I laugh in the face of danger. Then I hide until it goes away.

          Danger is the major concern when I tell anyone I want to go on a road trip through South America. I recently conducted a new survey online that specifically focused on the dangers of this trip that I desire to embark on and as expected many people said that they wouldn't go on the journey because of the danger. But I do acknowledge that there is danger and most people consider Mexico to be the most dangerous part of the journey. Luckily most of that violence in all of Central and South America is inter-gang related. Usually bad guys killing other bad guys. But that is usually related to the great fear of death which I don't plan on encountering until I'm at least 70 years old.

          Think of Central America as a large funnel for the drug trade which means that the most murders and criminal activity will be in the middle. Mexico actually isn't the most dangerous instead if you look at the map I put up, the most dangerous is El Salvador and Honduras. Luckily after this week I figured out that I can change my route slightly and I don't even have to touch El Salvador. Unfortunately there's no good way around Honduras.

          Now even though Mexico doesn't have the highest murder rate it does have distinct regions that are more dangerous than others. This is where I need to change my route again. I saw on an interactive map on TheEconomist.com (Link Here) that my original route passes right through Chihuahua, Mexico. The highest murder rate in Mexico is here and it is over 4,000 murders per year and my route took me straight through it. Well, I think I'm going to change that route and find a different one through areas that seem to look more forgiving and safe.

          Finally I've found the government travel advisory website and found that there's a few different countries that are currently on it. Now El Salvador which I'm already skipping is listed on the website for having 25 U.S. tourists killed since 2010 and 274 U.S. Citizens who have had their passports stolen. Also of those murders in El Salvador only 6 have been solved. So I'm skipping it and that's final. As for Mexico, it is also listed on it for murder in which the number of Americans murdered in Mexico was 113 in 2011 and 71 in 2012. But for Mexico You also need to consider that it sees a lot more traffic and tourists each year unlike El Salvador. So with that said I'm officially skipping Chihuahua, Mexico and the country of El Salvador on my journey south.

Works Cited

"Current Travel Warnings." Current Travel Warnings. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Travel advisories for different countries

"A Gruesome Paradox." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 02 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Mexico homicide rate chart

Henry, Wesley R. "Create Surveys. Get Answers." SurveyMonkey: Free Online Survey Software & Questionnaire Tool. Survey Monkey, n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. My personal danger in Central America survey

"The Rot Spreads." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Central America homicide rates

The Numbers Game

     As with any trip the issue of money always comes up. So my goal today is to map out exactly where I will go and how many miles it will take. Also I want to know what any my other travel expenses will be such as buying a road-trip worthy motorcycle to save on gas.

     So my journey that I mapped out starts out in Tigard, Oregon which is next to Portland, Oregon and will take me on a road trip to Ushuaia, Argentina. So the first half going in order will be Oregon, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and finally end in the city of Caldera, Costa Rica. So far that is 4276 miles with 72 hours of straight driving.

     Now the reason I stopped in Costa Rica is because I heard and read of the dangers in both Panama and in Columbia. So I plan on skipping them because the most important rule to traveling is to stay alive at all costs. From there I need to plan out a way to get to the coastal city of Manta, Ecuador from which I'll continue my journey south. Also another reason for this is that there is no road that connects Panama to Ecuador called the Darien Gap because it's both a jungle and filled with bandits. So what I've found are three different options to get from Costa Rica to Ecuador. First I could rent a shipping container, but I'm against this because it's the most expensive option. Second is that I could put my bike on an airplane and ship it, I would like this method but I'm having a hard time finding out more information. Lastly is something called RO-RO which stands for roll-on, roll-off in which your vehicle is rolled onto a ferry-like ship and then rolled off at your destination. One price I've found for the RO-RO method is $550 and takes about six days for your cargo to get to Ecuador. Unfortunately I can't travel with my bike so I'll have to fly from San Jose, Costa Rica (a city that's close by) to Manta, Ecuador which costs another $630. So that brings that total up to $1180 to cross the Darien Gap.

    Now I would be in Manta, Ecuador which would be my very first time ever visiting South America (side note: I only need to visit 2 more continents to have been on all of them.) From Ecuador I would head South into Peru and if I had the money I would most definitely visit Machu Picchu the ancient city in the hills. Then eventually enter into Bolivia and then South into Argentina. But that actually isn't the last country because in order to get to Ushuaia, Argentina you first have to cross into Chile and then back into Argentina as well as find a boat to traverse a small body of water. Luckily there's a cheap ferry that I've read about. Then the journey ends in the Southernmost city in the world of Ushuaia, Argentina in which the second half of my journey includes 5255 miles and 106 hours of straight driving. Then I would sell my motorcycle here (I've heard that you can make your money back almost fully) and fly back to the good ol' USA which would only cost me $1650.

