Jim the Truck - a mercedes 1823

[ianc]

We did a similar trip about 3 years ago, except we bought a camper in Florida and finished in Seattle.

Keep in mind that unless you get a visa you are limited to 180 days in the US in a given year and no more than 90 days at a time. Going into and out of Canada or just Mexico apparently (according to US Embassy) does not stop the 90d clock. When you're heading into Mexico, make sure the US immigration record your exit. This does not normally happen. Tell them you are going on to Guatemala and probably flying home from there - or something like that.

I would encourage you to consider going down as far as Panama. All of the countries on the way are worth seeing. For "campsites" in Central America see: http://grumpyinamerica.wordpress.com/campgrounds-ca/
I know of only 5 proper campsites in the whole of Central America. Hence the quotes.
For camping in Mexico - Mexican Camping by Church & Church is the bible. I still have a copy but I couldn't part with it. Anyhow it gets updated most years.

Also in the US I would trade Colorado for Yosemite and Yellowstone. Buy an annual pass for the US National parks - big savings.

Sorting insurance can be a pain. If you haven't already sorted - let me know and I'll try to dig up the contacts I used.

 

[Victorian]

Hey! We are in Victoria on Vancouver Island Let me know when you are close and we will be more then happy to show you around our little paradise

 

[brave_ulysses]

nice build, especially the solar.

any plans to see the coastal redwoods, sequoias or yellowstone? all worth a look, imo.

Thanks! We have a rough route planned, but I have no idea how long we can make our budget stretch so I do not know whether it is achievable. The route I have planned should take us about a year, averaging about 50 miles a day, but I can shorten it or lengthen it as we go along.

I can only add a limited number of waypoints on Google maps but below is the rough plan, starting in Brunswick, GA in November and finishing at about the same time, the following year, in Halifax:

If we start running out of time or money, we can shorten our jaunt into Central America, and possibly even take Route 66 from start to finish and miss out the West Coast and Canada.





Thanks very much! I don't get many page hits so it's nice to see the people that read it are enjoying it.

 

[nick disjunkt]

We did a similar trip about 3 years ago, except we bought a camper in Florida and finished in Seattle.

Keep in mind that unless you get a visa you are limited to 180 days in the US in a given year and no more than 90 days at a time. Going into and out of Canada or just Mexico apparently (according to US Embassy) does not stop the 90d clock. When you're heading into Mexico, make sure the US immigration record your exit. This does not normally happen. Tell them you are going on to Guatemala and probably flying home from there - or something like that.

I would encourage you to consider going down as far as Panama. All of the countries on the way are worth seeing. For "campsites" in Central America see: http://grumpyinamerica.wordpress.com/campgrounds-ca/
I know of only 5 proper campsites in the whole of Central America. Hence the quotes.
For camping in Mexico - Mexican Camping by Church & Church is the bible. I still have a copy but I couldn't part with it. Anyhow it gets updated most years.

Also in the US I would trade Colorado for Yosemite and Yellowstone. Buy an annual pass for the US National parks - big savings.

Sorting insurance can be a pain. If you haven't already sorted - let me know and I'll try to dig up the contacts I used.

Thanks for the help! I have my B2 visa interview next week so I hope to have that sorted soon.

I would like to visit more of central America but we'll have to see how it goes. I plan to arrive in Florida in Nov/Dec so if I spend too long travelling in Mexico and further south it'll start getting very hot by the time I get back up to Arizona/New Mexico where I plan to visit some friends and relatives.

I plan to get a parks pass but I'll wait until I arrive. I'll be travelling with my dog so I wont be able to see much of Yosemite or Yellowstone, but some of the other parks have more relaxed rules on dogs.

As for insurance, my fall-back is the insurance offered by the shipping company I plan to use. It is fairly pricey though so I'd rather explore other options. Could you see what you can find to help me?

Hey! We are in Victoria on Vancouver Island Let me know when you are close and we will be more then happy to show you around our little paradise

Will do! It's easy to miss all the cool stuff when you don't have a local showing you around.

nice build, especially the solar.

any plans to see the coastal redwoods, sequoias or yellowstone? all worth a look, imo.

Sure. The google map only allows a small number of waypoints so the route was only rough. The only limitation is the rules on dogs in national parks.

