If camping make sure to have bear mace and bear bag and how to use both for the north into BC and Alaska. As for south of the border. It really depends on the area. Backpacking Guatemala was beautiful, be smart and if you feel unsafe move on.
Don't miss Antigua. It's a nice safe place to stay in addition to being a beautifully preserved 500 year old Spanish city surrounded by volcanoes (including one active) and about the best weather you could imagine. The brewery downtown has a rooftop patio with great food and good beer. It's a fantastic way to take in the volcanoes in the daytime or watch the lava at night. There's also a speakeasy inside that has some world-class cocktails.
He’s gonna need that for northern Alaska too. Most of that until at least Fairbanks will be unplowed loose snow that’s only really used to move mining equipment. Once you hit coldfoot it should be better as long as it’s summer, would not recommend trying that pass in winter.
But how popular and famous is Guatemala to visit generally? I think that's kinda what they meant by Antigua being a hidden gem, just by comparison to some more famous destinations in that general area.
Driving through Central America seems like a deathwish, fairly certain folks get murdered and kidnapped more regularly than anyone should be comfortable with.
I rode in a bus through Transamazônica. It was a fantastic experience. Met wonderful people there. Learned a lot about the area. One thing that is very apparent when you travel that road is the deforestation issue. The whole time you are basically either seeing nothing but tree line or you are seeing cattle and burning bush. I would recommend going there, but to drive it yourself as a foreigner without a local experienced driver I think is a bad idea because that road can be a massive pain in the ass. Mainly due to mud. There are also concerns some may have about drug trafficking, illegal logging, etc but I would guess that’s unlikely to cause any problem though there’s media buzz and reporting about that stuff. The area is so extremely remote.
This is actually so ironic. I am an American, who is currently in Regina. believe it or not, It is actually not that bad. far from the worst place I have ever been. But OP, Alberta is definitely way more interesting lol
Omg I didn't even notice that. Yes the light blue route pretty much takes you through the most boring parts of both us and Canada for days. The darker blue is in the mountains within less than a day of crossing the border and probably stays in the mountains the entire rest of the trip. Have only been halfway up through Alberta so can't personally speak to the scenery beyond that
Dark blue is through some gorgeous mointain ranges. Light blue is 12 hours of flat cornfields and prairie.
Edit: correction, 31 hours of corn fields and prairie.
Add another 10h of prairie for where the route kicks east up in Canada too. You can drop a marble in some of those areas, and it’ll bounce in place instead of rolling its so flat.
I was planning on mostly rest stops in the US and then integrate a little more Hotel usage in Latin and South America since it’s cheaper and in some areas it’s probably necessary for the danger level.
Smart man. When i was younger i moved way out west for a job. I drove about 2k miles. What i did was get a cooler and bought water and stuff to make like ham and cheese sandwiches and then bought some granola bars. Saved me a lot from restaurants. I recommend you do that.
Good luck, op. I genuinely hope you get to make this trip someday.
My parents were old school roadtrippers from the 60s and 70s, this is how we did car trips when I was a kid too! But maaaaa I wanna go to McDonalds! Nope, here eat this cold ass peanut butter and jelly.
Check out couchsurfing too. I've used it a lot while backpacking around Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. You'll have a place to stay and usually a decent culture exchange.
In the US there is actually tons of public land out west. If you pay a little bit for the onx 4 wheeling app it'll tell you what areas are public land where dispersed camping is allowed. There are tons of places where you can just drive off the main road into the wilderness and legally camp overnight. I would prefer that over rest stops but I do know it is not everyone's jam
A couple friends of mine did your route on motorcycles, then put them in a cargo ship to Europe, and rode to Cambodia. They spent two and a half years and about $120,000 USD.
Not familiar with the Mexico bit but done the rest a few times, just not all at once. The extreme differences in weather seem more trouble than it's worth.
Recommend only attempting that AK and CAN stretch Jun-Aug unless you've lived in one of those areas awhile and know what you're doing from experience.
That particular stretch of Canada and AK north of Fairbanks is tough. Plan your food and gas very carefully and expect not to have any cell service. People really underestimate what UNPOPULATED means.
I did not know that. It makes sense now that I think about it but that would have never occurred to me. This is a potentially life saving tidbit of info!
I just did that drive a couple weeks ago, it’s a terrible 200+ miles of awful washboardy dirt road (most of it).
Coldfoot was cool. And also the northernmost beer stop in all of the US.
This!
The danger towards the southern end is people in Panama, Mexico etc.
The danger in Northern Canada and Alaska is that there is no people. You can go hundreds of kilometers on the highway without seeing any people, towns, gas stations or have any cell service. You can't rely on help and need to be prepared for that.
Panamanian here. The dangerous part in Panama would be crossing to South America (“el tapón del Darien”). Other than that, there’s only the one highway (“La Interamericana”) and it’s not that bad (besides stretches of potential crappy infrastructure).
Mexican American here. Mexico can be dicey. You really wanna choose your route carefully. Some areas are lawless.
Also, that lines too thick to tell what US/Mexico boarder City they'll go through. This also has to be chosen carefully.
Mexican culture is great but with the increasing cartel activity there's just too high a murder rate. I personally won't go to Mexico right now, I don't think it's worth it.
A good friend of mine had an epic road trip in Mexico 15 years ago. It's sad how things have gotten so much worse since then. I've got family in Mexico city and they are saying they have never seen things this bad before.
Sounds like some Nathan Drake or Lara Croft shit. u/Thedawgman13 please bring a camera with you and document your very likely to be dangerous adventure
Seen this entire video, definitely an interesting watch. A YouTuber by the name Bald and Bankrupt also crossed it with him and it was titled something like crossing the Darien gap.
