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05-13-2017, 02:44 AM | |
In Search of a Life
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Planning to drive from LA to Patagonia next year (looking for copilots)
Update! Link to my book on Amazon (also available on bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble online, Apple Books, etc): https://www.amazon.com/Land-Without-.../dp/1959099728
The book is a Bill Bryson-style travel memoir of me getting into stupid and sometimes dangerous situations driving from Los Angeles to Panama, including getting stuck on the wrong side of Nicaragua during the uprising of 2018. It also contains a ton of historical information on ancient Mesoamerica and some of the modern politics of Central America—basically, anything that piqued my interest in the year+ I spent researching. Also, I eat a lot of delicious food. Anyone curious about this part of the world should get a lot out of the book as part of a hopefully funny, entertaining read. I hope you enjoy! Link to blog!!! - http://ushuaiaorbust.com/blog/ I better post this before I get banned for welching on my bet and posting in DC. If I'm banned and anyone wants to go for any part of the trip - PM flopnuts or BRC - they know me on twoplustwo.com and can contact me. More eyes and ears are always welcome. I've got one guy who wants to go - but he'd have to quit his job, so obviously nothing is guaranteed. 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 Mazatlan. 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:
Big question is whether or not to take my FJ Cruiser or buy an Outback or something for $5k: Pros:
Cons:
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. Last edited by suzzer99; 07-31-2024 at 10:46 PM.. |
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06-22-2018, 08:06 AM | #211 |
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I seen you have All Terrain tires on your FJ, are you happy with that? Would you have rather had Mud Terrain tires on? Would you want a different vehicle if you did it again? Like a 4 door Wrangler or an Toyota 4Runner?
What would you change about the vehicle you took l, if anything is mostly what I’m curious about |
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06-22-2018, 10:33 AM | #212 |
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I love my FJ. But it might be nice to have a little bit longer vehicle with a bed in back. That's the only downside.
Yeah I've been buying Goodrich All Terrain T/A since the first crappy set of street tires wore out. I'm very happy with them. I'm not sure I'd want mudders in most normal situations. I'm guessing they're pretty loud on the highway. These A/Ts are a good balance for me. Although it's about time for a new set at $800 a pop. |
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06-22-2018, 03:31 PM | #213 |
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I was curious if it would be a little small for such a long trip, even mostly being solo.
I have thought about finding an older 4Runner and traveling around the Rockies for a couple months. Following your trip and watching YouTube has given me lots of ideas. I think I would go with a MT on mine though, love AT but if I didn’t have a winch I would want a more aggressive tire while out traveling |
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06-22-2018, 04:36 PM | #214 |
Shit
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A winch would be Must for me
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06-22-2018, 05:23 PM | #215 |
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VARSITY
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A wench could be useful, too, if she can drive a stick shift.
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06-22-2018, 05:25 PM | #216 |
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There is no mud tire gonna get you out of a wet ditch bank. He was sitting high centered on top that ditch bank. That guy dragged him 15 feet on his frame before he could get a bite to climb out. Winch would be a necessity on a trip like that and hope you have something to hook to.
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06-22-2018, 05:26 PM | #217 |
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06-22-2018, 05:45 PM | #218 |
Yum! Buc Marshmellows!
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06-25-2018, 06:29 PM | #219 | |
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Quote:
I agree I probably wasn't getting out of there. But I was able to back up from the front of the ditch to the back - so the car was moving and I wasn't completely stuck on the frame. Then I clanged against the drain pipe in the back and at that point the car dug in and wouldn't go back forward. I really wish I'd tried a couple things just out of curiosity: 1) I forgot to turn on rear differential lock until the end when we had the tow strap on. Maybe that would have made a difference as the high-side left tire might have grabbed more. 2) If that got me moving forward with a little speed, I'm really curious if I could have rocked it to the right to climb up the side a little bit, then pulled hard to the left and used gravity/momentum to get up and out to the left. Probably not but I'll always wonder if it might have worked. There was a small part of me that wanted to get back into the ditch and try it after the guy pulled me out - lol. And yes that's the problem with a winch. Unless you're traveling in pairs, you never know for sure you're gonna get stuck somewhere with a nice tree or big rock to tie off to. I guess you can bring stakes though. I go out in the CA deserts a lot where it's mostly sand. That could get really difficult. And if you are traveling with a buddy - a strap is usually as good as a winch. On the FJ the only way to do a real winch is with a custom bumper. So you're talking about $3500 for a good bumper and winch, not including labor, and a bunch of extra weight. Last edited by suzzer99; 06-25-2018 at 06:39 PM.. |
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07-28-2018, 04:13 PM | #220 |
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My last two Panama posts are up. These have the longer stories of checking out the edge of the Darien Gap, and crossing the Panama Canal in a small sailboat - really cool experience.
http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/07/09/panama-end-road/ http://ushuaiaorbust.com/2018/07/28/...boquete-canal/ I'm currently back in LA looking for a job. I plan to do one more post with a summary and Best Of the Trip kind of thing when I get some time. Last edited by suzzer99; 07-28-2018 at 04:24 PM.. |
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07-30-2018, 06:55 PM | #221 |
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The final blog post might not come until after I find a job, as I'm pretty busy interviewing and trying to brush up my skills.
I did however make a hopefully humorous blog post about some of my job search fails so far, and some thoughts on the modern tech interview: https://medium.com/@suzzer99/how-not...h-1e99d96358c6 I thought we used to have an IT professionals thread, but I can't find it. So I figured I'd just post here. |
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03-06-2021, 11:45 PM | #222 |
Would an idiot do that?
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I sort of followed this at the time, but didn't really have time to dig into the blog.
Read a random FB post earlier about the entire Pan-Am trip, which led me down a rabbit hole of the road trip and Darien Gap, etc... and remembered this trip. Didn't really have anything unique to add, but loved the detail and can appreciate all of the research that went into a trip like that. I saw a mention of being a digital nomad at some point... I've researched a bit on that lately, and especially as more countries get on board, it's more and more enticing. It would completely change your world, where your day-to-day is the vacation and you take a little PTO to head back to the US or off to another country. |
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03-06-2021, 11:58 PM | #223 | |
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03-07-2021, 12:12 AM | #224 | |
pie is never free
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He documented it like a genuine blogger with tons of well written reports from locale's large and small, tons of great pics illustrating it all |
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03-07-2021, 12:15 AM | #225 | |
Would an idiot do that?
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Quote:
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