New Cruiser: Expedition from Vancouver to South America

Names: Robin and Raenelle
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Date started: July 19, 2008
Date returned home: January 2009. It was 6 months nearly to the day.

Destination: Vancouver to Argentina. Previously we had done separate road trips to the Baja in Mexico and to Central America.

Vehicle: A completely rebuilt Cruiser made of aluminum that we did on our own over a two year period ending in 2002.

Top 3 campsites:  continue reading... »

Timeless Book "Who Needs a Road?" Inspires Roadtrippers

One of the most ambitious overland journeys currently underway is The World By Road Expedition.

Americans Steve Shoppman and Steve Bouey, and a small and evolving crew of global wanderers they have picked up along the way, are aiming to drive through more than 80 countries in six continents in less than two years time.

Since starting the trip in Spring 2007, the TWBR team has taken their two 4x4 Toyota trucks into 50 countries in Asia, Europe Africa and South America, as well as Australia.

They are currently in Cali, Colombia arranging to have the trucks shipped around the Darien Gap and into Panama.  continue reading... »

Biking The Death Road: Bolivia's Infamous Adventure Day Trip

John and Cara Macdonald recently returned from a two-year, 30-country backpacking tour of the world, the last half of which took them overland from Patagonia, Argentina to the United States.

The husband and wife team from Charlottesville, Virginia mountain biked down Bolivia's infamous "Death Road" in 2006, while on their travels.

John's travel dispatch describing the day trip is below and their video of the descent can be seen in an article in our Roadtrippin Resources section.

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Between the barren altiplano capital of La Paz and the verdant Yungas coca capital of Coroico lies one of the most dramatic and deadly roads in the world.  continue reading... »

The World's Most Dangerous Road Belongs to Bolivia

John and Cara Macdonald know, first-hand,the "Road of Death" in Bolivia.

The husband and wife team from Charlottesville, Virginia mountain biked down its steep terrain in 2006, during their two year, 30-country trip around the world, the last half of which took them overland from Patagonia, Argentina to the United States.

The video (see below) of their descent down the road is catchy, and John’s action-packed travel dispatch about their adventure day-trip is a must read.

The 64 kilometre section of the Unduavi-Yolosa Highway from La Cumbre to Coroico is known as the “Road of Death”, or the "World's Most Dangerous Road", because it claims up to 200 lives per year.  continue reading... »

"Africa By 2WD Drive" Team First Does The Americas

Names: Hayden Carlyon and Alexandre Matos
Hometowns: Oamaru, New Zealand and Puerto Alegre, Brazil, respectively

Road trip destination: Austin, Texas to Argentina

Date left home: October 21, 2007
Date arrived in Argentina: March 10, 2008

Vehicle: 1995 Honda Accord

Purpose/motivation for the trip: The Adventure; traveling by car allows you to be free and travel like a local; wanting to just hit the road and keep on driving; and drive Alex back to his home town in Brazil.  continue reading... »

Kitesurfing and Roadtripping From San Diego to Chile

Name: Frank Rogowski
Hometown: Oldenburg, Germany

Road trip destination: San Diego, California, USA to Chile and then back to Brazil.

Start of road trip: October 30, 2008
Anticipated end date: Not sure

Vehicle: 2001 Dodge Ram Van 2500
Place of purchase: San Diego, California
Date of purchase: October 30, 2008  continue reading... »

Bumfuzzle Nation Charts Course South and East in VW Van

Names: Pat and Ali Schulte
Home Town: St. Paul, Minnesota

Road trip destination: It looks like this trip will take us from Alaska to as far south as Argentina. From South America probably on to Europe, across Russia, and back to North America.

Date left home: June 26, 2008
Time line for returning home: Time line revolves solely around warm weather.

Vehicle:1958 Volkswagen Panelvan

Place bought the van and custom work done on it: We bought the bus in Canada and had it restored in Seattle. Inside it we built a camper style kit, with a fold down bed, a refrigerator, a sink, and plenty of storage. But on the outside it is really just a fairly standard 1958 VW Bus.  continue reading... »

Landcruising Around the World

Names: Karin-Marijke Vis and Coen Wubbels
Home Town: Hengelo (Karin) and Oldenzaal (Coen), the Netherlands

Road trip destination: During our first 5 years on the road we travelled from Holland via Iran, Pakistan, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh to South East Asia where we visited Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Since January 2007 we’ve been exploring the beautiful countries of South America.

Vehicle: 25 year old Land Cruiser, model BJ45.  continue reading... »

To Tierra del Fuego and Beyond

Names: Gerry and Sharon Channer
Home Town: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Road trip destination: Ottawa, Canada to Tierra del Fuego, Chile and back again

Vehicle: 1987 VW Camper Van
Van Nickname: DC3
Garage used to service van before and after trip: Van Cafe, Santa Cruz, California

Date left home: January 20, 2004
Date reached Ushuaia, Argentina, the southern most city in the world: April 2005
Date arrived back home: July 2007
Time on the road: 3 years, 5 months  continue reading... »

Drive to South America

Name: Elliott Kim
Home Town: Los Angeles, California, United States
Age at time of trip: 23

Road trip destination: Los Angeles, California to Ushuaia, Argentina

Vehicle: 1980 Mercedes Benz 300SD Turbo Diesel

Date left home: June 1, 2007
Date arrived in Ushuaia, Argentina: August 14, 2007

Motivation for taking the trip: I didn't want to be just another college graduate that backpacked through Europe. I wanted to set a goal that I thought was reachable but also hard enough that most would consider it to be otherwise. I wanted to do something that very few had ever done, and see some cool sights along the way. Basically, I wanted to something different.  continue reading... »