casey
11-05-2007, 08:36 PM
Last week, I started a thread about my current adventure. Aquiring a series rover here in Chilean Patagonia, and coaxing it into carrying me home to Oregon. This plan is continuing to evolve, as the days pass and the search for the right rover continues, and the latest evolution includes each and everyone of you. Rovers North BBS forum members unite here under a proposal of un-equaled greatness.
Okay, maybe that is a bit of a dramatic way to think of it, but if enough of you can find the time to put your American dreams on hold for days, weeks, or maybe even months, at a time, to head south and chase your personal dreams, it is guarenteed fun for all.
What this proposal is:
A chance to go on that international, cross country, back country, bad ass, land rover exploration trip you think about every time you sit behind that akwardly partitioned windshield of yours, in a way that you can afford without selling your house, and wonīt break the bank.
What this proposal isnīt:
The uber posh trip you might shell out many thousands of dollars for. The kind of trip involving non-refundable deposits paid 6 months in advance, and pampering that makes it a mere trip instead of the adventure it should be.
So, with the tone properly set, here is what I propose; I do my part by buying a series rover here in Chile and pointing it North. You, the Landie community, respond here on this thread naming the dates or stretches of terra firma between here and Oregon you would like to explore in a series truck, beg your boss for that week(or month) off, buy a plane ticket to the point you would like your trip to begin, and Iīll pick you up at the airport along the way. Iīm not going to outline specific costs, timetables, or requirments, becuase that would go against the very nature of this proposal. I see this as a way to fill a void, make some freinds, bring a community of mutual interest a little bit close together, and see some wild parts of the Western Hemisphere. I know that there are ways to do trips similar to this by paying someone a lot of money to organize every detail, prepare fancy meals, arrange for deluxe lodgings each night, and otherwise streamline the process. There is nothing wrong with that kind of trip, but I know that not all of us with a passion for land rovers and/or adventure are looking for, or can afford that kind of trip.
I would expect participants to pay whatever share of the expenses incured during the duration of the trip they are present for, that they feel they can afford too. The lower limit being 50%. I know that this leaves the monetary cost pretty wide open, but I think that pinning things down too much will limit the tripīs potential. Iīm a pretty fair guy, uninterested in dishonesty or ripping anybody off, and if the truck blows up in Bolivia and needs $2000 in parts, I wouldnīt expect anyone else to pay that.
As a side note, I have several volunteer opportunities lined up along the way, if you are interested in participating in that let me know and weīll make that happen. You will undoubtedly have your own ideas about where you would like to go along the way. If not, this probably isnīt the right trip for you, so donīt expect to simply be along for the ride.
Perhaps Iīm wrong, and alone in looking for this kind of a trip, and perhaps none of you respond with interest here, but I have a feeling Iīm not wrong in expecting the opposite. I see in South America, a land free of insurance requirments, ever paved roads, high gas prices, and expectations of ĻnormalityĻ. A land full of natural beauty, and incredible people who believe in the same sense of community that has given birth to this idea, so lets get off the couch, out from under the car, out of the house and on the road to adventure. Post here or PM me to get things going.
Okay, maybe that is a bit of a dramatic way to think of it, but if enough of you can find the time to put your American dreams on hold for days, weeks, or maybe even months, at a time, to head south and chase your personal dreams, it is guarenteed fun for all.
What this proposal is:
A chance to go on that international, cross country, back country, bad ass, land rover exploration trip you think about every time you sit behind that akwardly partitioned windshield of yours, in a way that you can afford without selling your house, and wonīt break the bank.
What this proposal isnīt:
The uber posh trip you might shell out many thousands of dollars for. The kind of trip involving non-refundable deposits paid 6 months in advance, and pampering that makes it a mere trip instead of the adventure it should be.
So, with the tone properly set, here is what I propose; I do my part by buying a series rover here in Chile and pointing it North. You, the Landie community, respond here on this thread naming the dates or stretches of terra firma between here and Oregon you would like to explore in a series truck, beg your boss for that week(or month) off, buy a plane ticket to the point you would like your trip to begin, and Iīll pick you up at the airport along the way. Iīm not going to outline specific costs, timetables, or requirments, becuase that would go against the very nature of this proposal. I see this as a way to fill a void, make some freinds, bring a community of mutual interest a little bit close together, and see some wild parts of the Western Hemisphere. I know that there are ways to do trips similar to this by paying someone a lot of money to organize every detail, prepare fancy meals, arrange for deluxe lodgings each night, and otherwise streamline the process. There is nothing wrong with that kind of trip, but I know that not all of us with a passion for land rovers and/or adventure are looking for, or can afford that kind of trip.
I would expect participants to pay whatever share of the expenses incured during the duration of the trip they are present for, that they feel they can afford too. The lower limit being 50%. I know that this leaves the monetary cost pretty wide open, but I think that pinning things down too much will limit the tripīs potential. Iīm a pretty fair guy, uninterested in dishonesty or ripping anybody off, and if the truck blows up in Bolivia and needs $2000 in parts, I wouldnīt expect anyone else to pay that.
As a side note, I have several volunteer opportunities lined up along the way, if you are interested in participating in that let me know and weīll make that happen. You will undoubtedly have your own ideas about where you would like to go along the way. If not, this probably isnīt the right trip for you, so donīt expect to simply be along for the ride.
Perhaps Iīm wrong, and alone in looking for this kind of a trip, and perhaps none of you respond with interest here, but I have a feeling Iīm not wrong in expecting the opposite. I see in South America, a land free of insurance requirments, ever paved roads, high gas prices, and expectations of ĻnormalityĻ. A land full of natural beauty, and incredible people who believe in the same sense of community that has given birth to this idea, so lets get off the couch, out from under the car, out of the house and on the road to adventure. Post here or PM me to get things going.