Thanks all,

Nick

 

[ColinTheCop]

Have you seen this regarding insurance from Stephen Stewarts site who is currently travelling around North America in a UK registered camper....?


http://www.xor.org.uk/travel/canada2012/20120418.htm

 

[ianc]

Thum organised all the insurance that could be organised for North & Central America. The policy for the US and Canada (and Comp portion in Mexico I think) was actually issued by Progressive. This was done with an Irish license, no proper address - just a PO Box in Montana of the lawyer who helped with the vehicle registration. When I approach Progressive directly they wouldn't deal with me.


The contact I used was:
Andrea Nelson
Thum Insurance Agency
1-800-968-8486
Fax 1.763.413.4728

BTW - I'm the "Ian" referred to at the bottom of Stephen's posting

It does look like Stephen found a way to get a Progressive quote more directly.

I

 

[JRhetts]

Thum organised all the insurance that could be organised for North & Central America. ...
The contact I used was:
Andrea Nelson
Thum Insurance Agency
1-800-968-8486
Fax 1.763.413.4728

As a USA resident I used the same agency and agent to do all the insurance for a 3 month drive to Panama. Excellent coverage and service. Fortunately never had to do anything except show the proof certificates as I crossed borders.
John

 

[nick disjunkt]

I've now booked our flights to Orlando, so there's no turning back now. Having a deadline gets the fear up me but I should have plenty of time to finish the truck.

I've had about six quotes for shipping now, all coming out at around 4000USD from UK/Europe to Brunswick/Jacksonville +US port charges and Insurance.

 

[Anton2k3]

Hey Nick,

Got into work this morning, glad to see an update for me to read on the blog! Out of interest, how much do you think the truck will weigh in at fully laden?

Also, noticed you have installed a pretty nifty air conditioning unit. Have you sealed it to the floor? I've read many a travel blog of people having trouble with dust ingress, so we have gone for the seal everything approach.

 

[nick disjunkt]

Hey Nick,

Got into work this morning, glad to see an update for me to read on the blog! Out of interest, how much do you think the truck will weigh in at fully laden?

Also, noticed you have installed a pretty nifty air conditioning unit. Have you sealed it to the floor? I've read many a travel blog of people having trouble with dust ingress, so we have gone for the seal everything approach.

Hi Anton,

Thanks for the continued interest!

When I last weighed the truck I think it was 12.3 tonnes. I expect it to be closer to 14 tonnes when I have completely finished the conversion and filled all fluids. It is heavier than I would like but it will still be 4 tonnes under the maximum weight and well under the 8 and 11.5 tonne plated axle weights.

The air conditioner has a thick foam seal across the whole base. I expect that it will be fairly well sealed but I will keep an eye on it. I am more worried about dust coming in through the vents I recently cut for the fridge. I will do a blog post on it soon, but I will have to find a way of sealing the fridge off from the inside of the truck so that only the rear of the fridge sees the air coming in and out of these vents.

Most of my travelling in the US will be on tarmac, I guess I may have more dust problems in Mexico. It wasn't a top priority when I worked on the truck so I may find that the door seals are not adequate.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[ColinTheCop]

Had to chuckle about the irony of having to fit a safe inside your Brinks Matt Cash-In-Transit truck....

 

[ianc]

The Roads in Mexico will vary from ok to poor but we didn't experience much dust. So you should be ok. The real PIA is the topes/speed bumps. They're everywhere and often when you least expect them

 

[nick disjunkt]

A friend warned me about the speed bumps too, although he said that often they're somewhere closer to a low concrete wall than a speed bump.

If the last week is anything to go by there is very little possibility of me not having to plug the truck into a star diagnostic computer at some point on my trip. Given that star diagnostic equipped mechanics are likely to be more sparse in the US than in London (where £100 will have a computer equipped mechanic in your truck in less than 60 minutes), I am contemplating buying a kit. You can by complete kit's including a laptop for about £800 in the UK.

Does anyone know how easy the hardware/software is to use? Is it something that I will be able to learn without proper training?

Thanks

Nick

 

[ianc]

Take the bulb out of the EDC/ECU warning light. Problem solved.

One of the other things we found a little difficult in Northern and Eastern Mexico was the level of "enthusiastic" street hawkers. Tourism in this area has been decimated and there are large number of people who made their living from tourists. Now they are all targeting the very small number who still trickle down from the US. It's not dangerous - just a little in your face.

 

[Anton2k3]

Nick, it's been over a month, what has happened to progress?!