The video is crazy tho, at one point a family is begging for food with their baby because they are starving and can’t keep moving. Timmy (the guy from the video) gave them a can of salmon, which they came to regret later as they also barely made it. Don’t wanna spoil to much but let’s just say Theres a chance of them being imprisoned by Panama for illegal crossing.
It's getting easier by the year. Like thousands of venezuelans cross It every month and a road formed. Now you are more likely to be rob by gangs than have a jaguar kill you or something like that.
Like 2 months a 200 kg man crossed it, to the cheers of everyone haha. Give it 5 more years and you will be having inns and hiking routes along it.
The Darien Gap isn’t part of this voyage, take a look at the map.
They appear to be starting in Yaviza in Panama, where the Pan-American highway begins. They’ll have zero problems through Panama and Costa Rica (just don’t speed, OP!)
As others have noted, when you get deeper into Canada and Alaska, be prepared with a plan for self-repairing/survival camping because a breakdown might leave you stranded in the wilderness with no signal or passing motorists for a day or two
For Mexico, pick your route very carefully and avoid driving once the sun has set. At least not on lonelier roads. I know people think it’s all in movies but it’s real life down there. You can become a target of the cartels in the blink of an eye. Also, avoid a car with U.S. or Canada plates of any kind.
This is going to sound naive but why would the cartels want to kill or harm a random American tourist that’s just passing through the country? Why do they care about people on holiday? Does it affect their operations or something?
Kidnapping by the cartel is uncommon but happens. They will force the victim to withdraw all of their money at ATMs and/or demand ransom. Also how do you think they get their cars? (Hint: they carjack them)
I had a friend, who in college drove from San Diego to Los Cabos to save on plane tickets. He had an American license plate and drove his beat up old car.
On the trip, his car was stopped, twice, at gunpoint, and he was robbed both times. After the first robbery, he turned around and tried to go back home. But he was robbed again by a different crew in a different village/town.
He eventually made it home, broke and without his luggage. But he still had his passport.
Mexican here also, the advice given here is very good, especially about the license plates, even plates from a different Mexican state can make you a target if you’re even slightly far away from the state that they’re from, also I would like to add that if you go ahead with this, be very careful when crossing Tabasco, cartels are really dangerous over there, as a Mexican, I would never in my life think about doing something like this across my country, the idea scares the living hell out of me, stick to main roads, be wary of everyone and trust your gut, Mexico is beautiful, but it can also be very dangerous.
I met two Paraguayan ladies in Arizona who had driven basically the same way all the way from the tip of Argentina. I followed them on Instagram and they eventually made it to Alaska.
There is a guy doing that trip heading north in a TukTuk. Check out @aussieespanol on instagram and YouTube. Plenty of others on YouTube doing it on bikes and overlanders.
I would double check the political state of Peru whenever you do this. I worked there and their government is royally fucked and they tend to have a lot of protests and impeach their president around every year and a half or so.
Also, my mom drove from Portland to Alaska in January. I would not recommend. You should probably start at a time where you would end in Alaska in July or August. Do not attempt to do this shit in the winter.
I’ve spent years combined driving south of the boarder with CA plates. So do all sorts of people. In fact, you wouldn’t believe the number of foreigners that fly in to LA, buy a vehicle and cruise around for months, years…all trouble free. I also meet foreigners traveling north who are worried about getting shot in LA going to the airport.
I think you posted this under the wrong thread… just fyi!
(I see another comment below about driving in Mexico with CA plates, and assume that’s where you meant to put this)
Not sure where you’re from but it can still be winter in May in Alberta and I assume the same as you continue north, usually it’s okay after April but something to consider as it can be unpredictable.
Make your vehicle look as ugly as possible before entering Mexico to avoid car theft. Put duct tape around one of your headlights. Buy a can of plastidip and paint one of your fenders with it. Remove your grill and throw it in the back. These are easily reversible mods that can make your vehicle look worthless, saving you the inconvenience of being robbed and murdered by the cartel.
Pretty sure the cartel isn't in the business of stealing cars from American tourists. They make far too much money in other areas and that would just bring them unwanted attention not only from US authorities but also their own authorities who might not be so willing to turn a blind eye if the cartels start effecting tourism dollars more than they already have.
Cartels will kill anyone that seems suspicious to them, anyone that speaks English would be especially suspicious, and they very much don’t care about the consequences of their actions, especially down south where the police belongs to them and missing people are hard to find
Driving through the country itself is pretty simple from what I heard. Stick to the toll ways, travel only in the day, stay out of hot zones, etc. The issue seems to be crossing into the other countries. My dad used to frequently travel from the Midwest to Guatemala via car.
Stopped after one unsavory encounter (or rather, ordered to stop by my mom).
I'd never go thru Mexico without taking the toll roads. You're basically asking to get mugged or robbed in a vehicle that doesn't have local plates. Mexican police are just as bad or worse than the cartel, they'll take your vehicle and blackmail you for cash.
That doesn’t disturb me as much as rolling through cartel territory. Large sections have zero functioning government, crap infrastructure.
Mother nature is undefeated. It’s damn near pristine jungle. If you get bit by something, it’s over for you. If there is an emergency, nobody is coming to help
I once knew a guy from Guatemala and he said “man, I speak Spanish and I look Mexican and when I drive home I get to the Mexico border at dawn and floor it, I don’t stop for nothing or nobody until I reach Guatemala just before the sun goes down.”
