Wednesday 29 January 2014

Mileages, Budget, and Costs

It is kind of important to know how far I plan to go and roughly how much it will cost to get there, so that I can make sure that I have enough money in the coffers to prevent me from running out half way through !!   So I am in an ongoing process to think of all the things that are going to cost me money, and as close as possible, to cost them out.  I share these details because others may find this exercise interesting / useful if they are planning a similar trip, especially once I get on the road and start having "actuals" to compare with my "projections" !!   A couple of things I did learn from my 2012 trip - 1) You do more kilometres than you expect - Whether that is from getting lost, or just not always travelling the projected routes, I don't know. And 2) accommodation was a higher than expected expense in 2012 because the poor weather often made it impossible to tent camp in Elsie, and also wildlife (like bears and moose) made it wise not to free-camp (ie beside the road) when in a tent.  Hopefully Troopie, having metal sides, will make it more feasible to camp both in inclement weather and also when surrounded by curious wildlife !!  These will be taken into consideration in my pre-trip budget.  But in 2012 despite the limitations of the tent, I was able to spend 50% of my nights camping, while my food worked out at $21 per day.  So these details provide good starting points. 

Saturday 18 January 2014

Documentation

I posted this information in my Alaska blog before I left, and it hasn't changed since then as far as I am aware !!   But as one of the purposes of this  blog is to help others who might like to do similar trips, I will re-post it on here, with amendments as I go !!

If any one has any queries on it, or knows of any errors in it, please let me know via my contact in My Profile section, and I will ensure it is corrected or updated.  And I do make it quite clear here that this is only my opinion, based on what I did, so before you proceed, please do your own research and background checks on official sites as to what is required. 

A very helpful site for Central and S America is here - Strongly recommend people interested in making the trip read it.  http://www.drivetheamericas.com/ 

Planned route

I don't like to be too pinned down either to dates or places when I travel, but I obviously need to have a rough idea of where I am headed !!  So I have drawn up a rough route, which may or may not eventuate, but at least it gives people (and me !) an idea of where I will be, and when.  So I have printed out a rough written route below, along with a guesstimate of the dates, and also put the route into Google Maps here if anyone is interested https://mapsengine.google.com/map/viewer?mid=zGvUaQ0oyrdc.kgiaXSVARd4c  

I must admit I am already having second thoughts about Newfoundland - I am sure it is a great place to visit, but it is starting to look like an awfully long way across Canada, and one just can't go everywhere on a trip like this.  I am also finding more people to see and things to do if I went down through the middle of the US - Maybe Indianapolis to see the Speedway and Museum there ?  And then many of my ex work colleagues in Arkansas and northern Texas.  Will make that decision later !!!

Anyway, if you were wondering where I will be and when, I hope this helps.

The vehicle - Troopie

The trip to Alaska in my Lotus Elise in 2012 was done with a specific goal in mind - To be the first ever Lotus of any description to cross the Alaskan Arctic Circle on the Dalton (aka Ice Truckers) highway.  We made it, and in a small way created history, as well as proving the oft-quoted Lotus acronym "Lots of Trouble Usually Serious" completely wrong.  It is a great little car if treated appropriately.  The trip was great - lifechanging even - But there were a lot of interesting places I just couldn't get to because of the rough dirt roads and a ground clearance of about 9 cms.  In addition, the weather was often hard to cope with because I was in a small convertible car and a small tent - So rain caused serious discomfort. So once I realised I had to come back
again to see the parts I had missed, I spent my time working out what would be the ideal vehicle to take.  It had to be 4 wd, one had to be able to rest, read, sleep and eat in the vehicle if necessary, it had to require easy set up in poor weather and be relatively weather proof, and lastly I needed to be able to get spare parts and have it worked on easily by any mechanic, anywhere.  And with my additional plan of also going down through S America, it basically came down to 2 vehicles - A newish VW van, diesel, 4wd, pop top (as made by Trakka), or a Toyota Troopie done up as a camper. In the end the Troopie won out because the VW, still being quite new, was much more expensive, as well as being less rugged than the Troopie. Knowing people with the VW's, I do not regret my decision.