If Carnet expires and your still traveling?
 

lets say I have a year long carnet for Oz/Nz/SEAsia/India, then it expires while i'm still out there. Can I just forget it and keep riding westwards towards Africa/EU and "discharge" it years later upon my return to north America? or do I HAVE to keep renewing it yearly while gone, even if I don't need it? its all so confusing!

If you need it, say going to Africa , then you need to renew it, should cost less than the original. If you are no longer heading for countries that require a carnet then don't worry

If you no longer need the carnet AND it is completed (all forms closed off) then you can return it to the carnet provider (and get your deposit money back). If returning it - copy it and then send it registered post at least.

If you need it for later on then you'll need to renew it with the original carnet provider.

I did not get my 5000 euro carnet bond released by the AA, until the bike had actually returned to my home country, and I got the “Certificate of location” on the carnet stamped by the customs here. So it did not matter for the bond release, whether I had all entry and exit stamps on my carnet, the AA still wanted confirmation, that the bike is back home (don´t ask me, why I could not have left it somewhere in a non-carnet country, but this was the way it went).

It was a bit surprising for me, too, and became evident because it took a couple of months for my bike to arrive home by sea. This was in Finland, and in 2008. I am not sure, if all countries would be the same.

My Carnet expired when i was in africa but at most of the boarders nobody realized. They stampt it as usual...in arabic countrys allways the exit stamp first ;)

Als Gringo durch Südamerika | Als Gringo durch Südamerika

that's what i was thinking, to just let it expire and not use one in Africa. bloddy thing is SUCH a hassel, but i guess for Oz/Indo/India/Nepali theres NO WAY around it. dammit.