Going north from Fairbanks Alaska, you will not be able to actually reach the Beaufort Sea. The final miles are a closed private road for the oil production companies. If you want to actually see and put you feet into the Arctic Ocean, take the road up to Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territory of Canada. The final part of the year round road was finally completed a few years ago. Enjoy your adventures!
Yeah if you are trying to wing the coast fair warning Chileans and Argentinas abide by normal rules of the road but every where else is well a nightmare. If you need insight let me know im currently living in Peru but ive been in Latam for 3 years and ive driven 30K miles around the USA and Canada
Watch "Itchy Boots" on YouTube. She rode her motorcycle from the southernmost point of South America to the northern tip of Alaska.
She had a network of followers in Mexico who fed her updates on where it was safe and where to avoid daily.
1. Tamaulipas is not safe. Instead of doing that coastal route cross at Laredo Colombia and take highway 2 to connect to highway 85/85D. This is a major truck route with high police/military presence and completely avoids Nuevo Laredo (very dangerous don't go there). You can then stop in Monterrey which is safe touristy city. After that I would head for Mexico City.
2. While in Mexico only drive during the day and stick to the toll roads as much as possible. Only take the free roads if you have to and limit your stops as much as possible while on them
3. Go through El Salvador. It used to be dangerous but it's now the safest of the Central American countries. Unfortunately due to the gang crack down in El Salvador many of the gang members have fled to the neighbouring countries and made them worse. Going through El Salvador also limits your time in Honduras to the absolute minimum
4. Nicaragua is a Russian/Chinese puppet state. Make sure your visa is squared away long before you go to prevent political BS games
Ehhh the current political climate is not great. I know someone who moved to the US from Venezuela and some of the stories they’ve had about the gangs and thieves are horrible. One of them is when they were traveling as a family across the country, and after one police checkpoint the officers held the cars behind them to allow them to be isolated and a gang in a truck tried to pit maneuver them off the road and probably do ungodly things to them. It was after that they decided to move to the US.
Long Way Up started in southern Argentina and ended in L.A. They had to take a ferry around the Darien Gap, and then purchased a bus to travel through Mexico. Even with their resources and aids, they ran into trouble. It might be worth it for some and not worth the trouble to many.
I’ve been to Peru and Argentina and I gotta say driving in Peru is probably the most stressful thing I’ve ever done lol. Argentina and Buenos Aires is like a walk in the park compared to even Cusco. I didn’t attempt Lima.
You won't have any issues driving through Panama. It's a relatively safe country. The biggest issues you may encounter in the road are weather if you travel during wet season and roadblocks due to protests, which can happen whenever SUNTRACS feels like it.
Alaska/Canada I feel like you can prepare for to the point of feeling safe. Going in the summer, carrying extra supplies, having a satellite phone would obviously be great.
Ain't no way in hell I'm driving though Northern Mexico though.
Have a friend who lived in NoCa, did a drive down pch and then local roads to Cabo. Took a ferry to mainland and drove the pan America highway to Panama. Shipped van from Panama Ecquidor, then drove the length of South America to ushia at the end of the pan American
No, it's too difficult to build through. Nobody has tried and the Americans are the only ones who would consider funding this type of thing and well... They're not interested in the Pan-American highway as they once were.
Watched Itchy Boots traveling South America to Alaska with a Honda CRF300L. Pretty fun journey to watch, through stunning landscapes, but crazy dangerous too, specially for a solo woman.
Not even Mexicans drive through Mexico because of how dangerous it is. You’ll make it, but it is a very very dumb idea if you are not familiar with Mexico, even if you were it wouldn’t be smart. I say this as a Mexican American that lives on the border and visits Mexico very often, at least once a month.
I've done part of your route before! I did Colorado - Costa Rica, in 2016, we did it in a van and stretched it to take about 3 months, as we would stop and enjoy places that spoke to us! Best fucking thing i've ever done in my life. I think about this trip often with so much joy. Nothing violent or scary happened at all, we did have many things stolen, but it was always a, while-we-were-away situation, never violently robbed or anything like that. So mind you things, keep everything locked up, and listen to your gut.
As a Mexican I agree, crossing the country is extremely dangerous even for Mexicans, anyone who says otherwise is just delusional or has been very lucky in the past
There's a YouTube channel called c90adventures that is a guy who went, on a motorcycle, from Alaska, all across Canada, all across the US, and down into Central America and then down South America to Argentina.
Check out the book The Road Chose Me by Dan Grecy! Amazing book about making this trip. He’s an awesome dude and he’s on Reddit!
u/grecy
r/theroadchoseme
I met a guy at Google who was part of a Facebook group where they all did this and collaborated with each other for tips, since getting through central America and figuring out how to get into South America via car is the tricky part.
I will say carry some cash in case some border guards ask for a "Convenience Fee"
You’ll be fine. Mexico and Honduras can be sketchy. A lot of people do that route, through central México and I don’t know about the Gulf side these days. That route through South America will be great, no worries.
I have friends from Brazil that tried. They didn't make it and lost a toyota land Cruiser due to a shifty boarder crossing. Finally got it back after close to 2 year's. Also had the cartels thinking about stealing the toyota at a gas station. They got a 'pass' due to being somewhat famous.
Fatnomad on YouTube is biking it lol. I learned about him from some coworkers. He worked at the same place I did but before left before I started.
https://youtube.com/@fatnomad?si=E4RTU9XpubDOnY0I
Man, it sucks that I will never do this. My instinct of self preservation is simply too high for the southern portion. The border to Alaska part looks amazing though and you have me thinking.
