The Pan American Trail

PDarnall · Oct 31, 2018

stoltzfii said: ↑

A solid campsite somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

View attachment 1017711
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This shot is what is all about!

BigToeThumb · Nov 1, 2018

stoltzfii said: ↑

Everyone, sorry for the late replies. Life has been a bit rushed since I got home; I think I've slept in my own bed maybe four nights so far. This last weekend I was hiking up in the Adirondack mountains with some friends and the scenery was beautiful.

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it, and I am glad that you enjoyed following along, it's been a wild ride!

I do want to give a complete write-up of our gear, where we got it, and how it performed. I did this in bits an pieces a few places along the report, but never completed it. So look for that in the near future, I really want to make that happen.

Exactly. I really hope that this helped to show people that almost anyone can do a motorcycle trip. It doesn't need to be as long and it doesn't need to go from Alaska to Patagonia, but with a cheap bike and a little drive, adventure can be had! I will always love cheap bikes and it offers so many more options in terms of how the trip can be handled because they aren't 20k machines.

Haha, that's great, there sure are a lot of Stoltzfus' where I live. I agree, there are a lot of great roads around home, not the best for off road options, but there are endless winding roads through the country. Glad you enjoyed the climbing aspect, I highly recommend you get into it, it's so much fun!

I just saw this, I'll send you a PM. I have handlebars and many other parts for my DR that I want to get rid of :)

Thanks, glad you followed along for all that time. I am planning to move to Colorado in a few months and find a mechanical engineering job. More on that in a bit...

Thanks Mike. Yes, it was a lot of work, but I enjoyed posting, the comments, and the advrider community as a whole. If/when I do a trip in the future I will absolutely post it here.

So originally, the plan was to put together a good resume and start searching for jobs a month or so before the trip ended. But I realized that that was not going to happen with how poor or nonexistent internet service was most of the time. So I decided to wait till I got home to start that process. As I said before, I had plans to find an engineering job out in Colorado and move out there a few months after getting home.

A few days after I got home, I wrapped up my resume and started looking for jobs. At the same time, an engineer at a great company out in Colorado messaged me and said he would be happy to put me through the referral process at his company, which is big since connections really help when job hunting. A few days later, someone at RV Industries, where I worked in college contacted me and asked if I wanted to come in and chat about the trip and work opportunities. I went in and we caught up for a while. They would have offered me a job if I wanted to stay local, but I told them I wanted to move to Colorado and would probably be out there in a few months. The next day, the head of the sales department called me and said they have a full-time position available if I could commit through March since they had someone for the position but they couldn't start until the spring. It was a perfect fit since I would be making better money than a part-time random job for a few months and they really needed the position filled. So I start work Monday, a week from today and will be working full time and living at home through March or April. It's really a great opportunity as it also gives me current and relevant work experience as I look for another job. Also, I am incredibly grateful to RV Industries for the opportunity as it's pretty rare to be able to find a good short-term job like this in the engineering field. It really worked out and I'm excited.

In the meantime, I will be aggressively looking for work out in Colorado and I think the extra time will give me a better opportunity to find a job I really like.

On a side note, I cut my hair, I was tired of it. Time for that white-collar life :) Here I am at a good ole American diner with my sisters.

Click to expand...

stoltzfii said: ↑

Everyone, sorry for the late replies. Life has been a bit rushed since I got home; I think I've slept in my own bed maybe four nights so far. This last weekend I was hiking up in the Adirondack mountains with some friends and the scenery was beautiful.

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it, and I am glad that you enjoyed following along, it's been a wild ride!

I do want to give a complete write-up of our gear, where we got it, and how it performed. I did this in bits an pieces a few places along the report, but never completed it. So look for that in the near future, I really want to make that happen.

Exactly. I really hope that this helped to show people that almost anyone can do a motorcycle trip. It doesn't need to be as long and it doesn't need to go from Alaska to Patagonia, but with a cheap bike and a little drive, adventure can be had! I will always love cheap bikes and it offers so many more options in terms of how the trip can be handled because they aren't 20k machines.

Haha, that's great, there sure are a lot of Stoltzfus' where I live. I agree, there are a lot of great roads around home, not the best for off road options, but there are endless winding roads through the country. Glad you enjoyed the climbing aspect, I highly recommend you get into it, it's so much fun!

I just saw this, I'll send you a PM. I have handlebars and many other parts for my DR that I want to get rid of :)

Thanks, glad you followed along for all that time. I am planning to move to Colorado in a few months and find a mechanical engineering job. More on that in a bit...

Thanks Mike. Yes, it was a lot of work, but I enjoyed posting, the comments, and the advrider community as a whole. If/when I do a trip in the future I will absolutely post it here.

So originally, the plan was to put together a good resume and start searching for jobs a month or so before the trip ended. But I realized that that was not going to happen with how poor or nonexistent internet service was most of the time. So I decided to wait till I got home to start that process. As I said before, I had plans to find an engineering job out in Colorado and move out there a few months after getting home.

