Perfect idea!

I saw the same vehicle in zimbabwe!

@@naturephotography8837 that's awesome!

I love it! Psych!

That's something that can happen when you stay in one place for a while... people see you and your vehicle and start to form a plan. Passing through, the chances of that happening are very, very slim

@The94GTC It's a shame, because Mexico is an amazingly beautiful country.

Exactly right!

I would still rather deal with a bear or cougar than a deadly snake or spider. At least I know there is now bear in my sleeping bag when I go to bed! Lol

As an Aussie that lived in Outback Queensland for several years I have encountered many Dingoes, Spiders and Snakes some deadly some not... They don't want anything to do with humans... Most people that get bitten by snakes in Australia are bitten because they were trying to kill it or chase it away. leave them be they'll just go away.

Good idea!

That is a good point that many gun owners either don't realize or ignore...the presence of a firearm will escalate any bad situation.

@@LocoCoyote it can deescalate a situation if you know what you're doing

@@mkgzt I disagree. The presence of a firearm will always "up the stakes". It immediately adds the threat of mortal danger.

@@LocoCoyote that’s the point of a firearm... to let your would be attacker know you’re not fukin around with your life. But to each is own you can trust your safety to law enforcement. I’ll be responsible for mine.

@@Nics574 I understand what you are saying, but you are missing my point. My point is that most situations will resolve peacefully if you refrain from antagonizing the other party. Once a firearm is introduced to a situation, the other party now has a reason to fear for their life...see how the situation has now escalated?

Yeah I know that feeling I live in Northern Michigan my buddy has had a sow and cubs on his trail cams and I've seen tracks hes only a 1/4 mile from where I hunt. And we do a lot of time on the trails over there as well. I don't carry bear spray "only because I don't really care for it" but I do carry a firearm when I'm out in the woods but thats me. Stay safe in the woods.

Thanks MIke!

You are right Joe. I am Canadian and have travelled extensively. Including the US, Mexico and several African countries. I felt more nervous in the US than anywhere else. I had a new general manager transfer in from Texas and he and his two older teen age boys were upset that Mom couldn't have her hand guns here for safety and protection. We laughed and said it ain't needed. They had a hard time grasping that we can leave our houses unlocked and travel at large without any heat for protection. The same was experienced in South Africa. Youall live in a different world. Fun to see and experience but different.

@@kellydrolet4740 SA is ranked 6 out of 80 for Robberies per 100,000 people (based on 2017 data). US is 20 and Canada is 26. It's 5 out of 97 for Homicides per 100,000 people (again 2017). USA is 32 and Canada is 51. SA is most definitely not a low crime country. There is a ton of violent crime. Also don't act like Canada is a crime free utopia. Maybe the area you live is nice but there are MASSIVE amount of people who would laugh you out of a room for saying "oh gee golly, we all leave our doors unlocked here"). Many small towns in the US do to, but don't generalize a whole country.

My pleasure!

What South American countries dislike US citizens ?

That's the one thing I was thinking. A brit, Canadian, or Aussie will probably be treated better is most countries than an American. If I am asked where I am from in a foreign country (by a random local), I will often just say Canada. If dealing with Gov officials is most countries - I think it skews slightly to benefiting from having a US passport.

Good information! Also a real problem in Alaska and Yukon

Cheers, will do!

Welcome aboard! I loved diving in Panama, and I hear it's awesome in Honduras too!

You don't need your own tanks but your own bcd and regs are good as standards can be low. People with 7 dives were being taken down the blue hole in Belize which was scary. Awesome diving though.

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks very much, I really appreciate your support!

Wow, thank you!

Wow, thanks!

I agree with everything you said, though the fact remains it is so highly illegal to take a firearm internationally that it is impossible.

In the us i am armed every day. And i feel more prepared.

This. I think the media has ruined gun owners and some gun owners as well have ruined it.

Tell me what common sense is? Good attitude - absolutely!

@@kellydrolet4740 Normal behaviour inculcated by parents and environment.

Yes, I'll do a communications video soon!

sure, I can do that!

I'll do a video soon on the tools and spares I carry, and how much "Mechanic" stuff you need to know.