     So to recap, that's a total of 9531 miles and 178 hours (or 7.5 days) of straight driving. Also if I estimate that my motorcycle gets 42 miles per gallon that would mean I would need 227 gallons of fuel. Then if I use a high average price of $4 per gallon that make the total price of gas $908 but that doesn't include the fuel I'll need when I get lost. Plus I'm going to need travelers insurance (very important) for about one month which adds another $400. Then add on hotels for about 30 nights (probably less) because driving at night is the stupidest thing you could do (remember the rule: stay alive at all costs) which is about $405. Finally add some random amount for food $300 and that brings the total for the trip to $4843.

     Wow under $5000, that seems pretty good but that's also in a perfect world. So I'm sorry if that severely bored any of my readers but I needed this research because I need to know how much it would cost before I begin to ask for money on "Kickstarter.com". But next time I hope to be going into the specifics of what is in each of the countries I plan to visit and hopefully I can keep your attention then.

Works Cited

"Google Maps." Google Maps. Google, 04 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Google's mapping tool

Josh. "Vehicle Shipping, How to Ship a Vehicle from Panama to South America, Chile to South Africa, and South Africa to the US." Vehicle Shipping, How to Ship a Vehicle from Panama to South America, Chile to South Africa, and South Africa to the US. VW Vagabonds, n.d. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Actual pricing for vehicle shipping

"Kayak." Kayak. Kayak, n.d. Web. 04 Aug. 2013. Airline pricing information

"Kickstarter." Kickstarter. Kickstarter, n.d. Web. 28 July 2013. Fundraising for art projects

"NYK Line RoRo." NYK Line RoRo. NYK, 04 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Ro-Ro schedules and routes

"Travelers Insurance | Auto Insurance | Car Insurance Quotes | Business | Homeowners." Travelers Insurance | Auto Insurance | Car Insurance Quotes | Business | Homeowners. Travelers, n.d. Web. 04 Aug. 2013. Travelers insurance

Well, lets change the pace a little.

          "Focus on the research," when I first see a syllabus for the first time I mark it up with any and everything important and meaningful that comes out of my instructors mouth. Those were the words that I missed when I started this blog. Because of that I had an amazing idea but a boring start. I was going to take a slow and boring path from Prudhoe Bay, through Alaska and Canada, and then possibly make it into Mexico by the time my English class ended. I've traveled that route before numerous times and I can name off the top places I would suggest you visit. But past experiences are only exiting if you did something amazing. After traveling these roads numerous times my stories are told in an increasingly boring manner.

          Another thing that I have been doing is so-so mapping out a trip through South America. That was a mistake and I only realized this recently. What I need to do is plan this trip for myself and hereby make it even more exiting when I do go on it. So I would like to say that I'm planning to go on this trip and my new focus is on the research of South America so I can make the trip and survive with as much comfort as possible. Also, forget the English class, I'll still hit all the deadlines that I need to but I plan on continuing my research until my theoretical self makes it back to the United States from Argentina.

          Now I only heard of a resource called kick-starter and I'm very optimistic about it. It's a community driven funding project that works towards funding artists and anyone can enter into it as long as their project is art focused. Now if I'm going to travel south I'm already going to document my trip. So if I can map out in detail my route and every funding need then I can ask for people to sponsor my trip and make a full video documenting it. I really want to go on this trip and if I can get fully funded to go on it then I will certainly go on it. Honestly, who can't resist a trip to the bottom of the world, especially after living on top of it for so long.

Works Cited

Chase, Mary. "Writing 121." First Day of Class. Portland Community College, Portland. 25 June 2013. Lecture. First day of class lecture for writing 121

"Kickstarter." Kickstarter. Kickstarter, n.d. Web. 28 July 2013. Fundraising for art projects

Surveying the Land

         During the past week I was able to make a short survey. I decided to ask 10 general questions that related to road trips and travel. I really wanted to know what people have done in the past and if they desired to travel in the future. My first question was how long of a road trip people have been on and out of the 30 people that responded, 17 had been on a road trip that was over 3000 miles long. The second question was what was their preferred mode of transport; third was how comfortable are you when you travel and don't speak the language; and fourth was what would be the worst condition you could camp in and most people said they could sleep under the stars without a tent. Fifth question was if you could survive without a Starbucks and 28 people said yes. I'm not sure if they understood that the 5th question was a joke.

