Panamerican rider, a Video Journey through South and Central America - panamericanrider
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A video adventure of a lifetime!
In December of 2016, we will be flying in to Santiago, Chile. There, we will purchase small displacement motorcycles (150cc or less), load them with our camping gear and film equipment and ride! First, we will head to where the road ends at the bottom of the continent, then we will head north to our homes in Canada. After a short break at home (waiting for the Alaskan summer), we will continue to the highway's northern end, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
On our previous trip our written blog was well received. This time, with the amazing technology advancements in recent years, action cameras and helmet cameras produce amazing quality video, and we plan to record all of the excitement, beauty (and dangers) of this great journey. For those of you who prefer to read, we will once again have a written account of the adventure.
On our previous trip our written blog was well received. This time, with the amazing technology advancements in recent years, action cameras and helmet cameras produce amazing quality video, and we plan to record all of the excitement, beauty (and dangers) of this great journey. For those of you who prefer to read, we will once again have a written account of the adventure.
Al riding a 150cc on the Carettera Austral in Southern Chile
Our 30,000+ Km route
What is the Panamerican Highway??
The Panamerican Highway is an undefined set of roads running from the bottom tip of South America to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. Except for a rainforest break of approximately 100 km (60 mi), called the Darién Gap, the road links almost all of the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's longest "motorable road". However, because of the Darién Gap, it is not possible to cross between South America and Central America by road. Although much of the highway (particularly the portion that runs through the U.S.) sits fairly low on the danger scale, a small portion of it, which runs through Costa Rica, features some of the world's most dangerous drivable miles. Appropriate named the "Hill of Death," the San Isidro de El General-to-Cartago section of the highway boasts an onslaught of narrow turns, steep cliffs and eroded terrain caused by the country's rainforests. The Pan-American Highway passes through many diverse climates and ecological types, from dense jungles, to arid deserts, some of which are passable only during the dry season, and in many regions driving is occasionally hazardous.
Can people follow along?
Yes! We will be producing a video blog of the trip, and will probably update it every 3-4 days (internet permiting). We will also have a written blog. You will be able to access both of those from this website.
A big feature of the trip will be our choice of little 150cc bikes. If all goes as planned, this will also help future travellers realize they don't need to spend a fortune to be able to travel the world. We will be doing this entire journey on a relatively tight budget. We plan on tracking all of our expenses and sharing that information. Whenever possible we will camp, sometimes for free at a river's edge (when available). We will indulge in the cuisine of the locals, but seldom at fancy restaurants (I won't say never, they can be quite reasonable compared to North America), and we will often cook at our camp. Our realistic expectation is to spend no more than $50 per day (not counting fuel).
A big feature of the trip will be our choice of little 150cc bikes. If all goes as planned, this will also help future travellers realize they don't need to spend a fortune to be able to travel the world. We will be doing this entire journey on a relatively tight budget. We plan on tracking all of our expenses and sharing that information. Whenever possible we will camp, sometimes for free at a river's edge (when available). We will indulge in the cuisine of the locals, but seldom at fancy restaurants (I won't say never, they can be quite reasonable compared to North America), and we will often cook at our camp. Our realistic expectation is to spend no more than $50 per day (not counting fuel).
Along the way, we are excited to visit some of the amazing historical sites, including the likes of Machu Picchu and Tikal, to mention just a few. We will try to visit them while being conscious of our budget expectations. An example of this would be hiking in to Machu Pucchu instead of taking the expensive tourist trail, at Tikal, we will camp in the area. In addition to the numerous pre-Columbian sites we plan to visit, we will also visit some of the new world places of historical significance.
Sure, some of the places we will visit are frequented by tourists, but simply by the nature of our trip, we will often leave the beaten path. From past experience, we know Chile is an absolutely wonderful country to visit, and I am sure many other countries will equally charm. We hope our video will draw others to this amazing part of the world.
The ruins at Tikal
“Seeing others with few possessions but a bigger smile,
it's easy to reassess our American Dreams” - Andy
We will begin posting our Youtube video blog, which will be available to follow, once the journey begins. We will also produce a full length version at trip completion! Think "Anthony Bourdain - Parts Unknown", but imagine it with Anthony riding the countryside camping off the back of a small motorcycle. Also imagine Anthony visiting the historical sites instead of the emphasis on food. Now that you have a picture in your head, remove "Anthony Bourdain" from that picture and replace it with 2 Canadian nobody's , including a chubby, middle-aged ginger who stands out like a sore thumb in Latin America (children often stare). Of course, if we bump in to Anthony Bourdain on the road in some little village, we will try to get it on video.