The Road Chose Me awesome 😎

Don’t let that stop you. You’ll soon find people who will help and the best way to find out how is when you have no choice but to it. I traveled around the outback of Australia in a old car when I was 16 and nothing motivates you more than when something goes wrong in the middle of nowhere. As Nike says “just do it”

If you don't have the mechanic skills, make sure you bring extra MONEY with you to pay for repairs. Most all areas of 2nd or 3rd world countries will have talented craftsman who can fabricate a repair for you if they can't get you the part you need. It will take a little longer to find the right guy who can do it and you might have to go through 2 or 3 of these guys trying to do your repair before it get''s done right. But they will get you going again at least until you get to a large city with better resources to get the job done to higher specifications. Learning to become a mechanic takes a long time, decades. What you can do in a shorter time is learn how to use some diagnostic tools (Multi Tool and Code Reader) to help the shade tree mechanic you do find to narrow down the issue and it's cause. Learn about the common failures associated with your vehicle and then carry some spare parts with you for those common failures. Bring an extra set of spark plugs, the oil and air filters you will use on your trip, gasoline filters, and change your maintenance consumables ahead of schedule during the trip. Do a walk around vehicle inspection each morning before you leave checking tire pressure and look close in-front and behind each tire for a sharp object that might puncture you tire (some areas boost their tire repair business by insuring they have customers) Look under the car for fluid or leaks on the ground. If you have a leak, figure it out there before you are 50 miles away from town in some wilderness where your car stops running. Carry a gasoline funnel that can separate water from gas to use when buying gas from plastic or glass bottles on the side of the road. They have a slow flow rate but only buy enough of this bottled gas to get you to the next big town with gas stations. People in this countries like to help and their fees are very reasonable.

Thanks everyone !

I've met many hundreds of people driving around the world. Not a single one has had a run-in worse than some stolen stuff. The world is not as dangerous as you think.

@@TheRoadChoseMe but so many will never believe it...unless they actually get out there and see the truth.

The Road Chose Me Yes and no. It all depends on how you approach things. Check out the comments by “John Smith” in a different response below (regarding those 2 Swedish girls, for instance). By definition, the 100’s of travelers you’ve encountered have had good experiences- if they hadn’t they wouldn’t be out traveling again. Those with bad experiences stay home. I essentially agree with everything else you would say about how to tilt the odds in your favor of a good trip.

......as for me, the rig itself is the most valuable aspect, so yes, kill switches and key codes are a must

South Africa our anywhere has its hotspots. Be smart about it at you will be fine.

My pleasure!

You are so welcome!

drop bears in Australia

Yes, this is a tricky topic. It is a painful process but you have to read every word of the detailed policy to understand what is covered and under what conditions and what you have to do and when you have to do it, to make that coverage valid. Even the best coverage that I have found will not pay for any medical or transport bills where that service is given before you have contacted the insurance company. In a medical emergency, especially when traveling alone, when an accident or medical emergency happens, the last thing you are thinking about is calling the insurance company to let them know what happened, where and when. You may be panicked, fighting for you life, unable to communicate, unconscious...but if you call your insurance company after you come out of surgery and are stabilized, good luck trying to collect for all the medical expenses that have already happened. It is really disappointing to see how most of these companies try to hide or make unclear with technical terms the conditions under which they can and will deny coverage. Also Evacuation expense coverage is only allowed when an onsite doctor says it's necessary for your survival to go to another hospital that can provide a higher level of care for your medical problems. If your injury is not life threatening you may have to get treated and then wait it out in the foreign hospital that you are at. A foreign hospital might prefer you stay there for all the money and inflated rates they can charge a foreigner for procedures, recovery, physical therapy etc... Nothing is as clean cut as the highlights of the benefits listed on the insurance company brochure or Website...you have to dig deep into the details to understand it all. I've bought these policies many times and thankfully, never needed to use them. But I've also often wondered if they would be worth anything if I did need to use them. Before I leave on a trip where i have this medical and repatriation insurance I leave an electronic copy of the agreement and policy details and the contact number to call when you get injured but have not yet received medical care with my emergency contact back home. This way I can call my emergency contact whose phone number I have memorized to let them know I am injured, where I am and they can then contact the insurance company to start coverage on that minute of that day they were called. Sometimes these insurance companies want to dictate where you can go for medical care and what form of transport they will pay for but in an emergency they are more lenient as long as you call them before you start using services (transport and medical). In an emergency, there likely will not be multiple choices for transport and medical attention.

I’ve camped on the floor in southern and east Africa, biggest concerns are mosquitos and malaria. Only time I ever saw any creepy crawlies is when we went looking for them, even then we didn’t see many.

Thanks, will do!

Glad you like them!

Why not? Go play

Great suggestion, I'll do that video soon!

Thanks for the real-world information, that's extremely helpful!

You right with the common sense, thats why I like a phrase I read on a travel block of two british people better ´. They called it the brave or stupid meassure. Before they would go anywhere in not 100% safe countries they would ask themself is it brave or stupid.

No, actually never. There is always a way

The Road Chose Me and let me guess, more often than not, that solution involves the help of a friendly local that just lends a hand without even being asked, or expecting anything in return.

