Logistics in Brief: Trying to Make it Happen

While logistics of such a trip, planning, and more, very complicated, so many things to think about, to do, thought I would at least touch on a few things which I thought were important.  I must also mention, that some information I will briefly discuss came from others, especially folks like Matt ("Nomadic Matt"), Matt Karsten ("Expert Vagabond"), Dave Dean ("Too Many Adapters"), folks who have way more experience traveling the world than I.  I must give credit where credit is due, though might not be able to do so after every bit I discuss here.  I should also mention that the webpage, "Drive the Americas" is also a great source of information on Latin American adventures, though more about where to go, where to camp, and shipping a vehicle. There are also many webpages and blogs out there, adventurers, overlanders, who provide much information which is often very useful.  I will mention some of them, if I can, as I go, both here in this post, as well as in subsequent posts.  And finally, I will try to keep this as short and sweet as possible, touch on a few key elements, without necessarily providing all the details, that could, would, get boring.  If you would like more information, please leave a comment, and I will try and get in touch.

First, shipping the van and equipment.  Because my van is a high-roof Sprinter van, my only option was to ship RoRo (=roll-on, roll-off).  This can be less expensive than shipping in a container, but, you cannot leave anything in the vehicle, so you much ship your gear separately, which as I found out, got pretty expensive.  Also, not all ports handle RoRo ships, but there are still enough options to work with.  I should also mention that at one point, there was a car/truck ferry between Panama and Columbia, but that was suspended in early 2016.  This sounded like a great option to get around the Darien Gap, without paying for shipping on a boat. But at this point, the future is uncertain, must ship your vehicle between Panama or Costa Rica and South America, at least for now. You cannot drive to South America from the US, you must ship your vehicle, to somewhere. Ok, a few details.  I sent out e-mails to about 7 shipping agents in the US, heard back from only 4, ended up going with All Shore Forwarders, a freight forwarder from New Jersey. Working with them was actually very easy, via e-mail, and things were surprisingly straight-forward. Gave them dimensions and curb weight, plus make and model of vehicle, they sent me a quote, which included their fee, along with port fees, etc., in the US.  Their estimate was what I paid, something like US$2900 total, Baltimore, MD to Callao, Peru. I chose to start my adventure in Peru for a couple of reasons, more on that later. I also considered Cartagena, Columbia, and even Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Costs were surprisingly similar, though Argentina was a few hundred dollars less.  Now, to ship my gear, also very easy, and while the actual cost was considerably higher than the estimate, I guess considering that I had lots of stuff, still didn't seem that bad (until I got to Peru).  The initial estimate, door-to-port (Pennsylvania, USA to Callao, Peru) was US$579.00.  But, after they picked things up and finalized the shipping cost at the port, things went way up, to about US$1100. They added a fuel surcharge, and "packing fee", and a bit more as I underestimated total volume of my gear.  I was totally pissed, but what could I do at that point?  They had my gear at the port, in NY, pretty much had me by the you-know-whats (this will become a theme, especially after I got to Peru).  I went with ShippingQuest, think actually out of Georgia.  I requested quotes from 3 or 4 different companies, and these guys, at least based on my initial contact and quote, seem like the company to deal with.  My bad.  Also, I tried to get at least some idea of estimated costs in the port of Callao, Peru, so that I could get an estimate of total shipping costs, even before I decided to go on this adventure. I could find nothing on Peru specifically (other than a couple of Canadians who shipped motorcycles), so went with cost estimates which others provided on web pages like Drive The Americas, for other ports in South America such as Buenos Aires and Cartagena.  Again, my bad.  The total costs was almost twice what I had budgeted for, but, still felt that the trip was economically feasible, and having my van to sleep in would give me flexibility and save on the cost of getting a room. And having my gear, well, planned to keep busy, biking, hiking, paddling and exploring, plus living in my van, so needed lots of gear.

Shipping clearly the biggest logistical element, but were a few other issues to deal with before heading to South America for 5 to 7 months.  First, there was the issue of insurance, both health insurance in the US, as well as travel insurance.  As I was unemployed, I went through the Healthcare.gov marketplace, got a descent policy, about US$320 per month.  It would go down in 2017 as I still worked for 8 months in 2016 so had income for the year when I signed up. I went with World Nomads for travel insurance, recommended by Nomadic Matt, and others. On paper, seems like lots offered with the policy, and affordable, 8 months for less than US$700.  For details on what is covered, visit their web site.  

There are two more issues which are worth mentioning, as both are very important. First, communication.  I bought an unlocked cell phone, Motorola MotoG (think 3rd generation, but not positive), love it.  Once I got to Peru, bought a local sim card, lots of data, though took me awhile to get right codes to call US.  But, WhatsApp the way to talk to folks around the world anyway, or Skype, either way, no reason to call unless an emergency.  I have been able to maintain e-mail contact with everyone via my sim card, from Claro, works great, and piles of data, for only S/.80 (that is 80 soles, or about US$26).  This is definitely the way to go, and my MotoG works great. I pretty much just used it for e-mail, which worked everywhere, though most of my time was in greater Lima. As for money matters, I went with a Schwab investment account debit card, no international transaction fees, no ATM fees, worldwide.  Has worked well in Peru at every bank except Scotia Bank for some reason, and, can withdraw local currency, or US dollars if you need them. I also notified one of my credit card companies that I was traveling, in Peru, but I have rarely used a credit card, is a cash economy in Peru (found the same thing to be true in Costa Rica to some extent), so really need to find ATMs, which so far, have not been an issue, banks everywhere, at least in Lima and Miraflores.  There are limits to the amount you can withdraw each time, but some banks will let you withdraw more if you go to the counter, present a credit card, can get up to US$600 or $700 if needed.

There are other issues which had to be addressed in the US before I left, but do not want to bore folks with all the details.  Again, if you have any specific questions, please give me a shout.  I will have more information on gear later, some good stuff.  Thanks again for reading.
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