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Depending where you want to go, you may not need either fuel or water cans, and putting on a roof rack adds weight, increases CoG height, adds wind resistance, and is in general something to be avoided unless really needed. On one of our "big trips" we needed more fuel than the standard tank...

Please pardon my ignorance - what's the difference? I've never thought in these terms; we use highways to get from A to B a fair amount, however when we have the time (which is most of the time on a "big trip") we try to get off the highways onto minor roads (secondary, tertiary, etc.). We...

mmm... yes. A lot of people camp exclusively. On our last "big trip" (10 months), setting aside staying in homes of friends and family, we camped 153 nights in 224 – 68% of the time. This was for several reasons: - economically, we could not have afforded the trip without doing so, hotels...

I’ve been driving off and on in Mexico since 1979 and in Brazil since 2001. Never had a suggestion of bribery on the road. I’ve come across suggestions in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Venezuela but never given anything.

We’ve never paid a bribe anywhere in South America (or elsewhere come to that).

I recommend petrol/gas not diesel. Your consumption will be huge with what you seem to be ending up with. I don’t understand the reference to country registration- you’ll presumably be on a carnet (my recommendation) or TIPs.

In terms of access in South America, it depends where you want to go - no problem on Highway 5 in Chile and other freeway-type highways, however if you want to travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca (for example) it would be difficult (and if you encounter any problems would turn into a...

Have fun! Late reply, however I think the X-Terra will be fine. It wasn;t sold where live but we've had two X-Trails and they've been excellent - we took the second to Tierrra del Fuega and back in 11 months with zero problems. It's still in the family. With respect to Nissans, I had a...

In general I believe that it’s best to stick with the original design (motor, transmission, etc.) with a few exceptions- a well-proved suspension upgrade for example. Vehicles are designed (at least in the last few decades) for all of the components to work harmoniously. If you add more power...

Hmm - if it were us, we'd put a bed in the Jeep and go with that (only). Hauling two vehicles is going to use a ton of fuel, and will make travel more complex (narrow streets, tight tracks, etc., as well as being unable to go (for example) from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca since you'd end up with...

Our LC80 had 7 seats, our current Montero Mk IV has 7 seats. We took the LC80 around S and E Africa, and have taken the Montero around Australia as well as using it routinely in Colombia. Both are very capable. Small print - in both vehicles we did the "big trips" with only 2 of us and so took...

Sensible comments on the age of the 80, however also on its capability, better access to some places, etc. I'd follow the advice of others who've said fix the 80 and expect to do some maintenance. We had an 80 in Africa for 2 years, took it all around Southern and Eastern Africa, and it did a...

Excellent! Thanks for sharing - it's a nightmare trying to sort out the restrictions - we've been trying to integrate IATA and the multiple national health service websites...!

We must be the only people who find Columbia clothing poor - doesn't breathe well, traps heat in hot humid climates, better than some but overrated (also expensive - I bought a Columbia shirt in CCS "duty-free" (of necessity) and it cost USD 250 or so, as I recall....). We have settled on...

Me too! We've done some trips on horseback, although no multi-day trips yet; Colombia, Cuba, Costa Rica. We looked at a 3 week trip through Mongolia on horseback but it hasn't come together (yet).

Hmm - I assume the question is "how many times a year "overlanding"? So, including all trips which included an "overland" component in the last decade: 2010/2011 - 11 month trip (South America), 3 day trip and 1 month trip (Colombia) 2012 - 3 day, 5 day, and 2 day trips (all Colombia)...

This helps - I guess it's like a lot of laws around the world, not enforced until you do something inappropriate, at which point every infraction is enforced (or perhaps I'm out of date with the requirement). A question - if you have the GPS unit permanently mounted, how can you take it on a...

Ah - clear now, thanks. Our unit(s) has (have) an access port which requires that you insert the cable in the top, so a flush mount in the dash would make that difficult or impossible (we'd have to be able to pull the unit out), and the access for a card is by pulling of the back cover, so...

We carry two 1 lb bottles - one to use, one spare. When the "in use' bottle runs out, we buy another one (haven't been able to find anyone who will refill these). This gives us more than enough supply - we used 3 bottles in 145 nights' camping on our last trip (and the third wasn't empty at the...

Fair point. Your installation looks good. Do you have a cable permanently connected to allow download of GPX files or to change the base map?