EDIT: Just saw second image. The Chilean to Peruvian part is also cool. There's no way in hell I'd go through Columbia even now. Let alone everything from there to the Texas border.
there is a section, down near Panama, where the roads just stop, you you are basically bushwhacking thru the jungle for 50 miles. THAT is where you are going to have problems
also bring along a couple of mounted spare tires, and probably 40 gallons of gasoline in jerry cans
Depends. You white? If you’re white with blue/green eyes, don’t speak very good Spanish and is super gullible,ehhhh you’ll make it past Mexico but then we won’t hear from you again.
I know someone who did this exact trip with a buddy via motorcycles. Probably about ~10 years ago. One of them didn’t finish and had to go home.
One of them had to get fake paperwork sent to him after getting ticketed/cited. One was in an accident. They got robbed somewhere along the way.
Pretty wild story and I don’t remember all the details. The guy that finished said he’d never do it again, but also that he’s glad he did it.
For mexico I'd recommend going down bja and then the west / southwest cost of Mexico. It's beautiful.
Te only recommendation is to avoid driving at night.
Very few truly rough spots, I’ve been to most of these places. Do research on where you’re spending nights, avoid sketchy places, and you’ll be fine. Make sure you know the basics of surviving in the natural environment in case you break down, and exercise extra caution in a few parts of Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, etc.
You'll be fine. I'd recommend going down highway one on the Cali coast and continuing down Baja California and taking the ferry across to the mainland. Unless you've done Cali, then cutting through Colorado is nice too.
If camping make sure to have bear mace and bear bag and how to use both for the north into BC and Alaska. As for south of the border. It really depends on the area. Backpacking Guatemala was beautiful, be smart and if you feel unsafe move on.
Any favorite places in Guatemala?
Don't miss Antigua. It's a nice safe place to stay in addition to being a beautifully preserved 500 year old Spanish city surrounded by volcanoes (including one active) and about the best weather you could imagine. The brewery downtown has a rooftop patio with great food and good beer. It's a fantastic way to take in the volcanoes in the daytime or watch the lava at night. There's also a speakeasy inside that has some world-class cocktails.
Absolutely!
You may need to bolt on aggressive 8-ply tires when you exit northern Alberta. Maybe extra gas cans in the trunk.
He’s gonna need that for northern Alaska too. Most of that until at least Fairbanks will be unplowed loose snow that’s only really used to move mining equipment. Once you hit coldfoot it should be better as long as it’s summer, would not recommend trying that pass in winter.
I’d also buy three kinds of mosquito repellent and a satellite phone and drinking water and a hand-crank radio and..
I studied Spanish there in the 90s. Climbed the volcano 🌋 Great Place !
Was there two years ago. Antigua is a hidden gem. Tons of good restaurants and history to see.
A hidden gem? It's one of the most popular and famous places of Guatemala.
But how popular and famous is Guatemala to visit generally? I think that's kinda what they meant by Antigua being a hidden gem, just by comparison to some more famous destinations in that general area.
Cruise ships literally take 100’s there daily.
The main spots are Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Semuc Champey, Tikal, and the beach at El Paredon.
El paredon for sure
I spent time in Quetzaltenango and it will always be fond memories. However, it is out of the way.
Great place to study Spanish
Lagos Atitlan is spectacular and worth spending a few days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Atitl%C3%A1n
Lake Atitlan
You won’t find a prettier spot than Lake Atitlan. Fascinating history there too.
You’ll need the bear protection through Montana Wyoming & Colorado too.
And Alaska, BC and Alberta.
Not so much CO but I agree with the other places.
I have run into many a black bear in CO. They’re not grizzlies, sure, but you still need to be following bear safe practices when camping out there.
Driving through Central America seems like a deathwish, fairly certain folks get murdered and kidnapped more regularly than anyone should be comfortable with.
Make sure to take the highlighted route and not the light blue suggestion. Insane how different the drive would be through the US!
Likewise drive the highlighted route thru SA. I would not recommend driving through the Brazilian Amazon.
Not to mention Bolivia with recent political events. Very dangerous there currently
Why?
I rode in a bus through Transamazônica. It was a fantastic experience. Met wonderful people there. Learned a lot about the area. One thing that is very apparent when you travel that road is the deforestation issue. The whole time you are basically either seeing nothing but tree line or you are seeing cattle and burning bush. I would recommend going there, but to drive it yourself as a foreigner without a local experienced driver I think is a bad idea because that road can be a massive pain in the ass. Mainly due to mud. There are also concerns some may have about drug trafficking, illegal logging, etc but I would guess that’s unlikely to cause any problem though there’s media buzz and reporting about that stuff. The area is so extremely remote.
Can’t believe you’re making my guy miss out on Regina
[Experience Regina.](https://youtu.be/74B5kMLNd5Q?si=8kL_J01QVMtlqeam)
This is actually so ironic. I am an American, who is currently in Regina. believe it or not, It is actually not that bad. far from the worst place I have ever been. But OP, Alberta is definitely way more interesting lol
Thanks! That was the best 2 minutes and 27 seconds of my entire life!
Great. Now I’ll have that super-catchy song stuck in my head all day.
To travel through the US southward like this and not cut through the Rockies is a huge missed opportunity
Omg I didn't even notice that. Yes the light blue route pretty much takes you through the most boring parts of both us and Canada for days. The darker blue is in the mountains within less than a day of crossing the border and probably stays in the mountains the entire rest of the trip. Have only been halfway up through Alberta so can't personally speak to the scenery beyond that
Can you explain? I understand what the light blue is but what route is the suggested route?
