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I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

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Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#201
post #154

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now! I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things. In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too. The details on the…

Do you need a drivers license?

Are you in communication with the local governemnts about your travel.

How do you know what areas are ok to travel to? Do you have to register your vehicle in these countries?

Who do you ask for permission to park your car.

How are you on the internet right now?

How do you communicate with locals, do they know English or do you speak what ever local language there is?

Have you hooked up with any other travelers?

How about any of these tribal women?

How do you pay from stuff. Do they take U.S. Dollars or Euros or do you have to get a billion Zimbabwe dollars for candy.

What are you eating.

When you get sick from eating local food what do you do?

Are you armed?

If so did you have a license for your weapons?

How do you cross the Sahara. Do those sand dunes move around and block roads or do they just stay in one spot. Or are these trucks able to ride over them without sinking into the sand.

If you are in Sahara and water runs out what do you do?

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#202
post #154

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now! I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things. In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too. The details on the…

Do you need a drivers license?

Are you in communication with the local governemnts about your travel.

How do you know what areas are ok to travel to? Do you have to register your vehicle in these countries?

Who do you ask for permission to park your car.

How are you on the internet right now?

How do you communicate with locals, do they know English or do you speak what ever local language there is?

Have you hooked up with any other travelers?

How about any of these tribal women?

How do you pay from stuff. Do they take U.S. Dollars or Euros or do you have to get a billion Zimbabwe dollars for candy.

What are you eating.

When you get sick from eating local food what do you do?

Are you armed?

If so did you have a license for your weapons?

How do you cross the Sahara. Do those sand dunes move around and block roads or do they just stay in one spot. Or are these trucks able to ride over them without sinking into the sand.

If you are in Sahara and water runs out what do you do?

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#203

This looks like a nice experience, but I'm realizing that I don't want to do anything like this. I thought I did, but I guess not. That includes driving an RV around America or New Zealand, hiking the Appalachian trail, or any other kind of journey where you travel from A to B and see a few things along the way. I do want to visit Africa, but all of this driving and getting stuck doesn't really appeal to me. I do wan…

I don't care that this is a late and buried reply and most likely only you will read it. I even created an account just to reply to you. I did this because I was you about a year ago and your post is exactly something I could hear myself say or think. I had a good friend that had lived part of their life out in the big world and I was talking to her about it, explaining how I felt, which is just about what you write…

Westerners version of traveling treats the world like Disneyland.

Rich westerners save a bunch of money then go see the sights then come back and tell their friends!

These experiences are purchased, the equivalent of visiting China world at Epcot.

It treats travel, people, culture like an amusement park or even worse a status symbol...have YOU been to Africa?

The OP wants something more meaningful I think.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#204

This looks like a nice experience, but I'm realizing that I don't want to do anything like this. I thought I did, but I guess not. That includes driving an RV around America or New Zealand, hiking the Appalachian trail, or any other kind of journey where you travel from A to B and see a few things along the way. I do want to visit Africa, but all of this driving and getting stuck doesn't really appeal to me. I do wan…

You can do most of New Zealand in two-three weeks, the roads are great, and you will not get stuck anywhere.

Do it.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#206
post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trying to cross international borders legally with a firearm for self-defense is really difficult if not impossible. If you talk to Overlanders or international ocean cruisers, almost none of them carry weapons. Trying to sneak or bribe your way across a border with a weapon is a pretty serious crime. [1] http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-65646.html

I doubt buying a shotgun in Africa when you land is a difficult situation.

You would be wrong.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#207
post #108
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha! I've travelled to remote parts of South America, Africa, Asia, and the only times I ever experienced getting robbed or deeply fearing for my safety was in Barcelona and Philly.

I've been to Barcelona twice. A beautiful city that I really enjoyed. I never felt threatened in any way (but see next paragraph). I went out at night to local clubs and didn't feel that there was any more risk than going out in a large US city. Take the same kind of precautions, ask people before venturing into areas that you are unfamiliar with at night. Las Ramblas is a large interesting boulevard through the midd…

The pickpockets there are magicians themselves. I watched* my friend get his phone lifted on a nearly empty Barcelona street at 5am, and neither of us had any clue.

