Driving a Tacoma around the world

I told you, amazing...isn't it. And yes, what you said about the bears it's true. Unfortunately Romania's forests are being wiped out due to massive deforestation and I fear for the future of all wild life in Romania...not to mention poaching...sad.
And yes, the Transfagarasan is closed during winter months due to risk of ...avalanches and sliding down to the bottom. I drove on it ...many people have lost their lives building that road, many political prisoners...

 

Bucharest, if you've been to Paris before...well other than some commie style architecture you will see plenty of similarities. In fact Bucharest is known as Paris of the east...please let us know.
Thank you

 

Can someone point me to the posts with pictures of the build, or is there a separate thread, would love to see what the rig looks like.

 

Here’s some outside shots. Happy to share more, if you’d like. We also have a inside tour on our Instagram site, 2roguewanderers

 

Awesome, thanks! Would check out Insta but I stay away from social media and don’t have an account. I used to be able to see some stuff on there but IG has locked it down now so you have to have an account to see just about anything. Oh well. Very cool rig.

 

So far we’ve driven about 5,000 Kms (3,000 miles) in Romania, about 1/2 of that in the mountains where most of the forests are and just to give you my opinion, I think the forests are in great condition. Most of them are mature forests. I did see some logging but overall I’d say that the current rate of harvest is sustainable.

My opinion is coming as a professional forester in the western US, having worked my career sustainably managing forests for timber products while avoiding significant impacts to water/wildlife/visual resources. Of course my experience is from nearly 1/2 around the world, but I have seen and managed areas that have been over harvested and this doesn’t look anything like it.

I do imagine though that since the Romanian revolution thirty years ago, that harvest rates have risen and does warrant watching by trained professionals, but hey, as I said it’s just my opinion

 

Fantastic voyage and thanks for sharing your adventure with us all.

Were you a forester in a govt agency or in the private sector? I am employed by the USFS.

Some travel philosophy by Rick Steves;

“Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate souvenir is a broader perspective.”

“Travel is intensified living … and one of the last great sources of legal adventure

“It seems that the most fearful people in our country are those who don't travel and are metaphorically barricaded in America.”

Please keep sharing!

 

I was employed 2/3rds of the time managing private forests; Green Diamond Resource Company mostly and 1/3 as a private consultant.

Happy to keep sharing our adventures. I like the quotes.

 

Hey cousin! I found the same link this winter working on Ancestry stuff. Found a 5th great grandmother who was part of the Boyd family lineage and can trace them all the way back to the Stewarts, De Bruce's and further back. It is not all that uncommon. 40 generations of breeding makes for a lot of descendants. I also figured out that I am both related to Robert's brother Edward the Bruce and the Irish side of my family is the people credited with killing him when he tried to take over Ireland.

 

If anyone is interested, we've just posted on our blog site, www.roguewanderers.com our writeup of Romania! Short answer - we loved it!

Yesterday we entered Bulgaria!


Thracian townsite near Cherven, Bulgaria

 

I'm so happy you liked Romania!

 

I never knew that there's so much Roman history in, well really underneath, modern day Plovdiv, Bulgaria



This is a Roman burial tomb

 

Just beautiful!

 

Incredible! Your adventure puts a smile on my face every time I see new stuff

 

Thanks Jesse. Glad you're enjoying it.

 

Tight fit; happy I don't have a full size! Yagodina, Bulgaria


Yagodina cave, quite impressive!


Another view campsite

 

Trip of a lifetime!, just beautiful!

 

Thank you! Yes, the trip has been awesome! But cold (night temps consistently below freezing) weather is on its way - I know, life is rough for us.

 

Our steering wheel suddenly went off center and we're in an alignment shop in Sofia, Bulgaria and discovered this!

A nut on the leaf spring had fallen off and we were driving on the shaft of the bolt. Just yesterday we were on some seriously steep trails that I ultimately turned around on



Appt is tomorrow for the alignment!

We were lucky!

 

Glad you found it, that could have been a disaster!, I'm thinking a regular undercarriage inspection should be in order...you never know!