Sorry if this has been posted a bunch already but i just wanted to know your guy's thoughts and see if i can find anyone who's done this.
by Low-Programmer-7049
Sorry if this has been posted a bunch already but i just wanted to know your guy's thoughts and see if i can find anyone who's done this.
by Low-Programmer-7049
19 Comments
In YouTube there are many videos. Alaska to South America. Check them out
met a guy in steamboat springs who crossed the darien while riding that route in the late 80s….never again, he said. I gather he lost all his money bribing a safe passage into columbia.
It’s done by like 50+ people every year.
It takes near ~18 months.
Budget is super variable, but between 15-30 usd/day is doable.
If you cook by yourself and wildcamp/warmshowers every night It can be very cheap (less than 10 usd/day just for food).
You can do it! Minimum 1 year and $10k if you don’t stop too much and are really frugal.
People do it all the time. One guy on here just finished and had regular photo posts of his journey. About two years is typical for most people (15k miles).
Only a handful have dragged a bike across the Darien Gap between Panama and Columbia. If you skip that part, it is regularly done.
People do it all the time.
That’s not the route I would take though.
There’s a TDA tour called “North American Epic” and “South American Epic” that follows a similar path in a fully supported ride. I think the two rides are each around $25K.
Can you get through southern Panama or do you need to take a boat?
It was done back in the 1970s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemistour
there is the matter of the DariƩn Gap not exactly a good place hang out or Wild Camp
There’s a book called “Take A Seat” (iirc) by a guy who started that trip solo on a tandem and picked up various co-riders along the way.
Hi! I’m planning to start this trip next May, I have lot of resources I can share!
I mean itās technically possible, but getting through the Darien gap is difficult without a bicycle, the bicycle would make it so much harder.
Loads of people do something similar, Alaska – Argentina is a classic. So yes, it can be done. Time and budget depend on what you want.
About 1.5 years seems a decent amount of time as that way you can enjoy both northern and southern high latitudes in summer and average daily distances are such that you can afford time for rest, detours and sightseeing. Budget can be anything from $500 or less per month on an extreme budget with mostly wild camping and little to no entertainment/luxuries to about as high as you want if you don’t waste opportunities to throw money at every luxury and service you can find. Don’t know the latest prices, but I wouldn’t do it with a budget below $1000 and would prefer a bit more budget.
Extemely possible if u can find the will in ur heart. I havenāt done it, but have met several who have during my Eurasia tour. It takes a while, itās just about the longest ride you can do, but itās also a lot friendlier in terms of language barriers and culture (2-3 different languages and general high English proficiency along the way as opposed to the 10-20 that Eurasia and Africa can have). The countries are generally more developed and with the Andes taking up roughly the entire length of South America you can keep in a generally temperate zone for an extemely long time if you wanted.
The Darien gap can be flown over or sailed around. Hell I think someone took a paddle board around it (a YouTuber Iām blanking on the name of rn, he passed away sadly).
Timing is a lot more kind too. Letās say you start in Alaska in summer and take 1.5 years, ur gonna be ending in the southern hemispheres summer, and if you go faster still autumn or spring. Even if u ended in winter the temps in far southern South America are a lot kinder and mild than the -40 of the Eurasian steppe u could face if u goofed on the timing.
Point being, u can do it, I believe in u š
Watch the series āLong Way Upā. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman do it on electric motorcycles. Itās a great watch (as are their other trips)
Bring $25,000.00 usd minimum for basic comfort and staying in rooms two nights per week. I’m calcuating 100 miles per day, 5 days per week on a kitted out ebike. sorry for mentioning ebike in here guys haha.
Check out Dan Cycles on youtube and insta! Heās been on that route for about a year and a half, planning to do the whole route in 3 years total. He has a few videos doing the Darien gap and what that was like too! Super cool dude