So Annette, you're saying you want to spend 3 months doing N. America, leaving just 3 months to do Central/South America? I think N. America may get a tad tedious in comparison after 3 months...

My buddy has now officially pulled out of doing the S. America leg of the trip, which is a real bugger, and so I'm definitely going to have to coordinate my trip with one or more other people, as my Peruvian and Columbian friend said I should definitely not do it on my own.... I have to get more info from them on that subject though. My Peruvian friend is the daughter or the Governor of Lima, don't you know! Hoping that'll help somehow!

Annette, for us the timescales/budget worked out like this;

South America: 5 months- $15-30/day
Central america: 1 month- $30/day
Mexico: 1 month- $40/day
North America: 2.5 months- $80/day (mainly due to covering longer distances/fuel costs- fill up twice in a day and thats $50)

If you budget £600/month for South/Central America, that should be fine though it was about half what we needed in North America! We also felt like we were moving pretty quickly compared to most people we met too (Argentina - Alaska is a bloody long way!). If you can, you should plan to spend more time in South America and Mexico.

I agree with Nick, once we got up to North America, although the people were fantastic and had great scenery etc, we just found it way too expensive and well, a bit too 'easy' after some of the other stuff we had done in the South and found myself wishing I could get back down there...

Good luck with it and glad you have set yourself a date.

Hi Guys.
 

Peer, Nick & Mike,

Guys am planning a similar trip, starting in Feb from Phoenix. Got family there and will be in the US in Jan to buy my bike & kit it out & do a few runs in AZ & CA before I head down into Mexico beginning of March.

I will be riding a KLR650 or a 650GS I guess!! My two options. I plan to spend 4 - 5 months till July in Central America, hopefully get some diving in as well then head down to South America and ride slowly to down the west coast and get to TDF Xmass 2008. I will make up the rest of my plan to get back to the UK as I go on, maybe head up the east coast to Rio in time for the carnival 2009? I Plan to camp wherever I can to keep the cost down, and food is no worries as I am a great cook & love local produce to cook with.

Let me know if any of us can hook up for any part of our adventures.

Cheers Mojo.

I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread guys. I'm a just-past-fifty guy living in Ontario Canada who's working hard at not working hard. Can't officially say I'm retired, but haven't been to my cubicle in almost two years. I'm told that I'm being indecisive. What do you think?

Back on track. Have had bikes on and off all my life but now I'm keen on riding my '08 KLR to Argentina and then maybe float it to N.Z. ... Australia ... SEA ... Africa ... Europe ... sort of a RTW thing I guess with no particular timeline.

Just wanted to say Hi ... Greg

Set the date
 

Hi Mike,

Thanks for that useful information. Actually I was going to write to you about whether you used a GPS.

I have also got my starting date sorted out. I just had it confirmed from my boss that he wants to extend my contract until the end of Aug (actually he asked until the end of Sept but I told him Alaska would be too cold by then).

So my plan is to fly straight to Anchorage and zip up north, then down through Alberta to see the family and then straight down to LA to see my cousin and enter Mexico early October. Mexico for October. Central America November. South America December until Feb (or it becomes warm enough to go back to the Northern Hemisphere). Or something like that.

I will take it under consideration that 6-7 months isn't very long to do this trip. My flatmate thinks that I should take two years.

Anyway if anyone wants to hook up from LA down that would be grand.

Toodle pip!

Annette- I did use GPS, Garmin Quest and Worldmap (you can buy it but you will find it on the web for nowt). Javier in BA had some good GPS maps for Argentina/Chile which although not routable, were very good. Bob 'smellybiker'- also has some great maps for sale on line. You can do it without GPS but I liked the fact that even though the detail was sometimes a bit sketchy in places, at least you knew you were heading in the right direction (a real plus on the altiplano in Bolivia!).

Just a thought but if you really only have 6-7 months, why not just ship to say BA and do a good loop round South America?

Rtw 2007 -?
 

Hi Annette
I'm currently in the early days of a RTW planned to take 5+ years. I've done Prudhoe Bay to San Diego, taking 6 months and stopping to hike, climb and relax in all the most scenic places along the west coast. I plan to leave for Mexico and Central America in January 2008, to spend several months there, learn Spanish and relax. So aim to reach South America in about August or September. It'll be good if we can meet along the road..
David

Hello Friends,
If someone of you come to Brazil and pass near my location (27° 10' S 51° 44' W), don't forget to tell me OK?
I'll help you.
A hug,

Spring 2008
 

I'm looking into a trip going east to Labrador from BC, and then down south to South America starting spring time 2008, I'll have to keep an eye on the forums, it'd be neat to meet up with some people along the way to say hello! I don't plan on making it a short trip, I'll probably be stopping along the way and volunteering at different projects.