Sometimes it's that, sometimes it's another traveler, sometimes it's my own stubbornness, and more often than not I just don't get myself into hopeless situations!

happens - did take the Van out of the garage after a long time for a long road trip - overaged tires blew out on me, first at 100 mls/h, then I babied it and 2nd blew near a Town, and the tow was not that expensive edit : have watched the Nigeria Video now

Thank you! Cheers!

I'm sure you can bring them in for the purpose of competition, but I'm sure they have to be transported in locked containers with ammunition separate, etc. etc. It's not like you can drive around with it loaded and expect to use it for "defence", which is what people are asking when they want to know if I bring a firearm internationally.

Can you cross into Canada?

Yah it’s kinda the American culture compared to others

@@DirtyOleMopar In general, no. It depends on the kind of gun and how it is stored. It has to be stored in accordance with Canadian law (not sure what that is since I don't own a gun) and if it is an "assault weapon" (there is a list here) and/or any kind of pistol, all sorts of problems will arise for the person with the gun. I do NOT speak for Chuke's Outdoor Adventures in any way shape or form, but bringing guns over the border from the USA to Canada is not that easy.

Joanie talks about it extensively, and has contributed to my IG too. She is instagram.com/the.traveling.beast/

This Korean girl cycled 80,000km around the world. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d9Kcp7yF2anNh40.html She has some videos about cycling through Mexico and Central America..

Another thing to consider as a woman is travelling with a man who isn’t your husband can cause big issues in some ultra conservative countries.

When it is common to hear gunshots at least once a month in your neighborhood knowing people are trying to kill eachother, packing heat yourself is not so outlandish anymore if you're given the option.

@tacoteng2095 Which is a crazy thing given I spent three years in Africa and never heard a single gunshot. Never heard one in all of Central and South America over 2 years either.

@@TheRoadChoseMe maybe it is that they do not have the internet and 24hr news scaring the bejebus out of them everywhere

@@TheRoadChoseMe with Overlanding you are out in the countryside where local people are generally humble. Just a different environment from the large urban jungles. In French Guiana we travelled (as farmers) in convoys with radios and shotguns(legally) in case of ambushes by undocumented Brazilian highwaymen who at that time were known to hold people for ransom and were even bold enough to overwhelm the local Gendarmerie checkpoints. We had avoided a tree in the road early in the morning once where we later heard on the news another car was stopped and the passengers were taken hostage. Apart from that and potentially being near a warzone, I would never consider carrying a firearm outside the USA too.

As I said in the video, you'll be fine! Hundreds of thousands of tourists do it every year

One day I plan to drive North to South right down the middle, visiting all the countries I had to skip for safety reasons. It will be a massive undertaking, and I have no idea if and when it will be possible safety-wise, but I'm still dreaming!

I would love to, though all the borders are closed !

I think 3M make something like that.. do you think it's strong enough to do the job?

The Road Chose Me yeah that’s the one we get, thank goodness I haven’t had someone try and smash mine, they claim it’s a good product, apparently can withstand quite a bit. I know that if the glass does crack it prevents it from shattering and crumbling so it makes it harder, they have to cut out the film as well. I like that’s it is tinted to make it harder to see into the vehicle, especially at night. Obviously don’t get it to dark that you run into legal issues.

i have this smash and grab film too, but its ultimately just a delay in them getting in. So rather don't display any valuables and park safely where possible.

Simon du Toit totally agree

Wow, thanks, that's extremely generous of you! Mine are pretty banged up from the flop in Uganda and various tree stump run-ins in Congo and Angola!

It varied a lot per country, but over the course of the trip eventually all of my lockboxes were found and searched.

Jimmy, many border crossings have firearm sniffing dogs.

I’m pro-gun, but do not think you will stash one effectively. As Ade said, there are firearm/ammo sniffing dogs. Your freedom is much more valuable than perceived safety of a gun. Because at the end of the day, if you (God forbid) have to use it, in addition to justifying the shooting you will have to explain how you came into possession of a gun.

@@travelingwithjoe216 Hi Joe. I am pro gun too and i have been a few places and the whole concept of travelling across borders with a firearm is utterly insane. You just can't do it. I think that if a person thinks or feels that they need a firearm then they're not really suitable for travel. A quick wit, smile, positive attitude and friendliness will get you out of trouble before a firearm will. As you say Joe, carrying and using a firearm is just a disaster of an idea. I've always used the Open Hand method to communicate. Your demeanour is your best weapon.

I know of travels that got put through an X-Ray scan in Panama I think, their car got sniffed by dogs in Colombia, Argentina and nearly all of Central America. So god luck hiding anything a dog can sniff out.