California to Panama in a T100

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

It's totally fine Bajasurfrig. I'm happy to help when I can. If you have any other questions I might have answers to, ask away.

Our budget is 50 usd per day or 1500 per month.

This is for two people and a dog though. I cant think of an accurate way of trying to guess what my budget would be for just me since there are so many split cost.

This money includes everything: food, gas, lodging, border fees, car insurance, car repairs, vet visits...
We have had times when we went over budget (new battery, vet visit...) but we have always been able to get back on track with some free camping, not eating out, and in extreme cases drinking less beer.

Fuel cost can be a big part of your spending if you travel fast, so it's something to consider in figuring out your daily or monthly budget.

We get 15.5 mpg averaged over all kinds of driving conditions. (and some sitting in the car with the AC on)

Think about how far you will be traveling and over how much time. This was a big reason We decided just to go to Panama, not Argentina. By traveling a shorter distance, we can continue traveling for a longer time on the same amount of money.

 

[NoDinero]

If your posting dates are somewhat correct, you might want to try looking up John and Mandi at JohnandMandi.com as I believe they are currently surfing in El Salvador. Happy travels!

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

If your posting dates are somewhat correct, you might want to try looking up John and Mandi at JohnandMandi.com as I believe they are currently surfing in El Salvador. Happy travels!

Oh, cool. I've been following them on Instagram. I'll have to check in to see where they are.

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

Well, we made it into El Salvadore. It was the most hectic border crossing yet. We try to be prepared, but the Guatemalan and Salvadorian sides wanted copies of the stamps they had just put in our passports and other such things we couldn't have had ahead of time. We ended up hiring a "helper" for the first time and got through in about two hours. Realy its the usual hurry up and wait, try not to get frustrated routine. Make sure you have some fresh water and snacks. It always helps us out on crossing days
We spent our first days in El Salvadore hiking around Parque El Imposible.

It is a very cool park. hardly anyone around during the week and lots of wildlife. We saw our first armadillo and lots of lizards and birds.

 

[The_Driver]

Thanks for the heads up regarding the Guatemala- El Salvador borders. BTW, as for the Schwabb checking account, I could do the same thing with USAA, where I'm a member, but thanks for the heads up regardless. My schedule take off from the States is in early to mid June. Look forward to more of your posts!

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

El Salvadore has been fun so far. We spent a few days around Zonte surfing and hanging out. Pretty chill spot.

We then met up with some other overlanders that we had originally met at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala and headed south to a beach near Cuco.

My wife, Amie has done a great job of sharing nearly all of our campsites in the Ioverlander App. If you are planning a trip like this, I recommend you get the App. I know some folks feel like all the gadgets and Apps take some of the adventure out of travel, but some times your not looking for adventure. Your looking for a place to sleep

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

Cool, maybe we'll see you somewhere south of the border The_Driver. We have another year planned on the road in Central America

 

[cgnjeep]

Love reading about your trip, thanks for sharing! My wife and I have recently sold our home and I am trying to convince her a similar trip to Costa Rica after another year of saving would be an amazing experience. Trouble is we are wondering how realistic a trip of that magnitude would be with our senior Boxer. He is healthy and active but we only take him on long trips if we spend most of the time hiking and in the outdoors. If we take a "city trip" we usually board him.

How has it been traveling with your pup for so long? Do you feel restricted in terms of visiting cities, going into restaurants or just going to places where dogs are not permitted. Where do you guys leave him in those situations and while you are surfing?

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

Thanks for the positive words cgnjeep.
There are some extra considerations, but nothing that should stop you from sharing the experience sith your buddy. Our dog sees the truck as home now and loves it. He just turned 14 years old and is a pretty mellow guy, so he hasn't restricted us too often with regard to cities. We leave him in hotel rooms or in the car as long as it's not too hot. When surfing we just leave him with the truck. He wont wonder far anymore. He has unfortunatly gotten less active since we started our trip so we have chosen to skip a few all day hikes that he couldn't join us on anymore and we didn't have a nice cool spot to leave him.

The main downsides of traveling with a dog are small extra hassles at border crossings and occasionally it makes finding a hotel or campsite more challenging. These challenges are more easily overcome with a senior dog compared to a puppy since the senior is usualy mellower and easier to convince people he wont be a problem. If you decide you're going to do the trip, I suggest getting the Ioverlander app. It has lots of good campsites and atractions and if someone else with a dog has gone to the place you are concidering, then they will post if they were allowed with the dog or not. It makes things a bit easier. We've updated many locations with our dog related succes.

Every dog is different, but 2 things to consider having a boxer:
1.Due to the short snout, some boxers have a tendency to overheat easily, so you'll want to make sure he has a cool place to sleep and hang in the car while you go resupply or cross a border or whatever.
2. I've heard they are prone to food allergies. If your dog has any kind of food sensitivity you probably want to figure a solution out ahead of time. Quality dog food is hard to find and when you do you pay a majore premium. Purina and simaller is easy to come by, but anything with high protien/glacucimien/ grain free is nearly nonexistant. We ended up switching to Costco food and glacucimien suplements because it was the best we could find regularly.