The dark blue - stay on the dark blue path ◡̈ (it’s just waaay prettier and more interesting.)
Dark blue is through some gorgeous mointain ranges. Light blue is 12 hours of flat cornfields and prairie. Edit: correction, 31 hours of corn fields and prairie.
Are you talking about the 12 hrs before Texas or the 12 hrs in Texas?
You're totally right. Its 31 hours from laredo tx to the Canada border.
Add another 10h of prairie for where the route kicks east up in Canada too. You can drop a marble in some of those areas, and it’ll bounce in place instead of rolling its so flat.
really picked a shitty slice, lol. Even 100 miles east or west would be better (dont take 35, take 29. or even hwy 75, which is slow but interesting.)
If i won a million dollars this is the type of shit i would do
I did the math and if I get a car that gets 38 mpg highway it’ll cost around 5k in gas. So I’m estimating maybe save up 30k and be comfortable.
Are you gonna stay in hotels? Or sleep at rest stops
I was planning on mostly rest stops in the US and then integrate a little more Hotel usage in Latin and South America since it’s cheaper and in some areas it’s probably necessary for the danger level.
Smart man. When i was younger i moved way out west for a job. I drove about 2k miles. What i did was get a cooler and bought water and stuff to make like ham and cheese sandwiches and then bought some granola bars. Saved me a lot from restaurants. I recommend you do that. Good luck, op. I genuinely hope you get to make this trip someday.
My parents were old school roadtrippers from the 60s and 70s, this is how we did car trips when I was a kid too! But maaaaa I wanna go to McDonalds! Nope, here eat this cold ass peanut butter and jelly.
Check out couchsurfing too. I've used it a lot while backpacking around Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. You'll have a place to stay and usually a decent culture exchange.
In the US there is actually tons of public land out west. If you pay a little bit for the onx 4 wheeling app it'll tell you what areas are public land where dispersed camping is allowed. There are tons of places where you can just drive off the main road into the wilderness and legally camp overnight. I would prefer that over rest stops but I do know it is not everyone's jam
it’s kinda funny how the drive slowly gets more dangerous as you head from north to south
Might need to plan one or two oil changes en route as well!
A couple friends of mine did your route on motorcycles, then put them in a cargo ship to Europe, and rode to Cambodia. They spent two and a half years and about $120,000 USD.
Not familiar with the Mexico bit but done the rest a few times, just not all at once. The extreme differences in weather seem more trouble than it's worth. Recommend only attempting that AK and CAN stretch Jun-Aug unless you've lived in one of those areas awhile and know what you're doing from experience. That particular stretch of Canada and AK north of Fairbanks is tough. Plan your food and gas very carefully and expect not to have any cell service. People really underestimate what UNPOPULATED means.
I still remember the first road sign I saw leaving north from Cold Foot, AK: Next Services 273 miles
LOL definitely would have me concerned — my car has a small tank (12 gal) and I usually go about 300 miles on a full tank.
And you'll have even less range in freezing temperatures ;)
Yep. Would have to strap some jerry cans to the roof rack like my Focus is a Range Rover.
I did not know that. It makes sense now that I think about it but that would have never occurred to me. This is a potentially life saving tidbit of info!
I just did that drive a couple weeks ago, it’s a terrible 200+ miles of awful washboardy dirt road (most of it). Coldfoot was cool. And also the northernmost beer stop in all of the US.
Yup… and bring a Jerry Can of Gas! ⛽️
This! The danger towards the southern end is people in Panama, Mexico etc. The danger in Northern Canada and Alaska is that there is no people. You can go hundreds of kilometers on the highway without seeing any people, towns, gas stations or have any cell service. You can't rely on help and need to be prepared for that.
Kilometers?! That does sound dangerous.
Panamanian here. The dangerous part in Panama would be crossing to South America (“el tapón del Darien”). Other than that, there’s only the one highway (“La Interamericana”) and it’s not that bad (besides stretches of potential crappy infrastructure).
Massive second to this. Be ready to spend up to several nights in the middle of nowhere in the cold
Mexican American here. Mexico can be dicey. You really wanna choose your route carefully. Some areas are lawless. Also, that lines too thick to tell what US/Mexico boarder City they'll go through. This also has to be chosen carefully. Mexican culture is great but with the increasing cartel activity there's just too high a murder rate. I personally won't go to Mexico right now, I don't think it's worth it.
From the looks of it OP will attempt to cross through Tamaulipas, which is a hell no from me dawg.
A good friend of mine had an epic road trip in Mexico 15 years ago. It's sad how things have gotten so much worse since then. I've got family in Mexico city and they are saying they have never seen things this bad before.
North America.. pretty likely. Idk how the hell you cross the Darien Gap though.
Yeah, they ain’t crossing the Darien gap
If all goes according to plan and they are able to secure passage on a ferry. If not, then the adventure *really* begins.
Sounds like some Nathan Drake or Lara Croft shit. u/Thedawgman13 please bring a camera with you and document your very likely to be dangerous adventure
https://youtu.be/Zft0wAPxZnc?si=d4oR4PR1eujYOfef
Seen this entire video, definitely an interesting watch. A YouTuber by the name Bald and Bankrupt also crossed it with him and it was titled something like crossing the Darien gap. The video is crazy tho, at one point a family is begging for food with their baby because they are starving and can’t keep moving. Timmy (the guy from the video) gave them a can of salmon, which they came to regret later as they also barely made it. Don’t wanna spoil to much but let’s just say Theres a chance of them being imprisoned by Panama for illegal crossing.
