Guatemala content

Why spend years planning what you can do tomorrow. Erika Rowe and Yaniv Singer took off on their big, let’s risk our lives before having kids blow-out trip. Erika JUST learned how to ride, neither of them have any mechanical experience, and they have 10 months to make it to the end of the world. California, USA to Ushuaia, Argentina, 2010/11.

One Man's search for answers while traveling throughout North and Central America on a Motorcycle.

Crisscrossing between Argentina and Chile from Los Antiguos on Lago Buenos Aires, south along Route 40 through the seemingly endless semi-baron pampa; bedding down at delightful ‘Estancias’ supplying refuge by way of warm fires and generous patagonian hospitality on my way to El Califate, on Lake Argentino, and the beautiful Los Glaciers National Park including the spectacular Perito Moreno Glacier. From here, the howling Patagonic winds sweeping off the southern ice-sheet and snowcapped peaks of the Cordillera del Paine are relentless, making the perilous journey to Torres del Paine National Park and Puerto Natales an extremely cold, slow and unforgettable experience. Finally the road ends in the pioneer town of Punta Arenas, where a ferry is required to continue the journey onto Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, or ‘Big Island of Land of Fire’ - and the Atlantic coast for the final push to the world’s southern most city: Ushuaia - known affectionately by the locals as ‘Fin del Mundo’, quite literally, ‘The End of the World’. Again, the ceaseless hospitality and customary friendliness of the locals - in particular my good friends Rosario and Roberto -, rearranged my travel plans and extended my original 3 nights hotel-stay, to a 2 week home-stay. Simply: they wouldn’t let me leave!

The basic procedures for crossing borders In Central America are as follows: First you need to get your passport stamped out of the country your leaving at migración (migration) and than get your vehicle permit and the permit for yourself cancelled at la aduana (customs). Upon entering the next country you get your passport stamped in at migración and than go to la aduana for permits for the vehicle and yourself. The amount of time and money you spend doing this simple process can vary considerably.
I drove my 2006 Kawasaki Vulcan 750 from Northern Michigan down To San Jose, Costa Rica in the fall of 2008 to finish some dental implant work I had started there in July and to enrol in a Spanish Learning School for 3 weeks while doing a "homestay" with a Costa Rican family.
The border crossing information is designed to help the novice who may not speak very much Spanish or has never gone through border crossings in Central America develop some strategies to do so, thus saving time and money. The rest of the site's goal is to also inform and maybe entertain. The focus is not just about a motorcycle trip, rather it is about reflections on the different countries and people I experienced as well as why I sought dental care outside the U.S. and wanted to find a Spanish speaking school. It’s really about me learning how to do a blogging site while on the trip, working on becoming a better writer and the adventure of learning about Latin America. Simply put, I want to learn while perhaps helping others learn, remembering that it’s not always important as to what mode of travel you arrive in, but that you simply arrive.

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