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It took us one year of preparations. Sometimes we thought we were mad, many times we thought we were right. We talked to fellow mad people! we looked on travellers websites, to finally decide to go for it!! and what a relief that is!. Which way ? When you want to travel around the world, you have several choices. We have decided to start with the American continent for many reasons. - We might as well start with the easiest, so that we don't have too many problems straight away, as we know that we shall meet them soon or later. We are sure not to meet too many difficulties in Canada or the States , the roads are pretty good there... and security problems should be relatively small there. I have lived in England for 27 years and I speak english better than I write it !! - We also think that these two countries have beautiful countryside. If we had to stop our travel for any reason, we would'nt like to have missed them , not because the rest is less interesting, but Dominique has been there already, and is eager to show them to me. - The shipping for our camper is the easiest. Some friends of ours chose this way last year , and were very pleased with it. When ? We chose the month of April. We'll leave the canadian winter behind us, we have enough of winters, and we are determined to follow the sun !!! Personal family problems don't allow us to confirm this date. To this day, it is maintained. How ? -With Moses, our camper. But a few changes will have to be made. We have spent many hours in specialised shops to try and find what would suit us best. Everything is rethought: Tyres, oil filters, interior equipment, waterproofness, heating, air conditioned, security for the vehicule and its passengers etc.. Answers, we'll do our best!!!! Isn't North America the campers paradise ? Just as well we are going there, we can always improve our comfort once we are there.
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We plan to travel for 3years. 2 years for the Americas, depending on the length of time allowed there and our fancy!! The ultimate luxury will be to forget the time!! First: East and West Canada ( about 4 months ) then West of USA with all the National Parks ( 3 months ).Mexico by Baja California , then the Caribean Coast and central America, in Costa Rica, where we'll probably stay for a while so our children can visit us for Christmas. Then a ferry crossing as there is no road North South after Panama. We shall then arrive in Equator and travel across Peru, Bolivia, Brasil, Uruguay and Paraguay ( 6 months ) We shall then descend to Patagonia Argentina, hoping to be in Ushuaia for Christmas. it will be summer. We shall go up to Chili taking the famous road 40. At this stage we have 2 possibilities : - We carry on for 1 year in Australia like our friends Casenave did. - We go home, we cross Argentina again and take a ferry to North Africa where Dominique was born. We haven't made any plans for Asia, at best it will be in 3 years time and by then we might be able to go acroos China and come back via the old Soviet Republics In any case, if we go to Australia, we'll visit South East Asia : Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Afghanistan and Pakistan might be in a quieter time by then, and we'll be able to go towards Europe without having to cross China. Today, the chinese government asks for a huge amount of money, and we have to have a guide with us at all times all the way, at our cost of course, we don't like that very much !!!
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We have to decide what clothes we are going to take and that's not an easy task for me !! All my nice dressy clothes will have to stay behind, instead, shorts, trousers, T shirts, fleece, and wind proof coats will be filling my wardrobe !!! shoes will have to be to a minimum and it will be a hard decision as to which ones to take !! Flip flops, trainers and walking shoes will be a priority I must also take my nice fancy wellies !!! but I am sure I shan't be able to resist the temptation , and will buy some things in the nice unsusual shops we'll come across. As I don't intend to do much ironing, the clothes we take will have to be ironless !! A warm coat and warm socks will also be necessary as we shall be in some cold weather at times , although we shall try and avoid it as much as we can !!! Mosquitoes will be a problem, especially for me as they seem to like me !! so, we'll buy some special mosquito sprays before we go, one for the skin and one to sray on our clothes... Dominique has managed to get a net from our neighbour who keeps bees to make honey, I must say his honey is very nice... We'll also put a net over our bed and hope for the best !!!! We shall do our washing in the local laundries but if we can give some people who need it some work , we'll do it...
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We did all the necessary jabs at the hospital in Chambéry. There, we met some people who were interested in our project . With them , we decided on the time and types of jabs required, we started those Friday 13th November. We are in the process of filling our medical bag with the help of our doctor.
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New type of passports, the one where you are not allowed to smile!!! Dominique had to do the photos 3 times!!! he finds it hard to be serious!!!
Documents for the vehicule, but no insurance, we'll have to take one when we arrive.
Two credit cards of different types, Visa and Mastercard, as we have heard that some are not accepted in Central America. All contributions accepted !!!
Heath insurance . We shall have our french health insurance cover for 6 months, after that we'll have to take a private one. With the advice of the people we've met, Marco Polo seems to be the one....
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- 2 digital cameras - a camera recorder - a computer connections will be made by Wifi or Ciber cafe free phone connection with Skype - a mobile phone
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Hair dryer fan heater kitchen tools - wok travel iron folding washing line , pegs duvet and fleecy blanket ear plugs swiss knife, gifts tool box ,silicone spade , 2 spares tyres dvd's , cd's , folding table and chairs hamack , diving gear golf bag fishing rod compressor ruck sacks binoculaurs sewing kit , pens ,paper ropes , BBQ family photo album books ,sudoku ,crosswords playing cards
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