From A to B
Mark: I’m a late thirty-something English guy whose realised that it’s a hell of a long way to retirement. Some would say that’s a mid-life crisis. I’m sticking with my story that I just need some adventure. I’ve quit my stressful job in London and I’m off, with my wife, to travel a bit. When the idea of travelling first crossed my mind I quickly decided that I didn’t want to just go backpacking again, I wanted an adventure with a purpose. We initially talked about driving from London to Cape Town, something that a guy from my rugby club had done a few years ago. Sarah didn’t fancy Africa so we soon changed tack to the Americas and I came up with the concept of driving from the top to the bottom. This hit the spot and the plan developed from there.
FromAtoB 
Hi Mark, We met you on evening at the old trestle rest stop on the McCarthy-Kennecot road. I see you are are leaving Whistler on Sept 23rd, so you are probably south of us by now, but if you are not, and need a place to park you rig in Seattle, you are welcome to stay with us. We spoke briefly about your rig and our future plans for a similar trip as yours.
Cheers
David Henderson and Karen Anderson
Hi Guys,
Great to hear from you after our brief meeting. Thanks very much for your offer but we have been and gone to the seattle area – we checked out Olympic and Rainier National Parks and are now enroute to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Best of luck with your plans for the future.
Mark
send me your Email address. Dennis
Hi – we just bumped into some Londoners who bumped into you somewhere…. We’re in Honduras heading south and our rig (Dodge 50) is also too big for a container…
You’ve heard, surely, about the new ferry from Colon to Cartagena??
Any information you could share with us would be really cool…
check us out on http://www.earthcircuit.org or the facebook group Earthcircuit.
safe travels…
Hi Andy,
We’ve heard about the new ferry. I’m pretty sceptical that it’ll be running at the start of May – its likely to be on latin american time I reckon. We’re in Cartagena waiting for our truck to arrive – we went RORO and arranged it all before hearing about the ferry. I’m sure more details will arise over the next few weeks.
Mark
Hi Mark,
We’re gonna be wanting to ship our vehicle, a Toyota 4runner, from Panama to Columbia. What company did you use, do you have contact details for them? I’ve found lots for shipping containers but no contacts for RORO? As much info as you can give would be really appreciated. Thanks. Sam, samy_p@icloud.com
Hi Mark,
I’ve had been watching Overland Vehicles’ website for some time with the plan of commissioning them to build us an overlander. To my huge disappointment, it now seems they have shut down. Would you have any contact info for their team or other organization that is building similar trucks to yours? Or if you know of anyone planning to sell their’s in the next while?
Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!
And, of course, thanks for the excellent blog!
Happy travels,
Andrew
Hi,
We will be selling our truck at the end of April 2013. The price will be USD30k and this includes all overlanding equipment – generator etc that we have on board. It will be located in South America at this point. If we have to ship back to Europe the price will be USD5k higher.
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for getting back to me. How can I contact you to discuss further?
Regards,
Andrew
My email address Is fromatob2011@gmail.com
Hello!, I am writing to you from a branding agency in New York and we are interested in purchasing one of your images from Mexico. WOuld this be something you would consider?
Many thanks
Hi,
I am open to offers. Contact me on fromatob2011@gmail.com
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark,
Wondering if you guys are still in Ushuaia? We heard you might be around. Would love to share a beer and travel stories. We missed you in Pucon. http://Www.americanrecess.com
Let us know, Logan
Hi Fellows! Nice to see that you are still on track! How are you? Hope everything is fine. Your pictures are really beautifull, we would bed that Marc laid again in somethings poo & Sarah measured the size of the brazilian meet in stones 😀 We are currently in La Paz and heading soon towards Peru. Take care and greetings from Bolivia, Andrea & Corsin
Hi Guys,
Good to hear from you. We are now back in the UK – fortunately to good sunny weather. We are definitely missing being on the road. Hope everything is going great with your journey – we are so jealous ! We loved Bolivia and hope you enjoyed it too. We liked Peru less although we spent a long time there. Make sure you go to Chachapoyas in the North, the road there from Cajamarca is stunning (dirt but smooth).
Mark & Sarah
I’m working with other overlanders on a big project to compile all of the campsite waypoints and descriptions on the Pan-American into one master list. Our goal is to not only create one source of data, but to eventually upload this info to OSM, and to create an web and iphone app that allows easy additions and amendments. We’d like permission to include your data in the list. In the master sheet you will be given credit, via a link to your data on your site. This is a completely volunteer run project, we aren’t selling your data, just compiling with the hopes of helping other travelers.
Please let me know if you are ok with this, we’d really love to add your information.
Hello Mark-
I am a producer for National Geographic and came across one of your photos that I would love to use in a short NG Live video (nglivevideos.com). Would you mind sending me an email so I can discuss further obtaining permission for use of your photo? mfinlays@ngs.org
Thank you.
Matt Finlayson
Hi Mark and Sarah
I know you are now back in the Uk but we were following your blog with interest while you were travelling. We are now on our own overlanding trip and are currently in Peru. We had a question about the Canon de Pato which we know you drove through. How tall and wide is your truck? We are also in a big truck 3.65m tall and 2.5m wide and are wondering if we will fit through.
Many thanks
gilly and Steve
Gillysnaith@hotmail.com
http://Www.overlandingfamily.com
Hi,
I think you’ll be fine. We were 3.5m tall and were easily clear on all of the tunnels. They are designed for trucks for the power plant anyway.
In The Ice Road Truckers they did in Peru they went through with a pretty big truck with dinosaur models sticking out the top and would have made it if they hadn’t lost concentration.
I reckon just go for it. Take your time and enjoy the whole route. Take it slow. The road is not frightening at all even in a big truck – the only thing to worry about is that there is no passing in the tunnels.
There are only a couple of places to camp though so if you want to and see somewhere stop because you might not have another chance.
Have fun,
Regards,
Mark
Hi Mark
Many thanks for this. We will go of it. Any other route looks either a long way or challenging anyway and it looks a lot of fun. We were not worrying about it until we read a Swiss website of a truck that got stuck. We knew from your blog you had made it so this is really helpful.
Regards
Steve
We successfully drove through the Canon del Pato yesterday and today. No incidents and so glad we did it as it was a stunning drive. Thanks for the advice and encouragement. Arrived in Caraz in time to watch the football …. unfortunately!
All the best
Steve, Gilly & Family
Dear Mark, I have noted that you have a great photograph of Structure 33 at Yaxchilan (labelled as “El Palacio” on your blog). Any chance that you can send me a copy of this photograph? I would love to include this photograph in an article that I am writing; I would naturally provide the proper credit in the caption. Thanks in advance, Christophe!
Dear Mark,
Thanks for a great blog! I have noted that you have a great photograph of Structure 33 at Yaxchilan (or “El Palacio”) and I would love to include this photo in one of my papers. Would you give me permission to do so? I look forward to hearing from you (chelmke@hotmail.com). Best, Christophe.
Hi Christophe, Sorry for the delay in coming back to you. I am very happy for you to use the photo if you still want to – please just provide a small credit.