Driving a Tacoma around the world

awesome! love seeing the updates to the map!

 

you think you'd ever get there a different way? new 70 series after south america?!?

 

As a Takoma owner Would really like to read your journey. The truck and your personal experience.
You mention driving in Botswana - how many years ago was that, reason is Africa is changing rapidly.
I have a condo in Cape Town and have extensive experience in Southern Africa. Botswana and Namibia are easy-Africa. Just 1.5 years ago I was stopped in Botswana
and they wanted a bribe, after 30 minutes of just saying no they let me go. The desperation all over Africa is growing. Southern Africa the fastest. Your rig will make you a target.
No fear, just drive easy and never drive at night. Namibia is a must go. Zimbabwe now has a very high entry fee for Americans, nothing there worth seeing. To see Victoria Falls go to the Zambia side.
Stay at Jolly Boys in Livingston. Never leave your vehicle in an unguarded area. The hate in South Africa is getting way out of hand - beware. Be behind a fence long before dark.
Still a great nation to drive - with a heap of beware. Ten years ago I rode a motorcycle up the East side of Africa, Cape Town to Israel. The East side may not be available as
very hard to get into Sudan, Ethiopia requires getting a visa from the USA so cannot just drive in. Egypt is amazing and safe to bush camp. Most overlanders go the East side of Africa,
you will meet many on your journey and will exchange travel tips. This comradery is one of the best parts of this sort of travel.
At your service for any current information - contact me any time. Especially for current info on South Africa and what to see suggestions. 20 years ago i owned a Backpacker lodge near Cape Point.
A Florida Boy doing odd things in Africa for over 5 years. For a good short videos go on you tube and see several shorts - Africa by Scooter by Ian Chamberlain. Yep - we hold the record
of riding the length of Africa on 150cc vintage two stroke scooters, then shipped to Italy and on up to Ireland. Just imagine Africa at 30 mph. Yep- shameless promotion.
But to let know i am the real thing on AFrica.
If make it to Orlando FL you can stay at my place. Good advice on Florida - lived in the Lower Keys for three years on a sailboat teaching scuba (yep again the tale gets stranger)

 

A vehicle tip - get some sort of fuel filter. You just may buy some fuel on the road side out of plastic jugs.
Also carry extra brake pads - at some point you will need, "easy" replace. Carry at least two spare tires. One is just not enough.
Suggest two on the rim and one tire.
From experience - drove my Pouget 504 over 80,000 miles in Southern Africa 20 years ago, during a three year bizarre journey.
Carried three spares and patch kit, and several replacement tire valve stems and tool. If you do not need you can really help another traveler.
Or a local on a donkey cart. Carry a carton of match boxes - great gift for a friendly local.

 

My dream vehicle is a Toyota 79 series. Those who don't know it's the Toyota Land cruiser in a pickup version with a 2,500 payload capacity. Of course in my dreams I would have to massively modify it: take it the double cab version and make it into an access cab resulting in shrinking the cab some but lengthening the bed to 6'. Left hand drive versions are available all over the Arabian peninsula.

Realistically though we will someday go to Australia and purchase a used overland vehicle and putter about for 6 or so months

 

Cool experiences wow!

We first drove through Botswana in 2017. Simply awesome experience. That wetted our overlanding appetite. I agree that Botswana and Namibia are great first experiences in Africa. I prefer Botswana because there are no fences around the campgrounds in the national parks as opposed to Namibia.
Our experience in Zimbabwe was simply phenomenal. Had our top Safari experience there doing a walking Safari up to Lions actively killing a cape buffalo. I realize that Zimbabwe is not for the first timers as there are still places that are not particularly safe.

We completed the west coast of Africa down to South Africa and then drove the East Coast up as far as Kenya. Sudan has completely closed their border and getting into Ethiopia is very difficult so we shipped from Mombasa, Kenya to Oman.

 

That works too

 

Now for the "how much" questions. A big expense in world travel is transporting the vehicle. Argentina to Cape Town for example.
North Africa to Italy? Kenya to Orman is a new one. What is the approx cost to ship. We can guess the air fare.
Then there is the Carnet, a huge amount/deposit just to start. Can the Carnet be avoided.
My thinking is vehicle transport is a major part of world travel.
How about a wild guess on the cost to drive around the world - not counting the vehicle cost.
Money is the Elephant in the room - many avoid the subject. Being a practical traveler cost is just part of sharing the experience.
So - you have done Africa, well done. I can probably provide a fixer to get into Sudan. Cost me $175, i paid in cash when got to Khartoum.
Arranged the details via internet once found the fixer. Was stuck in Addis 4 weeks until found the fixer by talking to other overlanders.
Once in, Sudan was amazing, very friendly. Egypt even better. Israel better yet. The world is an amazing place.

 

Amazing! Very inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing

 

This thread fascinates me like no other! It both excites and terrifies me when I dare to imagine myself making such an epic odyssey! Please, keep the updates coming. They never get old!!! Safe travels!!!

 

Please excuse the simple screenshot. Here are our costs over the past 4 years. Please realize this is for 2 people driving a Tacoma that averages 14 MPG. This does not include flights home, health Insurance, and side trips that aren't really overlanding like family safaris or splurges like flying to Bhutan. The hotel and restaurant averages are simply averages as most of the time we sleep in the truck and cook around meals.

On our travels we have met other travelers that have a lower budget, but we choose to take the opportunity to do more of the cultural experiences and wilderness adventures which can be expensive.

$100 a day may seem like alot but we're living full-time on the road for under $40, 000 a year for the 2 of us which is less than we would spend if we were living in the USA in a home.

 

• Below is a photo of our truck just about to enter China from Nepal. Notice the bridge that we're on is seemingly solidly made with concrete.

A couple of months later after some severe rains the bridge is gone




This is the only border crossing that foreigners are allowed to use between Nepal and China. It is estimated to be closed for 4 months.

Yikes! And then the only border between Pakistan and India that allows foreigners to cross is also closed due to the hostilities there. Then most Overlanders should strongly reconsider traveling across Russia or Iran due to their Kidnapping Diplomacy. And finally Thailand is making it nearly impossible to enter with a vehicle that they consider to be a "camping vehicle".

Overlanding Asia is not easy

 

dang that is a lot of negative for all that! where are you all headed now? i might have missed it!

 

I know just being a well traveled American in our own Country the number of different types of people/accents/cultures you can encounter, but I can't even fathom what that's like on a global level. Just incredible.

One day you're one Country with one language, the next day you're in another Country with a completely different culture/language etc.

Enjoy and stay safe.

 

It's a challenging place that's for sure but the people are great. The truck is currently in Malaysia and are doing some island hopping without it.. We are preparing to ship it to San Antonio, Chile.

 

Definitely! The different languages are a challenge. At a basic level we always try to learn to say "Hello" and "Thank You" in the local language. That usually gets us a smile. Another big challenge is the different customs in the countries. Such as, do you wait at crosswalks as a pedestrian, or just wait for an opening in traffic? Are local police friendly or should you avoid them? Sometimes just crossing the border is a completely different answer, definitely keeps us on our toes!

 

that should be a fun place to go!

 

wow, those Gilgit-Baltistan area photos are just fascinating! I may have missed it, but was the decision to skip Vietnam due to anything logistical?

 

Thanks! Driving the one of the Silk roads and in particular the Karakorum range was definitely one of our highlights so far of our trip.
UnfortunatelyVietnam does not allow any foreign vehicles to be driven in so that by itself caused us to not enter. Also I am not super enthused with their government

 

Where are you all now?