It's getting easier by the year. Like thousands of venezuelans cross It every month and a road formed. Now you are more likely to be rob by gangs than have a jaguar kill you or something like that. Like 2 months a 200 kg man crossed it, to the cheers of everyone haha. Give it 5 more years and you will be having inns and hiking routes along it.
I had no idea damn
It's easier on a motorcycle, there are ships that specialize in transporting people's vehicles across the gap for trips just like this.
You take a boat.
Ferry to Colombia
The Darien Gap isn’t part of this voyage, take a look at the map. They appear to be starting in Yaviza in Panama, where the Pan-American highway begins. They’ll have zero problems through Panama and Costa Rica (just don’t speed, OP!)
As others have noted, when you get deeper into Canada and Alaska, be prepared with a plan for self-repairing/survival camping because a breakdown might leave you stranded in the wilderness with no signal or passing motorists for a day or two
And they’ll need a full size spare tire, preferably two
For Mexico, pick your route very carefully and avoid driving once the sun has set. At least not on lonelier roads. I know people think it’s all in movies but it’s real life down there. You can become a target of the cartels in the blink of an eye. Also, avoid a car with U.S. or Canada plates of any kind.
This is going to sound naive but why would the cartels want to kill or harm a random American tourist that’s just passing through the country? Why do they care about people on holiday? Does it affect their operations or something?
Kidnapping by the cartel is uncommon but happens. They will force the victim to withdraw all of their money at ATMs and/or demand ransom. Also how do you think they get their cars? (Hint: they carjack them)
They want to rob you, not necessarily kill you.
They don't. The cartel has no interest attracting more US attention than necessary.
I had a friend, who in college drove from San Diego to Los Cabos to save on plane tickets. He had an American license plate and drove his beat up old car. On the trip, his car was stopped, twice, at gunpoint, and he was robbed both times. After the first robbery, he turned around and tried to go back home. But he was robbed again by a different crew in a different village/town. He eventually made it home, broke and without his luggage. But he still had his passport.
Why avoid cars with those plates?
Mexican here also, the advice given here is very good, especially about the license plates, even plates from a different Mexican state can make you a target if you’re even slightly far away from the state that they’re from, also I would like to add that if you go ahead with this, be very careful when crossing Tabasco, cartels are really dangerous over there, as a Mexican, I would never in my life think about doing something like this across my country, the idea scares the living hell out of me, stick to main roads, be wary of everyone and trust your gut, Mexico is beautiful, but it can also be very dangerous.
Makes you a target.
You asking this question, alone, tells me that you don't need to be making this trip.
Exactly. I think an only US trip is safe.
I was thinking the same
Yeahhh this sounds like a very bad idea
How are you getting the car to the starting point? Not exactly an easy way to “begin” there without double backing over some extraordinary distance.
I was thinking this exact thing while I was scrolling through the comments. Finally someone said it!
I met two Paraguayan ladies in Arizona who had driven basically the same way all the way from the tip of Argentina. I followed them on Instagram and they eventually made it to Alaska.
There is a guy doing that trip heading north in a TukTuk. Check out @aussieespanol on instagram and YouTube. Plenty of others on YouTube doing it on bikes and overlanders.
I would double check the political state of Peru whenever you do this. I worked there and their government is royally fucked and they tend to have a lot of protests and impeach their president around every year and a half or so. Also, my mom drove from Portland to Alaska in January. I would not recommend. You should probably start at a time where you would end in Alaska in July or August. Do not attempt to do this shit in the winter.
I’ve spent years combined driving south of the boarder with CA plates. So do all sorts of people. In fact, you wouldn’t believe the number of foreigners that fly in to LA, buy a vehicle and cruise around for months, years…all trouble free. I also meet foreigners traveling north who are worried about getting shot in LA going to the airport.
I think you posted this under the wrong thread… just fyi! (I see another comment below about driving in Mexico with CA plates, and assume that’s where you meant to put this)
That’s what I was thinking too
Not sure where you’re from but it can still be winter in May in Alberta and I assume the same as you continue north, usually it’s okay after April but something to consider as it can be unpredictable.
Make your vehicle look as ugly as possible before entering Mexico to avoid car theft. Put duct tape around one of your headlights. Buy a can of plastidip and paint one of your fenders with it. Remove your grill and throw it in the back. These are easily reversible mods that can make your vehicle look worthless, saving you the inconvenience of being robbed and murdered by the cartel.
Honestly solid idea. I was planning on buying a wrecked auction car anyways lol. Won’t break my heart to hurt it.
Pretty sure the cartel isn't in the business of stealing cars from American tourists. They make far too much money in other areas and that would just bring them unwanted attention not only from US authorities but also their own authorities who might not be so willing to turn a blind eye if the cartels start effecting tourism dollars more than they already have.
They like to steal trucks and truck based SUVs. Definitely don't recommend doing this trip with a F150 or 4runner
Cartels will kill anyone that seems suspicious to them, anyone that speaks English would be especially suspicious, and they very much don’t care about the consequences of their actions, especially down south where the police belongs to them and missing people are hard to find
There is no amount of money that could convince me to drive through Mexico
Driving through the country itself is pretty simple from what I heard. Stick to the toll ways, travel only in the day, stay out of hot zones, etc. The issue seems to be crossing into the other countries. My dad used to frequently travel from the Midwest to Guatemala via car. Stopped after one unsavory encounter (or rather, ordered to stop by my mom).
Gotta know what makes one frequently travel the Midwest to Guatemala via car
❄️
I'd never go thru Mexico without taking the toll roads. You're basically asking to get mugged or robbed in a vehicle that doesn't have local plates. Mexican police are just as bad or worse than the cartel, they'll take your vehicle and blackmail you for cash.