*: more like I was looking in the exact direction but not actually seeing what was happening.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#208

This looks like a nice experience, but I'm realizing that I don't want to do anything like this. I thought I did, but I guess not. That includes driving an RV around America or New Zealand, hiking the Appalachian trail, or any other kind of journey where you travel from A to B and see a few things along the way. I do want to visit Africa, but all of this driving and getting stuck doesn't really appeal to me. I do wan…

I don't care that this is a late and buried reply and most likely only you will read it. I even created an account just to reply to you. I did this because I was you about a year ago and your post is exactly something I could hear myself say or think. I had a good friend that had lived part of their life out in the big world and I was talking to her about it, explaining how I felt, which is just about what you write…

There is deep truth in this comment, doing something you are not sure you can do will challenge you. And in overcoming that challenge you will be hugely rewarded.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#209
post #154

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now! I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things. In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too. The details on the…

Do you need a drivers license? Are you in communication with the local governemnts about your travel. How do you know what areas are ok to travel to? Do you have to register your vehicle in these countries? Who do you ask for permission to park your car. How are you on the internet right now? How do you communicate with locals, do they know English or do you speak what ever local language there is? Have you hooked up…

Thanks for the questions. I hope you don't mind, I'll use them as the basis for an FAQ on my website. Speaking of FAQ, checkout the FAQ on WikiOverland which covers lots of the basics of driving your own vehicle around the world.

wikioverland.org/Overland_Frequently_Asked_Questions

> Do you need a drivers license?

The one from your home country is enough, sometimes you will be asked for an International Driving Permit, so you may as well get one from your home country (the AAA, or CAA or whoever in your country will issue it for about $10)

> Are you in communication with the local governemnts about your travel.

Local ones? no. They don't care.

> How do you know what areas are ok to travel to?

Talk to locals, talk to travelers, read online from other travelers, read government travel warnings - i.e. checkout Mauritania right now - mostly OK, some red. I'll stay out of the red :)

> Do you have to register your vehicle in these countries?

No. It stays registered in it's home country, and I'm given permission at each country to "temporarily" be there with the vehicle. Usually 30, 60 or 90 days. I MUST take the car out again.

> Who do you ask for permission to park your car.

Depends where I am, but in cities there are paid lots just the same as you are used to.

> How are you on the internet right now?

There is a lot of infrastructure here - 3G is everywhere so I caved and bought a $20 smart phone that I now tether to. I'll buy a new Sim for $1 in each country.

> How do you communicate with locals, do they know English or do you speak what ever local language there is?

I'm trying to learn French as fast as possible, which is the generic language of West Africa. I can say a few words in a few local languages, but it keeps changing when I change countries. I want to learn more Swahili, which I'm told will be useful in many countries in South/East.

> Have you hooked up with any other travelers?

(assuming you mean met/hungout with) Yep, there are other people getting around in cars and on bikes and motorbikes, and there are backpackers, and tons of UN ex-pats.

> How about any of these tribal women?

Dude, keep the questions SFW please.

> How do you pay from stuff. Do they take U.S. Dollars or Euros or do you have to get a billion Zimbabwe dollars for candy.

There are ATMs in the capitals where I can take out the local currency, otherwise I'm changing USD and Euro to the local currency on the street - getting the black market rate is fun :)

> What are you eating.

I'm trying to cook as much as possible to save money - so oats, toast for breakfast, usually buy rice with some kind of sauce for lunch from a street vendor, and maybe cheap street food or cook rice/pasta for dinner. Food is a couple of bucks a meal when you eat on the street.

> When you get sick from eating local food what do you do?

Suffer. I'll be writing about the worst case I've ever had on my blog soon...

> Are you armed?

No. crossing an international border with a firearm is a serious, serious no no. I would spend many years in jail if they found it, and they've searched well enough already to find all my "hidden" stuff like my money stash, so they would find it.

If so did you have a license for your weapons?

> How do you cross the Sahara. Do those sand dunes move around and block roads or do they just stay in one spot. Or are these trucks able to ride over them without sinking into the sand.

There is a road from Morocco to Mauritania - the sand blows onto it (think drifting snow) it's passable.

> If you are in Sahara and water runs out what do you do?

Why would it run out? why does water magically run out because I happen to be somewhere hot? I have a 13 gallon tank, I make sure it's full as often as I can. Also there is traffic on the roads, I would flag someone down if I had major trouble.

Re: I quit my job, bought an army truck, and spent 19 months circumnavigating Africa

#210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care that this is a late and buried reply and most likely only you will read it. I even created an account just to reply to you. I did this because I was you about a year ago and your post is exactly something I could hear myself say or think. I had a good friend that had lived part of their life out in the big world and I was talking to her about it, explaining how I felt, which is just about what you write…

Westerners version of traveling treats the world like Disneyland. Rich westerners save a bunch of money then go see the sights then come back and tell their friends! These experiences are purchased, the equivalent of visiting China world at Epcot. It treats travel, people, culture like an amusement park or even worse a status symbol...have YOU been to Africa? The OP wants something more meaningful I think.

Yes, I have. About two month in South Africa. Amongst other things spending 21 days volunteering and another 16 days-ish driving around the country.
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