In the last week or so I have started to get together a list of places of interest, as well as beginning to look at a tentative route for traveling the total distance of the trip. The first leg of the trip will take me up to Canada, over to Alaska, then down to the tip of Argentina, the furtherest point South that can be driven to, and back up to Rio de Janeiro. In the middle, my scooter will have to be shipped from Panama down to Colombia or Ecuador over the Darien Gap.
Yes, that’s right, I’m planning to scoot to the northern most part of the continental of the Americas, and the scoot down to the southern most part. Along the way, I plan to see major archeological/historical sites (when possible) and conservation centers, but the major focus of this trip is to meet with scholars in conservation biology, anthropology, as well as politicians and conservation staff to get a better understanding of real-world issues faced in each country.
The trip is likely to start with a month of intensive Spanish language over in Mexico to help revive my active Spanish skills after a decade living almost entirely in the Chinese language. Once my language skills are back to their former fluency, the plan is to find a volunteer opportunity at a conservation center and spend a few months getting familiar with the workings of these organizations as well as any issues they face. This will hopefully help form the base of my experiential learning so I can learn the ropes of what is required for the day to day functioning of these projects.
From here, I will head south, making stops in cities based on a pre-determined interview schedule, as well as national parks and conservation/reserve areas and their surrounding towns, with attention to towns where research has shown a history of conflict between wildlife and human populations. Interviews in these areas will hopefully reveal/clarify these issues.
The map above shows the terminal destination for North America as Panama City; the reason for this is that it is not possible to safely traverse the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia, so vehicles must be shipped at this point into Colombia or Ecuador before continuing on. Because I plan to take a scooter down, this means putting myself and my scooter onto a plane for about $400, applying for temporary registration when I land, and then trekking onwards along the final leg around the southern tip of Argentina and then north to Brazil. My hope is to ship my scooter onwards from Rio de Janeiro once I have completed the Americas, but I don't want to get too ahead of myself just yet.
As things stand, I will likely spend about three weeks in each country, with exception of the two countries where I will volunteer longer-term with local conservation organizations. It’s not a whole lot of time, to be sure, but I’m hopeful that if I’m able to organize well, I’ll be able to get the major interviews with public figures done as well as a number of interviews with locals, particularly with indigenous groups, about their perspectives on human-wildlife interactions. If I’m lucky and organized, I’ll be able to fit more time in National Parks enjoying the conservation efforts of these countries with organizations dedicated to their preservation.
I guestimate it will take me around nine months to round up the rest of the money for this trip, which will take around 22 months and cost around $30,000 plus the cost of my scooter and gear. When possible I plan to camp or couch-surf, and during the times I am planning to volunteer, I will make sure that I find opportunities that provide accommodation. My hope is that I will not spend the full 30,000 since it is a padded number, rather I anticipate spending around $1000-$1100 for the bulk of the trip, which will leave me closer to 25000 for 22 months.
When I previously traveled through Central America, I was able to eat almost exclusively local food (mostly just rice and beans with some veggies since I’m a vegetarian) for the 4 months I was there. Because I really love rice and beans and never once got sick of it, I do not really intend to eat at higher end restaurants or any foreign restaurants while I am traveling except as the rare treat. However, the budget is padded in case things are more expensive than intended or if there is an emergency that requires cash.
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