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

Well, we just crossed into Honduras. We were planning on spending a week or so hiking in Honduras, but I got injured while surfing last week and Amie twisted her ankle, so we are going to cross into Nicaragua tomorrow and head back to the beach, I'm on the mend and will probably be healed enough to surf again before Amie is ready to do any hiking. We decided to treat ouselves to a hotel and a dinner out to keep spirits up between border crossings

The crossing into Honduras was a dirty one with plenty of sketchy looking people hanging around, many aggressive "helpers", and a few dancing drunks. It took 2hours 15 minutes to sign out of el Salvador and into Honduras and involved a new record for number of copies needed. I think it was 7 difrent documents that we needed copied and with duplicates it was over 20 pieces of paper. Kind of rediculouse, but if it makes them happy... We'll play along.

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

We crossed into Nicaragua after just one day in Honduras. Exiting Honduras was pretty standard and easy.

Entering Nicaragua proved to have a few unique challenges.
1. We had to pay to get our visa stamp in our passport. This is normal. The odd part was that they insisted on being payed 10 US dollars and roughly 80 Nicaraguan cordoba. I was not allowed to pay in just dollars or cordoba. This was confusing and I would have assumed it was a scam except they made the same request of the El Salvadorian behind me and my wife who was in a different line.

2. The official in charge of pet entry documentation seemed very confused about our desire to enter with a pet. After discussing the matter with some other guys standing around and making some calls, it was decided that we could enter with the dog for about 7 usd. In order to pay this amount we needed to go to a nearby bank with exact change and make a deposit into the bank account belonging to this agency. After waiting in the bank line for 50 minutes, we returned to the import office with the bank receipt so they could look at our paperwork some more and talk about it and call some people and finally stamp it.

3. There is apparently a rule saying that each person can only bring 2 surfboards into Nicaragua. As part of the TIP process for the truck an agent had a look in the vehicle and was upset to see that we had six surfboards for 2 travelers. He didn't think it was funny when I said that 2 were for the dog. It seemed that he was either trying to get us to leave 2 behind with him or that he wanted a bribe to let us through. In the end I got another official involved. My Spanish isn't great, but I got the impression that he didn't care how many surfboards we had and didn't know why the other guy was asking.

4. Vehicle insurance is mandatory in Nicaragua and is purchased from a lady siting on the side of the road at the border. No one will point this out or check that you have done this before you leave the border area, but if you get pulled over by the police in Nicaragua without it they will be happy to fine you a large amount. We made it to the last check before leaving the border area before Amie remembered reading about this and we proceeded to do a bunch of illegal driving maneuvers to get back to the lady selling the insurance near the start of the Nicaraguan side of the border.

As usual, we got it all done eventually and continued on our way a bit later than we had hoped.

 

[BajaSurfRig]

Enjoy Nicaragua!! I went there in 2007 and loved it. Hope you guys are getting some waves and having fun, I am vicariously living through you guys

 

[Jaunt]

3. There is apparently a rule saying that each person can only bring 2 surfboards into Nicaragua. As part of the TIP process for the truck an agent had a look in the vehicle and was upset to see that we had six surfboards for 2 travelers. He didn't think it was funny when I said that 2 were for the dog. It seemed that he was either trying to get us to leave 2 behind with him or that he wanted a bribe to let us through. In the end I got another official involved. My Spanish isn't great, but I got the impression that he didn't care how many surfboards we had and didn't know why the other guy was asking.

LOL.

damn man, hearing all these border crossing stories from Central America totally kills any desire I have to go south of Mexico.

 

[RMP&O]

I am not sure if you have read my x2 trips reports to Panama and back? I found my experiences a lot different than yours. Some things were the same but a lot was not, crossing borders. I traveled with a USDA APHIS form for my dog which you are supposed to have and there was zero confusion at any crossings concerning my dog. I have links to my first two trips reports in my thread that is going now, ie Overland Adventures, page 1.

We are very slowly making our way south, nearly two months in Mexico so far an will be here another 1-2 months before moving on. Maybe our paths will cross.

Cheers

 

[Traveling 2gether Journal]

We've had a few issues, but nothing that would make me hesitate in doing it again. It's a good thing since we will probably be turning around at some point and making our way back to the states

The border crossings are funny. We talk to other travelers that cross the same border on the same day and one says easiest border ever, the other says total nightmare. Being prepared helps a lot, but luck is definitely a factor. I wouldn't say we've hit nightmare levels yet. We just try to be prepared with all the forms and copies we can, then mentally prepare to shuffle around the border zone waiting in lines and make sure you start early so you have lots of daylight to find a safe place to stay when your done.

RMP&O I believe I read some of your trip reports while I was planning. I didn't get the USDA APHIS form for my dog. I just got health certificates with in 10 days of crossing each border. This is the standard requirement that I had seen in my research before the trip. I messed up with Belize and not having the official Belize form approved before our crossing. No one has asked me for a USDA APHIS form, but if it has worked for you than it sounds like a great tip for anyone else in the planning phase. Do you happen to know if I can get one online and print it off?

We will probably see you on the road RMP&O. We are planning to extend our visas and stay in Nicaragua for another 2 months. Then move threw Costa Rica fairly quick and spend a lot of time in Panama. If you don't ketch up to us by then, we'll see you on our way north