I would like to travel the full extent of the Pan American Highway in 2023. I am wondering if any groups have something planned and would be willing to let me come along. Otherwise, I will be setting up a trip myself and would like to extend an invitation to anybody who would like to go. To anyone who can offer advice on finding an existing planned trip or gathering interest for a future trip I set up would be greatly appreciated.
Pan American Highway
- Thread starter steve.shunk
- Start date
Congrats, we took 4 years to drive the Americas. We'd be more than happy to answer any specific questions you may have or to point you to someone we know. Personally, we wouldn't caravan the entire way but more of hooking up with road friends to run certain sections together. There are lots of people running the Pan-American so making new friends is rather easy. Join the Pan-American Travelers Association group on FB but I must warn you that many veterans have left the group after becoming frustrated by the armchair know-it-alls. There are still some great experienced members, it might take a little work to sort through who knows what they are talking about and well...the others. Install iOverlander on your phone and familiarize yourself with all the different categories. It is the single best tool and includes border crossing information etc.. I can tell you that interest in the Pan-Am is on the upswing.
The best advice we can give is...it's a marathon and not a sprint. Do not focus on reaching an end point, it is much more about living in the moment. There will be times you will think you need to press on over staying with the group you are with, if you do press on it will become one of your biggest regrets. There are always more beautiful places to visit and reaching some arbitrary point is not the satisfaction any of us thinks it is. It doesn't matter if you make it the entire way and everyone's trip is different. A friend of ours once penned, in regards to multi country overlanding, "you will make life long friends that you may never see again in your lifetime." That, sums up the true experience.
The best advice we can give is...it's a marathon and not a sprint. Do not focus on reaching an end point, it is much more about living in the moment. There will be times you will think you need to press on over staying with the group you are with, if you do press on it will become one of your biggest regrets. There are always more beautiful places to visit and reaching some arbitrary point is not the satisfaction any of us thinks it is. It doesn't matter if you make it the entire way and everyone's trip is different. A friend of ours once penned, in regards to multi country overlanding, "you will make life long friends that you may never see again in your lifetime." That, sums up the true experience.
Happy to offer ideas and answer specifics as may be helpful. One thought in addition to John's and Mandi's advice - stay off the actual PAH most of the time. There are sections which are well worth the time and others (such as the section through North Central Peru) which have little to offer, are relatively boring, and it's far better to get into the sierras and eastern side of the Andes. Note also that there's often a lot of debris on the PAH, and punctures are hence a risk.
Thanks John and/or Mandy. Your response is exactly what I was looking for. I am going to take your suggestions and run with it from there. Additionally, if I come up with questions I may just take you up on your offer to share your wisdom. Maybe I'll run into you on the road somewhere.
Point taken with not being on the actual PAH. That is actually my desire. I'm wanting to take the road less travelled and drive slow enough to soak it all in.
Thank you for responding. Without people like you I would not be able to move forward.
Steve
