Anyone know if you can just drive from the USA all the way to South America and if it would be cheaper than booking flights and busses?

Or is this a terrible idea?

You can't actually drive the whole way. There place called the Darien Gap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap separating Panama from Columbia which cannot be driven. Just because that link shows there is a nice road called the Pan American Highway that doesn't mean that is always in good condition or going directly south. There are boats that take motorcycles across and I imagine there may be some that take cars as well. As for it being cheaper than book flights or buses, not a chance. Buses would be definitely be the cheapest way if you are interested in seeing more than just a couple big cities, even then it might be close.

There is a family, a couple with two children, posting on this forum. They're doing the trip on bicycles from Alaska to Ushuaia.
Also, I met a young French woman in northern Argentina. She never drove a bike before, bought one in San Francisco and drove all the way south to Ushuaia and Cape Horn. It was a bet, and it looked like she was going to win.

cool

i guess i wont take my car

is there a way to take buses all the way from Texas then Mexico, thru all of Central America, take a ferry across from Panama to Columbia, and then take buses the rest of the way down to south america?

sorry for the newbie questions, you guys are ROCKING!!!

On the bus issue, yes, yes, yes. You can take busses through both continents, except for the Darien Gap. Chile kind of falls apart at the bottom, so you'll end up in Argentina to get way south, but it can definitely be done. Over the last -ahem- years since the Latin America/travel bug bit me I've done most of it, though not in one go. Sometimes a flight or two speeds things up, but if can definitely be done by bus.

If you want my take on how to approach the overnight busride, see my expert article here: http://www.bootsnall.com/articles/09-01/overnight-bus-tips-expert.html

hth!

Eileen

http://www.bearshapedsphere.blogspot.com

thank you!!

YOU GUYS ROCK

For added information MY uncle told me about it and he said you will need to get an international drivers license. He suggested to rent a car IN Mexico. That way you have "local" plates. Also, he said to take an American $10 and fold it up, put it in a sleeve with your driver's license. It got him out of 2 tickets. Anyways, sounds like a fun trip. Theoretically yes it's possible.. but you're looking at well over 2,200 miles from say Las Vegas to Panama.. then you have to pass through some pretty rough territory. Be sure like he said to have an international driver license and also bring plenty of credit cards or account cards that can give you money. You'll also need a US Passport, as well as all members of your crew. I think several South American Countries drive on the left side of the road as opposed to North America. These nations are also very stringent about insurance so make sure yours is up to date.

Hi!

I am planning the similar plan you are. I plan to travel by bus and stay at hostels, camping or sometimes through Couchsurfing networks.

The biggest challenge is Entry/Exit requirement. I spend a lot of time reading Entry/Exit requirement on www.travel.state.gov (US Government's website) and its going to be pain in the neck to figure things out.

You might need yellow fever to get in some countries, but required in Brazil. I contacted Brazil Embassy, you can get entry visa from any Brazilian Embassy in any countries OTHER than Brazil prior to enter the country. I think I need to contact Paraguay Embassy since they also require visa prior to enter the country, hopefully I can get visa in any other country before entering Paraguay.

The other biggest challenge is that some countries might need you to show proof of onward travel since I am a backpacker, and I don't make any plan in advance. I only will stay in each country up to the limitation # of days or months provided by individual country's law.

The website doesn't give 100% detailed information... they usually says about departure or arrival by air.. since I am travelling by land. That's mean I have to contact embassy of all South American's countries especially Colombia, which I plan to ride by boat bypassing the border of Panama and Colombia (dangerous area). The site only explained about entering by air and land.. I don't see any entry by water????

Any advice or information regard this, please do so... thanks

Allan

You might need yellow fever to get in some countries, but required in Brazil. I contacted Brazil Embassy, you can get entry visa from any Brazilian Embassy in any countries OTHER than Brazil prior to enter the country. I think I need to contact Paraguay Embassy since they also require visa prior to enter the country, hopefully I can get visa in any other country before entering Paraguay.

I think you're reading too much into this. It's a pretty typical backpacking trip, and you shouldn't have any problems. There's a very small handful of countries in the Americas where Americans will need visas, so yes, you need to know which ones they are, but you don't need to worry about it - it's a formality: fill out the forms, and pay your money in a nearby capital, and you're on your way.

I'm no expert on Colombia (the entire extent of my "Colombian experience" is spending 12 hours at the Bogota airport last week. The only things I learned is that they like to check your bags - 3 security checks for an international connection which would have had no security at all in some countries - someone needs to teach them about ventilating public buildings, and they don't feel that food is an important thing to have near the boarding gates), but they're on good terms with the states, and no visa is necessary. How you enter a country almost never has any bearing on entry/exit requirements.

The exception to that is proof of onward travel. When you arrive overland it's generally expected that you'll leave overland, so you won't normally need any proof of onward travel. This is more of a problem when you arrive by air. In either case, it can be circumvented through the "fully refundable plane ticket" method, which requires a good sized credit limit, but doesn't cost you anything.

In the winter of 2008 I drove from Maine, USA to Ushuaia, Argentina in a 2001 VW Golf. I wrote a quite a bit about it at: http://www.justinandsilveral.com

justold wrote:In the winter of 2008 I drove from Maine, USA to Ushuaia, Argentina in a 2001 VW Golf. I wrote a quite a bit about it at: http://www.justinandsilveral.com

Wow - Thoroughly enjoyed it.