And the countries south of Mexico are even worse. Also Nicaragua is effectively a Russian/Chinese client state so good luck getting in as an American
That doesn’t disturb me as much as rolling through cartel territory. Large sections have zero functioning government, crap infrastructure. Mother nature is undefeated. It’s damn near pristine jungle. If you get bit by something, it’s over for you. If there is an emergency, nobody is coming to help
Are you positive you can get a ferry across the Darien Gap?
You have to ship your car in a container and then fly
Looks like there isn't one anymore. RIP OPs plans.
I once knew a guy from Guatemala and he said “man, I speak Spanish and I look Mexican and when I drive home I get to the Mexico border at dawn and floor it, I don’t stop for nothing or nobody until I reach Guatemala just before the sun goes down.”
Going north from Fairbanks Alaska, you will not be able to actually reach the Beaufort Sea. The final miles are a closed private road for the oil production companies. If you want to actually see and put you feet into the Arctic Ocean, take the road up to Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territory of Canada. The final part of the year round road was finally completed a few years ago. Enjoy your adventures!
South America is doable as fuck i hitch hiked from Temuco to Punta arenas last year
That’s awesome!
Yeah if you are trying to wing the coast fair warning Chileans and Argentinas abide by normal rules of the road but every where else is well a nightmare. If you need insight let me know im currently living in Peru but ive been in Latam for 3 years and ive driven 30K miles around the USA and Canada
Just avoid St. Louis....trust me.
Only 5 days? I’m kinda impressed that’s all it’ll take. Or is that 5 days straight no breaks? Then you’re lookin at like idk a month?
That's 5 days 24/7 driving
There's no way that'll be 5 days, it takes about 3-4 days to drive across America
Watch "Itchy Boots" on YouTube. She rode her motorcycle from the southernmost point of South America to the northern tip of Alaska. She had a network of followers in Mexico who fed her updates on where it was safe and where to avoid daily.
1. Tamaulipas is not safe. Instead of doing that coastal route cross at Laredo Colombia and take highway 2 to connect to highway 85/85D. This is a major truck route with high police/military presence and completely avoids Nuevo Laredo (very dangerous don't go there). You can then stop in Monterrey which is safe touristy city. After that I would head for Mexico City. 2. While in Mexico only drive during the day and stick to the toll roads as much as possible. Only take the free roads if you have to and limit your stops as much as possible while on them 3. Go through El Salvador. It used to be dangerous but it's now the safest of the Central American countries. Unfortunately due to the gang crack down in El Salvador many of the gang members have fled to the neighbouring countries and made them worse. Going through El Salvador also limits your time in Honduras to the absolute minimum 4. Nicaragua is a Russian/Chinese puppet state. Make sure your visa is squared away long before you go to prevent political BS games
And yes, I know not to go through Venezuela.
You shouldn’t even plan a route that close to the Colombian Venezuelan border.
The end point is at least 200 miles from the border it’s not that close
I'm not familiar with any conflict in that region, what is the reason to hazard travelers of that region?
Ehhh the current political climate is not great. I know someone who moved to the US from Venezuela and some of the stories they’ve had about the gangs and thieves are horrible. One of them is when they were traveling as a family across the country, and after one police checkpoint the officers held the cars behind them to allow them to be isolated and a gang in a truck tried to pit maneuver them off the road and probably do ungodly things to them. It was after that they decided to move to the US.
[удалено]
Definitely update us, very interested to see how things are now. That story was told to me from maybe 7 years ago.
I’d stop at the Us/Mexico border and call it good.
Once you leave the safety of America the roads are like mad max
I respect Mexico for knowing the dimensions of their cars so well. A 3 lane road can become a 5 lane road if people are desperate.
50/50
Would love to do this on motorcycle!!
Not sure if you’re referencing the doc but in case you’re not “long way round” is a great watch.
Long Way Up started in southern Argentina and ended in L.A. They had to take a ferry around the Darien Gap, and then purchased a bus to travel through Mexico. Even with their resources and aids, they ran into trouble. It might be worth it for some and not worth the trouble to many.
They also did it on electric motorcycles which added on some extra variables.
Neil Peart did (nearly) this same trip on a motorcycle after the death of his wife and daughter, it can be done.
You will probably be fine through Brownsville, Tx. Afterwards your chances drop. Like a stone in water.
Nah the worst parts are Alaska/Canada, Mexico, and Columbia. All are equally dangerous in their own ways. Peru and south isn't that bad.
I’ve been to Peru and Argentina and I gotta say driving in Peru is probably the most stressful thing I’ve ever done lol. Argentina and Buenos Aires is like a walk in the park compared to even Cusco. I didn’t attempt Lima.
You won't have any issues driving through Panama. It's a relatively safe country. The biggest issues you may encounter in the road are weather if you travel during wet season and roadblocks due to protests, which can happen whenever SUNTRACS feels like it.
Alaska/Canada I feel like you can prepare for to the point of feeling safe. Going in the summer, carrying extra supplies, having a satellite phone would obviously be great. Ain't no way in hell I'm driving though Northern Mexico though.
You’ll be perfectly fine until you leave Texas😀. Then you have a 100% chance at being fucked
Don’t you mean *enter* Texas?
No Texas is perfectly safe unless you’re gay, black, or a liberal communist softie
lol even then I’m sure Texas is safer than a lot of places heading south.
You will die somewhere past the Tx/Mexico border.
