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