A few days after I got home, I wrapped up my resume and started looking for jobs. At the same time, an engineer at a great company out in Colorado messaged me and said he would be happy to put me through the referral process at his company, which is big since connections really help when job hunting. A few days later, someone at RV Industries, where I worked in college contacted me and asked if I wanted to come in and chat about the trip and work opportunities. I went in and we caught up for a while. They would have offered me a job if I wanted to stay local, but I told them I wanted to move to Colorado and would probably be out there in a few months. The next day, the head of the sales department called me and said they have a full-time position available if I could commit through March since they had someone for the position but they couldn't start until the spring. It was a perfect fit since I would be making better money than a part-time random job for a few months and they really needed the position filled. So I start work Monday, a week from today and will be working full time and living at home through March or April. It's really a great opportunity as it also gives me current and relevant work experience as I look for another job. Also, I am incredibly grateful to RV Industries for the opportunity as it's pretty rare to be able to find a good short-term job like this in the engineering field. It really worked out and I'm excited.

In the meantime, I will be aggressively looking for work out in Colorado and I think the extra time will give me a better opportunity to find a job I really like.

On a side note, I cut my hair, I was tired of it. Time for that white-collar life :) Here I am at a good ole American diner with my sisters.

[/QGood

stoltzfii said: ↑

Everyone, sorry for the late replies. Life has been a bit rushed since I got home; I think I've slept in my own bed maybe four nights so far. This last weekend I was hiking up in the Adirondack mountains with some friends and the scenery was beautiful.

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it, and I am glad that you enjoyed following along, it's been a wild ride!

I do want to give a complete write-up of our gear, where we got it, and how it performed. I did this in bits an pieces a few places along the report, but never completed it. So look for that in the near future, I really want to make that happen.

Exactly. I really hope that this helped to show people that almost anyone can do a motorcycle trip. It doesn't need to be as long and it doesn't need to go from Alaska to Patagonia, but with a cheap bike and a little drive, adventure can be had! I will always love cheap bikes and it offers so many more options in terms of how the trip can be handled because they aren't 20k machines.

Haha, that's great, there sure are a lot of Stoltzfus' where I live. I agree, there are a lot of great roads around home, not the best for off road options, but there are endless winding roads through the country. Glad you enjoyed the climbing aspect, I highly recommend you get into it, it's so much fun!

I just saw this, I'll send you a PM. I have handlebars and many other parts for my DR that I want to get rid of :)

Thanks, glad you followed along for all that time. I am planning to move to Colorado in a few months and find a mechanical engineering job. More on that in a bit...

Thanks Mike. Yes, it was a lot of work, but I enjoyed posting, the comments, and the advrider community as a whole. If/when I do a trip in the future I will absolutely post it here.

So originally, the plan was to put together a good resume and start searching for jobs a month or so before the trip ended. But I realized that that was not going to happen with how poor or nonexistent internet service was most of the time. So I decided to wait till I got home to start that process. As I said before, I had plans to find an engineering job out in Colorado and move out there a few months after getting home.

A few days after I got home, I wrapped up my resume and started looking for jobs. At the same time, an engineer at a great company out in Colorado messaged me and said he would be happy to put me through the referral process at his company, which is big since connections really help when job hunting. A few days later, someone at RV Industries, where I worked in college contacted me and asked if I wanted to come in and chat about the trip and work opportunities. I went in and we caught up for a while. They would have offered me a job if I wanted to stay local, but I told them I wanted to move to Colorado and would probably be out there in a few months. The next day, the head of the sales department called me and said they have a full-time position available if I could commit through March since they had someone for the position but they couldn't start until the spring. It was a perfect fit since I would be making better money than a part-time random job for a few months and they really needed the position filled. So I start work Monday, a week from today and will be working full time and living at home through March or April. It's really a great opportunity as it also gives me current and relevant work experience as I look for another job. Also, I am incredibly grateful to RV Industries for the opportunity as it's pretty rare to be able to find a good short-term job like this in the engineering field. It really worked out and I'm excited.

In the meantime, I will be aggressively looking for work out in Colorado and I think the extra time will give me a better opportunity to find a job I really like.

On a side note, I cut my hair, I was tired of it. Time for that white-collar life :) Here I am at a good ole American diner with my sisters.

Click to expand...

Good to see you home safe Allen!
Click to expand...

amboss87 · Nov 1, 2018

stoltzfii said: ↑

Today I made it to Coyhaique where I met up with Jeremy and James. I put in almost 400 miles and had zero issues. Tomorrow we will take the ferry from Puerto Ibanez to Chile Chico then cross back into Argentina and head south.
Click to expand...

Picture in the middle is what its all f^^^^ all About...champs

atadloco · Nov 2, 2018

Thanks so much for bringing us all along on that incredible adventure. I wish you the best in the years to come.

SuperChuck · Dec 30, 2018

Happy holidays, and I hope 'normal' life is treating you guys well.

Dunno if you're still checking up on this thread, but I was interested to see what your daily or weekly budget might have averaged out to, if you don't mind sharing.

You guys wild camped, or hoteled it on the super cheap much more than other ride reports I've come across. Did you have an approximate budget going into it, or just tried to keep expenses as low as possible? Have an approximate total cost, etc?