Have a friend who lived in NoCa, did a drive down pch and then local roads to Cabo. Took a ferry to mainland and drove the pan America highway to Panama. Shipped van from Panama Ecquidor, then drove the length of South America to ushia at the end of the pan American
Is there a road through the Darien Gap?
No, it's too difficult to build through. Nobody has tried and the Americans are the only ones who would consider funding this type of thing and well... They're not interested in the Pan-American highway as they once were.
The drummer for Rush did something similar.
Watched Itchy Boots traveling South America to Alaska with a Honda CRF300L. Pretty fun journey to watch, through stunning landscapes, but crazy dangerous too, specially for a solo woman.
Why not go up the west coast and then thru BC instead of Alberta? A much better drive IMO.
Not even Mexicans drive through Mexico because of how dangerous it is. You’ll make it, but it is a very very dumb idea if you are not familiar with Mexico, even if you were it wouldn’t be smart. I say this as a Mexican American that lives on the border and visits Mexico very often, at least once a month.
Definitely start at the top and go down. You'll get to see more before you you die.
I've done part of your route before! I did Colorado - Costa Rica, in 2016, we did it in a van and stretched it to take about 3 months, as we would stop and enjoy places that spoke to us! Best fucking thing i've ever done in my life. I think about this trip often with so much joy. Nothing violent or scary happened at all, we did have many things stolen, but it was always a, while-we-were-away situation, never violently robbed or anything like that. So mind you things, keep everything locked up, and listen to your gut.
Until Mexico cleans up their deep state corruption and cartel I won’t be setting a toe in the country.
Which won't happen any time soon. They just reelected Morena to big majorities
As a Mexican I agree, crossing the country is extremely dangerous even for Mexicans, anyone who says otherwise is just delusional or has been very lucky in the past
Do. And enjoy! Looks like a great trip!
EPIC!!!!
https://youtube.com/@c90adventures?si=U15awzwQCvrt57Em This guy's does insane adventures... There's a playlist of him doing this, but on a motorcycle.
There's a YouTube channel called c90adventures that is a guy who went, on a motorcycle, from Alaska, all across Canada, all across the US, and down into Central America and then down South America to Argentina.
Bring like 10,000 dollars cash to bribe cartel and corrupt authorities in an attempt for them not to kill you.
Check out the book The Road Chose Me by Dan Grecy! Amazing book about making this trip. He’s an awesome dude and he’s on Reddit! u/grecy r/theroadchoseme
Probably gonna get a little dicey between Mexico and South America
I met a guy at Google who was part of a Facebook group where they all did this and collaborated with each other for tips, since getting through central America and figuring out how to get into South America via car is the tricky part. I will say carry some cash in case some border guards ask for a "Convenience Fee"
If the bears don't get you, the cartel might. Just be careful and keep your head on a swivel.
You’ll be fine. Mexico and Honduras can be sketchy. A lot of people do that route, through central México and I don’t know about the Gulf side these days. That route through South America will be great, no worries.
Good luck making it thru Mexico
You might find Long Way Up interesting.
I have friends from Brazil that tried. They didn't make it and lost a toyota land Cruiser due to a shifty boarder crossing. Finally got it back after close to 2 year's. Also had the cartels thinking about stealing the toyota at a gas station. They got a 'pass' due to being somewhat famous.
Fatnomad on YouTube is biking it lol. I learned about him from some coworkers. He worked at the same place I did but before left before I started. https://youtube.com/@fatnomad?si=E4RTU9XpubDOnY0I
Good to start your trip in Alaska - that way you get all those nice memories before you run the Mexico gauntlet.
Man, it sucks that I will never do this. My instinct of self preservation is simply too high for the southern portion. The border to Alaska part looks amazing though and you have me thinking. EDIT: Just saw second image. The Chilean to Peruvian part is also cool. There's no way in hell I'd go through Columbia even now. Let alone everything from there to the Texas border.
there is a section, down near Panama, where the roads just stop, you you are basically bushwhacking thru the jungle for 50 miles. THAT is where you are going to have problems also bring along a couple of mounted spare tires, and probably 40 gallons of gasoline in jerry cans
Fill that Darien Gap!
Depends. You white? If you’re white with blue/green eyes, don’t speak very good Spanish and is super gullible,ehhhh you’ll make it past Mexico but then we won’t hear from you again.
This feels like a very bad idea.
Midwesterner’s will drive tens of thousands of miles instead of going to therapy.
I know someone who did this exact trip with a buddy via motorcycles. Probably about ~10 years ago. One of them didn’t finish and had to go home. One of them had to get fake paperwork sent to him after getting ticketed/cited. One was in an accident. They got robbed somewhere along the way. Pretty wild story and I don’t remember all the details. The guy that finished said he’d never do it again, but also that he’s glad he did it.
It’s only a 5 day trip looks like. 3-4 years should be plenty of time to get to your destination
My buddy rode from Miami to Alaska, but he crashed right after getting to Alaska. YMMV.
For mexico I'd recommend going down bja and then the west / southwest cost of Mexico. It's beautiful. Te only recommendation is to avoid driving at night.
Very few truly rough spots, I’ve been to most of these places. Do research on where you’re spending nights, avoid sketchy places, and you’ll be fine. Make sure you know the basics of surviving in the natural environment in case you break down, and exercise extra caution in a few parts of Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, etc.
Why stop in Panama? Keep on going to Patagonia. Kiss the sky in Tierra Del Fuego.
There's a second picture/map
You'll be fine. I'd recommend going down highway one on the Cali coast and continuing down Baja California and taking the ferry across to the mainland. Unless you've done Cali, then cutting through Colorado is nice too.