her on Board[/ame],” a guide for men trying to convince their significant others to buy a boat and set off. And no, I’m not in any way implying that that’s the case with us. Really, it’s not! But we did both enjoy a video series the author, Nick O’Kelly, has on his web site dealing with “Dreams vs. Reality” of setting off – in this case on a sailboat – and the effects this kind of trip has on relationships, gender roles, and life in general.
Start with the first video at http://www.getheronboard.com/?p=99 then use the “next” link above the post to see the next in the series (10 total, I think).
Dave
The lease with the couple from Boston, friends of friends, who are renting our house as they (and their 7 month old baby) get settled into a new job in San Francisco is finalized. Going away dinners and happy hours are on everyone’s calendars. I even finished my buy-10-get-one-free punch card at the cafe down the hill. We sleep each night with a Lonely Planet on the bedside table, pages still warm from the now extinguished bulb of the reading lamp. We’re ready to be on the road.
It’s a rainy San Francisco Saturday, a week and a half before we plan to be packed up and heading south, and there’s not much to do besides break out the dueling laptops.
After a few completely unnecessary but nonetheless productive web site tweaks (including adding a third column to the right side of the site layout with quick links to deeper spots in the blog), I decided to consolidate the sections on books, travel blogs and web forums onto a single resource page to make some space in the sidebar. While there, I figured I’d click a few links and check in on some of the other travelers who have been informational and inspirational to us in planning the trip.
Coincidentally, I got an email from Luis from Lost World Expedition, one of the blogs that’s been the most helpful and entertaining, earlier in the week saying he’d flown in from Panama and was in San Francisco. The next day, I met Luis, Christian (2aroundtheworld), and Espen and Malin (unURBAN Adventures) for lunch at Crissy Field. Fun to get together with some people who had done similar trips or who we might see along the way. We talked about the usual – gear, trucks, budget and security. It was good to hear that 99% of stories people were hearing about robberies etc were the result of particularly poor decision making – driving at night, camping in random spots, being flashy. I asked Luis whether they were tending to accumulate stuff along the way or get rid of stuff. He said it felt like they were a hot air balloon running out of fuel the way they were jettisoning unneeded weight over the side! Good to know when fighting the pre-departure pack-creep.
While catching up on the latest from “Bumfuzzle” (if you haven’t heard me say this already, this is the site that got us thinking in the first place - go to the archive page of the above link and start reading from the beginning), I came across a link to a book called “[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578057298?ie=UTF8&tag=advofdavand07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0578057298"]Get Her on Board[/ame],” a guide for men trying to convince their significant others to buy a boat and set off. And no, I’m not in any way implying that that’s the case with us. Really, it’s not! But we did both enjoy a video series the author, Nick O’Kelly, has on his web site dealing with “Dreams vs. Reality” of setting off – in this case on a sailboat – and the effects this kind of trip has on relationships, gender roles, and life in general.
Start with the first video at http://www.getheronboard.com/?p=99 then use the “next” link above the post to see the next in the series (10 total, I think).
Dave
DarioCarrera
Adventurer
Dave I wish you a lot of success (luck is for the unprepared) or so they say. Wish you the best trip possible and hope that you enjoy this great oportunity you have. If you don't decide to ditch the car somewhere south (Brazil or Argentina), hope you make as far north as Venezuela.
Take care and keeps us posted!!!
Take care and keeps us posted!!!
Ruined Adventures
Brenton Cooper
I need to find get-him-onboard videos for my future father-in-law to watch! He doesn't want to talk more than 5 minutes about our plans, he just mentions the "cartel war" south of the border and doesn't give me the chance for rebuttal. I haven't even been given to chance to explain how much thought we've put into this!
coydogsf
Adventurer
Oh, I hear you on this one. Come on people! You know us to be reasonable, responsible individuals. Don't you think we've done the research, thought it through, and are aware of some degree of heightened risk?? You can worry if you want but we're excited and would rather talk about the potential for great experiences!
Edmundo (efuentes) recently posted A very good take on Mexicowhich spurred some interesting discussion. Send your FIL the first post in the thread.
Note: we did cave to familial pressure the other week and got a SPOT tracker. Will be fun to have people be able to follow along and nice to have a little extra piece of mind (our location is known plus the 911 service for whatever it's worth). $150 for the device at REI plus $100/yr for a contract. Search online for a PROMO code that will get you the add'l $50/yr tracking for free. We also splurged on $12.95 (!) for an extra $100K of search and rescue from GEOS, the people who get the 911 call.
Dave