         I also asked which continent people would like to see next and which wonder of the world they could see themselves going to. Then I also asked who would you take if you took someone with you on your vacation. I then asked two written questions that I got some really great responses to. One of them was the best trip you've ever been on. I got quite a few responses about trips to Europe as well as one that I just knew that my wife wrote; our honeymoon road trip through Canada. Lastly I really wanted to know exactly what hinders people from traveling. I know that for me money always stands in the way, otherwise I would be somewhere in Africa right now. As it turns out 23 people said that money stops them from traveling as well as having time to travel as well.

         Money is the big issue and I think it will always be that way unless I win the lottery (which may be difficult because I never buy tickets anyways.) So my plan for the next year is to actually look into signing up for credit cards that have mileage rewards as a beginning bonus and then cancel them after I get the miles. I've looked into it extensively and some people have approximately 12 cards at a time. So maybe soon I won't have to worry about money and my wife and I can travel for free. Wish me luck!

Works Cited

Henry, Wesley R. "Create Surveys. Get Answers." SurveyMonkey: Free Online Survey Software & Questionnaire Tool. Survey Monkey, n.d. Web. 20 July 2013. My personal Traveling survey

"The Credit Card Fly." The Credit Card Fly. The Credit Card Fly, n.d. Web. 20 July 2013. Credit card deals

The Dalton Highway

         The first part of the journey includes the Dalton Highway. This road goes from Prudhoe Bay Alaska, and goes to Fairbanks, Alaska. It is one of two roads in North America that cross the Arctic Circle with the other one being in Canada. It is 414 miles long and can be dreadfully cold in the winter. If you want to see where the Alaska Pipeline Started then this is the only road in that you can see it from. Also watch out for television cameras as you might just accidentally wind up on an episode of Ice Road Truckers. I myself have appeared in the background of one episode (my only claim to fame.)

        One of the interesting places is Coldfoot which boasts the worlds northernmost truck stop. You can stop by and get an interesting T-shirt with the picture of a foot on it. Then there's a wonderful little place called Prospect Creek. It boasts the coldest temperature ever recorded in the United States so I would suggest going during the summer months. When you reach Prudhoe Bay you actually can't go to see the beach without a tour guide because oil companies own most of the land. You can find food and shelter in Deadhorse which is the city right next to Prudhoe bay. That also boasts an interesting T-shirt as well (can you guess what's on it?) So that's the beginning of the long journey that is the Pan-American Highway. Next time we'll start down the path that is the ALCAN Highway which might take a while to complete as I've done it recently and have some good memories of it.

Works Cited

"Coldfoot." Travel Alaska. Travel Alaska, n.d. Web. 20 July 2013. Coldfoot information

The Dalton Highway. Digital image. Bureau of Land Management. Bureau of Land Management, n.d. Web. 20 July 2013. Dalton Highway map

"Danger at 55 Below." Ice Road Truckers. History. H, New York City, New York, 18 July 2010. Television. My television appearance

Molvar, Erik. Scenic Driving Alaska and the Yukon. Guilford, CT: Insiders' Guide, 2005. Print. Driving guide of Alaska

Hmm, Where Do I Begin?

          I saw a video on YouTube back in April of this year that had something I've always wanted to do. The maker of the video is named Alex Chacon and he went on a 500 day trip with the purpose to travel from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska down to the southern tip of Argentina. In the video the video clips skip around to different parts of the story with most of the video being from his point-of-view. He drives through the rain, snow and the sun as he drives over numerous types of terrain and meets different locals on his trip.

          I was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska and have driven between there and Portland, Oregon 4 times in the last 5 years. Now being Alaskan you live in an environment where most things that are good are over 100 miles away. When I was in high school my friends and I would get in a car and drive 300 miles south just to get an Arby's roast beef sandwich from Anchorage, Alaska. I grew up driving to where and what I wanted. As a child I also was privileged to have a father who worked on roads in Alaska and even was able to make a trip up to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

          My total mileage so far on the Pan-American Highway is approximately 4000 miles. I've made it all the way from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska down to Tijuana, Mexico. From looking at the map it seems that I've made it about 1/3 of the way for my journey to Argentina. My wife says that finishing this trip would be too dangerous with the people that I might encounter. But, I hope to find enough information that she might just let me go on it. Also, I would love to share my personal experience of the first 1/3 of the trip with the internet.

Works Cited

Chacon, Alex. "The Modern Motorcycle Diaries." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 9 July 2013. Collage of one man’s Pan-American journey

"Google Maps." Google Maps. Google, 04 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Aug. 2013. Google's mapping tool