Plan The Plan's Planny Plan Part II

It's been 1 year since we posted our planny plan for leaving Australia and moving to New Zealand.  Since then, we've found adventures in the many nooks and crannys of NZ, and had a wild ride navigating the unpredictable weather.  In 13 days, we will be on a plane heading to the USA to start another era of "hsadventures".  Many people have asked, "what's your plan now?".

We will be landing in Detroit and staying with my parents in Ann Arbor.  Our initial focus will be on visiting family/friends while shopping for our next vehicle and it's contents.  What type of vehicle that will be is still up in the air, but it will be dictated by the planny plan.

So, what is our plan for the next few years?  A little back-story first.  While reading various travel blogs over the past year, I came upon a surprisingly large contingent of people (mostly Americans and Canadians) who have driven from Canada all the way to the tip of South America.  Yep, that includes Mexico, Central America, and South America!  As soon as I started reading about the possibilities, I was hooked.  It didn't take long to convince Scott that this should be our next goal (surfing possibilities = happy Scott).  So, there you have it.  Our plan for the next many years is to drive the Americas -- all of 'em.  You can imagine the logistics that are required for such an endeavor -- just the kind of challenge and excitement we are looking for.  We will finally learn Spanish, too.  We still aren't sure if we will head south in 2011 or 2012.  Depending on what we learn about the weather patterns in Central America, we might want to stick around North America for a bit.

This takes me back to our next vehicle.  We know that we want 4WD, but aren't sure what we will find that meets our needs.  We hope to find a van that has already been customized as an RV that we can tweak a little and then convert to 4WD.  Thi$ i$ ea$ier $aid than done.  We also need to consider vehicles that are easily serviceable in Central and South America.  Another complication is the fact that we really don't want to buy a used vehicle in Michigan (salt on roads = rust).  During a cursory check for used vans and RVs, I found quite a few in Florida, Texas, and Arizona.  Looking at vans in these states would involve more logistics.  Do we buy a new one?  Do we get an empty van and convert it ourselves -- plumbing including shower, electrical including solar panels, propane including cooking and heating, etc?  We'd prefer not to start with an empty van.

Scott has already spent many brain hours on the gear we will want while traveling through the Americas.  Surfboards, kiteboards, kites -- how many and which sizes?  Bikes -- fancy full-suspension or simple hard-tails? The backcountry snowboarding equipment will probably have to wait in Ann Arbor until we can accompany it on a plane trip back to South America.  The gear shopping is a time-consuming challenge that we will be focusing on over the next couple of months.

Scott told me the other day that he hasn't been sleeping well.  I think he's got the planny plan on his mind...