2013/09/16

Adventure Planning and Budgeting

Nothing gets the juices flowing hotter than visualizing an adventure! I’m not talking about a daydream of what might await you but actually planning the adventure beyond your destination. In planning my adventure to Galt’s Gulch in Chile, I of course turned to Google Maps to plan my route, and assure I see the people I need to see on my way to our new life. Selecting places along the way to bid “farewell” to people and places that have enriched your life is part of the adventure, it allows you to move on without regrets or unfinished business. So who, and what do I feel compelled to bid farewell?

• My daughter Alexi, who at 21 years of age has taken the life lessons I’ve shared with her and risen from a Hostess at Applebee’s to a general manager of Jimmy John’s in less than a year;
• My brother Gary, who owns The Hot Spot Coffee Company a string of Bikini Barista coffee shops;
• A few of my ex-wives; I’ve been blessed to maintain friendships with most of them;
• The dear friends who have shared life’s journey with me over the last couple decades;
• My dear friend, camping buddy and fellow adventurer, Bryan Brown of Lincoln county, Mississippi, who is presently a campground host in Minnesota, but who’ll likely be heading south with winter on the way;
• My Cajun family that adopted this Damn Yankee when I spent nine months living in the wilds of Kissatchie National Forest in Louisiana;
• And those special places in Nature that have healed and raised my spirit over half a century – The Huron River, Lake Erie, Pinckney recreation area, and of course, Corney Lake in Lousiana.

Aside from these considerations there are of course more mundane matters, such as:

• Liquidating all my household belongings, collectibles and artwork;
• Trading my Ram 1500 for a truck of like value with an extended cab;
• Obtaining a Canadian passport (both my parents were Canadian);
• Repairing or replacing camping gear for the adventure;
• Getting required vaccinations for Max, New Moon and myself;
• Getting the truck looked over by my mechanics of 15 years – I’m gonna miss having mechanics I know and trust and who always complete the work for less than the estimate;
• Purchasing a few Go Pro video cameras and accessories to document the adventure.

My Fellow Adventurers

Who are Max and New Moon, you ask? Maximus is my 80 pound Black Lab who has shared my adventures from Michigan to The Blasted Lands (Arizona), New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana. New Moon is a Loozi-anna Corn Dog. Someone dumped a litter of puppies and left them to die in Kissatchie National Forest when Max and I were living in the wilds in 2010. It took three days of food and water brought to them for Max to get the pups to trust us enough to follow us back to camp. It took three weeks to get them healthy, and an hour and a half to find them all homes. Max wanted a li’l sister, so New Moon joined our family.

The Itinerary 13,200 Miles One Day At A Time

On most of my adventures, time was of the essence. I’ve driven from Los Angeles to Detroit in less than 60 hours; from Detroit to Phoenix in 52 hours, Phoenix to Lake Charles Louisiana in less than 30 hours (it would have been quicker if I hadn’t left late in the afternoon). But on this adventure, endurance is far more important than speed. We’ll also be documenting the Bootstrap adventure with video and Blog posting, so the pace will allow for rest and recreation along the way.

The pace I’ve set is approximately 500 miles a day which means that I’ll only be driving eight hours a day on average, so that I have time to break camp, hit the road, setup camp and get a good night’s rest regularly. The first leg of the adventure will put us in Mississippi or Louisiana after about two days on the road. I’m hoping I can reconnect with Bryan and my Cajun family in Louisiana so that we don’t have to make two stops to say farewell. A few days to visit should be enough, then it will be onward to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico to meet a fellow Dollar Vigilante, Jim Karger and family. After that, Max, New Moon and I are heading into unknown territory. Here’s the breakdown of major legs of our Quest for Galt’s Gulch:

1. Great Lakes to Corney Lake, Louisiana – 1100 miles
2. Louisiana to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico -1200 miles
3. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico to Guatemala City – 1700 miles
4. Guatemala City to the Panama Canal – 2200 miles
5. EEEEK! There appear to be no roads between the Panama Canal and Colombia! So we’ll have to either find a ferry or will have to sell our truck and replace it in Colombia. We are resourceful.
6. From Necocli, Colombia to Ipiales on the border of Ecuador – 1300 miles
7. Ibarra, Ecuador to Macara on the border of Peru – 900 miles
8. Macara to Lima, Peru – 1400 miles
9. Lima to Arica on the border of Chile – 1400 miles
10. From Arica to Galt’s Gulch near Curacavi, Chile – 2100 miles

Including planned layovers, I expect that it will take 36 – 40 days to drive and camp from the Great Lakes to Galt’s Gulch in Chile. While I’m sure we’ll capture and document a lot of adventures along the way, the next great adventure will begin once we arrive in Galt’s Gulch and build new lives from scratch.

Expense Budget – Initial Estimates

So with a planned duration of 40 days, the costs/day works out to about $211.50, inclusive. The above line items are the subtotal for each category which includes

• Fuel, Food, Camping/Lodging,
• Truck maintenance, camp gear to be repaired or replaced,
• Video equipment and accessories,
• Estimated Passport and Visa costs,
• Required vaccinations, both Human and K-9
• Plus a 10% cushion because Shit Happens.

For Background on this Adventure, see my posts –

Boot-Strap Expat  2013/09/13 Background
https://7thpillar.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/planning-the-future/

Please consider being a Sponsor for this adventure,

To support my efforts directly, donations through PayPal can be made to: alex.z@consultant.com

Please be aware that all writing and images on this site are copyright protected. By all means, do share or reblog posts, but always credit them to Alexander Zayachkov and link back to this website. Thank you! https://7thpillar.wordpress.com/ © 2013