Dave and Kacey
Name and age
Dave Renfroe, 27 and Kacey Kiggins, 26
Hometown
- Dave- Fort Collins, CO
- Kacey- Aurora, CO
Reason for taking this trip
We lived in Brasil for a few months and got the idea of buying a car and driving back to the US. But then we realized that we already had a truck back at home, and besides, all the gear and equipment we would need was at home too, so buying everything new down in Brasil would have been, well, stupid. So we flew home, packed our Tacoma, and drove south.
Why did you decide to drive?
It beats walking! No, really, besides walking or biking, there is no other way to see such remote and distant out of the way places (affordably at least).
What type of car are you driving?
1995 Toyota Tacoma v6 extra cab
Did you make any modifications to your car for this trip?
We added a Flip-Pac camper topper so that we can sleep in the truck and an elevated cargo deck to the bed of the truck for increased storage. We also added an auxiliary Optima yellow top deep-cycle battery and an 800w inverter to power our laptops, charge camera batteries, and run our small Engle refrigerator (it’s always nice to have a cold beer after a long day of drivingJ). We changed the primary battery to an Optima red-top and we use a Sure Power battery separator to safely maintain the charge in both batteries. For security, we installed a 2-way pager style car alarm, a hood lock, tailgate lock, locking lug nuts, spare tire lock, a hidden cut off switch for the fuel pump, a lockable steel tool box in the cab behind the seat which is bolted to the frame of the truck to store valuables and our passports, and in Mexico we got our windows tinted extra dark. We even went so far as to buy a Club, which looks a little cliché, but is just one more hurdle for a potential thief to overcome.
How did you save up or finance your trip?
Working overseas had its benefits, but one of the best is that if you stay out of the US for 11 months in a 12 month period, a portion of the money you make while out of the country is not taxed by the Fed. There are quite a few rules you have to follow, but they are all explained at this IRS website. After our time in Brasil finished, going on a road trip through Central and South America sounded like the perfect way to rack up our 11 months out of the country.
How long do you plan on traveling?
We left Fort Collins, Colorado, USA on July 26th, 2009 and are planning to reach Ushuaia, Argentina by the middle of June 2010.
Where do you plan on driving?
We started off heading down the Baja Peninsula, took a ferry over to Mazatlan, and traversed Mexico to the Yucatán. Our rout then goes south through Belize, back west across Guatemala, and then south along the Pacific coast to Panama. We’ll ship the truck to Columbia, and then head down the west side of South America until we cut inland towards Bolivia. Then through Chile and Argentina on our way to the southern tip of the continent, before returning north to Buenos Aires to end the trip.
What were your family’s and friends’ reactions when you told them about your trip before you left?
A little concerned, to say the least. Mostly about the recent troubles in Mexico- swine flu, drug wars, kidnappings… I am sure we hadn’t convinced them completely by the time we left, but they were at least accepting of our decision. Now, after 3 months on the road, they are all very excited to read our blog and find out about every adventure we have.
Did you speak Spanish before you left your home country? How much Spanish? Are you taking more Spanish lessons as you travel?
After a few years in high school and college classes, we are both fairly keen with the ol’ Español- but Kacey is definitely better. She lived and worked in Chile for a year teaching English, and became quasi-fluent. We aren’t taking any formal classes on this trip, but we listen to Pimsleur language courses on our iPod in the car to practice and learn new vocab.
Do you have a favorite place or country that you have visited during your trip?
Semuc Champey in the highlands of Guatemala is an amazing natural wonder. And the lazy beach town of Montzuma on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica was our favorite place to get some r-and-r (we weren’t there in the high season though, and it looked like it might have a completely different feel then).
What was the weirdest thing you experienced on your trip?
Before we left, most of our friends and family thought it was a crazy idea, and there was no one we could really talk to for encouragement. Now that we have been on the road for 3 months and already traversed all of Central America, we have meet many people who are doing the same trip, and who also ran into the same lack of support and encouragement before they left. It is a strange thing to travel thousands of miles from home and find yourself in the company of new friends who are so likeminded. You start to realize that you have more in common with these people from such distant and varied backgrounds, than you do with anyone back home.
What was the worst border crossing?
By far the El Salvador-Honduras boarder at El Amatillo. To make things worse, after making it through the border, there were at least 10 police check points, all fishing for a bribe, during the 2 hours it took to cross Honduras on the way to Nicaragua. Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and at least 1 orange safety triangle (some cops said we needed 2)- every dirty cop there wanted to give us a ‘ticket’ for lack of these items, but we would politely show them ours and thereby ruin their chances for getting a bribe off of us.
Do you have any advice for others who may be considering driving the Americas?
1.) Photo copies- bring photo copies of all your important documents, maybe 20 or 30 of each. You’ll need them at every border, and having the copies already made will save you time and money (sometimes they charge up to US$1 per copy).
2.) Check, double-check, and re-check any papers that are given to you at the border as far as name, VIN number, passport number, car color, even number of doors on your vehicle. The official who gives out the paper won’t be too concerned if your papers are not accurate (insist that they correct them before moving on), but any police or official you run into down the road will give you hell and use the slightest inconsistency as a reason to give you a ticket or even send you all the way back to the border to have the papers changed (unless you pay them a small fee directly, that is).
3.) Don’t give out bribes. It may seem like the easiest way to get out of a seemingly hairy situation with the police, but if you just play innocent, don’t get mad or frustrated, and go along with any ‘ticket’ or ‘violation’ they are trying to pin on you, they will eventually let you go. The first time you get pulled over you may think this advice is worthless, but we have been stopped and hassled dozens of times and have successfully not paid a single bribe on our trip from the US all the way to Panama (except for one cold beer that we gave away). By giving bribes, you help maintain the system of corruption that plagues these countries, in addition to hurting the next traveler who runs into the same cop by guaranteeing that they will be conned out of their money too.
Would you do it again?
In a heartbeat! Though, we might see what Australia or Asia has to offer before retracing our path…
Do you have a blog or a website describing your trip?