Cheers,
Chuck

stoltzfii · Jan 1, 2019

Thanks Chuck, I don't check this thread too often, but I do get notifications if someone posts to this thread. The holidays were great and I am really enjoying "normal life" :)

Regarding money: Initially, the trip was going to be 12 months long and I estimated $10,000 total expenses after buying the motorcycle and all gear which was probably another $5000 with most of that going towards climbing gear. Then the trip lengthened to 16 months and everything is always a little more expensive than hoped so I exceed the initial 10k. I'll break it down like this:

5k - Initial startup cost (bike, gear, luggage, etc.)
10k - I had exactly this amount in the bank at the start of the trip
2k - Amount I made fishing for the summer in Alaska (It was an all-time bad year)
2k - Amount I made working construction when I was back in the states post Lyme disease, waiting to see if I was healthy enough to go back
4k - Borrowed from my parents when we extended the trip

I spent a total of 18k in 16 months. This included everything and there were a few out of the ordinary costs that are in there, such as:

$800 - Flight to Denali Basecamp
$600 - Bike repair bill in AK
$500 - Medical bills in Peru for Lyme

But things like that are expected on a trip like this. I would estimate $2500 total in expenses in this category.

Budget wise, I estimated $10 a day for food, $10 for gas, and $10 for miscellaneous expenses such as bike maintenance and lodging. We did not quite hit that, but it wasn't far off as $30/day for 16 months is $14,600. We really tried to stay under $10/day for food as that is a cost you can control if you are disciplined, and the $10/day for gas is a rough approximation of total miles and average gas prices.

A few notes. According to my expenses, I finished the trip with $0 in the bank account. I actually put the last $6000 of the trip on a 0% APR Credit Card that I paid off as soon as I got a job back in the states, well before the end of the 15 month period. I would never finish a trip like this with no money in the bank account as it is always important to have an emergency fund since you never know what may happen. Also, I had the luxury of having my parents and a few other close friends who, at a moments notice, would have been able to loan 5k or more to me if I was really screwed. This allowed me to run things a little tighter than what is probably smart.

I hope that answered some of your questions!

SuperChuck · Jan 2, 2019

Great, this is some fantastic info and glad things are going well back in the states!

Many thanks,
Chuck

Champ57u · Jan 14, 2019

Bravo.

stoltzfii · Feb 4, 2019

Today I received a warning that all my pictures on Flickr were at risk of deletion Flickr recently started charging for all accounts with over 1000 pictures. I have way over 1000 pictures and hosted everything on this forum through Flickr and we all know how annoying a ride report is that is filled with dead photo links.

All that to say, this trip report lives to see another day, enjoy :)

HardWorkingDog · Feb 4, 2019

Baroquenride · Feb 4, 2019

So when are you going back out on the road???

Lostmike · Feb 4, 2019

stoltzfii said: ↑

Today I received a warning that all my pictures on Flickr were at risk of deletion Flickr recently started charging for all accounts with over 1000 pictures. I have way over 1000 pictures and hosted everything on this forum through Flickr and we all know how annoying a ride report is that is filled with dead photo links.

All that to say, this trip report lives to see another day, enjoy :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for sinking some cash mate. Great rr and awesome pics.

stoltzfii · Feb 5, 2019

Baroquenride said: ↑

So when are you going back out on the road???
Click to expand...

I don't know. As of now I have no plans for another motorcycle trip. In a few months I am moving out to Denver CO and I'll probably get some kind of dual sport out there. Down the road I would love to do the TCAT but I don't see anything big happening in the next few years; I think I'm a little burned out on bike trips for now...

Lostmike said: ↑

Thanks for sinking some cash mate. Great rr and awesome pics.
Click to expand...

You got it man. Thanks for the kind words.

bkendig76 · Feb 5, 2019

Thank you for ponying up and keeping the pictures alive. Also, thanks for bumping this ride report back to the top.

Good Luck on the move to Colorado. PA will miss you.

Turkeycreek · Feb 5, 2019

Lots of great day rides and quick overnights out of Denver. Good luck

poppawheelie · Feb 5, 2019

Photo Bucket wanted to start charging me $300/ year. That's why my RTW thread has no pictures, and I no longer have a Photo Bucket acct., but thanks for paying up. I will enjoy your pictures again.

stoltzfii · Feb 5, 2019

poppawheelie said: ↑

Photo Bucket wanted to start charging me $300/ year. That's why my RTW thread has no pictures, and I no longer have a Photo Bucket acct., but thanks for paying up. I will enjoy your pictures again.
Click to expand...

Ouch, that's rough. Flickr Pro is only $50 a year so it's reasonably priced and offers a ton of storage.

hatchetdan · Feb 21, 2019

Just finished, awe
some, but what happened to the Bow and arrows?

stoltzfii · Mar 6, 2019

hatchetdan said: ↑

Just finished, awe
some, but what happened to the Bow and arrows?
Click to expand...

James got tired of carrying them and gave them to our favorite pizza store owner in Huaraz, Peru. He was pretty excited.

Unfortunately we never lived out our dream of living off of animals will killed with the bow...

hatchetdan · Mar 8, 2019

So roadkill was out?

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