5 road trips to inspire you to just keep driving
Remember the PHer who took a Corvette to Vietnam? Here's what else he's been up to!
Have you ever been out for a drive in your pride and joy, and just wanted to keep going? To simply not go home, but instead watch the scenery roll past as you cruise towards the horizon, mile after mile, corner after corner, country after country?
I'm willing to bet that as you're currently reading PistonHeads, the answer is most likely yes. But just how far can you go in the sort of car owned by the average PHer? Well put simply, very far indeed! And you don't need a 4x4 to reach the ends of the Earth, either. Here are a few of my favourite trips I've undertaken so far, with the inside line on how you can make them happen as well.
Everyone can recall at least one of those times when a friend's had an idea for an adventure so outlandish that it'll never happen, but so brilliant that you wish it would. V8Nam was one of those times - get a car with a V8; drive it to Vietnam. So a few years ago I found myself setting off for the far side of the world, in a convoy consisting only of a C4 Corvette and a 1978 Rolls Royce. 14,000 miles and five months later, having made it to Vietnam, journey's end was in fact reached in Singapore. The key to taking on a road trip of this scale was to ensure we broke the journey down into manageable legs! For V8Nam, this meant researching each individual leg of the journey to pre-empt any issues we'd need to overcome. These ranged from the simple - UK to Ukraine, which is basically a normal Euro road trip - to the preposterous: China needed three months of pre-arrival paperwork, £3,500 per car and the border crossing took four days! By effectively breaking the journey into a series of smaller road trips you make it more manageable, and therefore more achievable.
This involved driving a Porsche from the UK to South Africa, via the Middle East... Even in 2008 this was the toughest prospect on the list, certainly not for the faint hearted, and with the current political situation in the Middle East it may not be so wise to attempt now. At the time, paperwork aside, the biggest challenges on this drive were reserved for the car. Despite raised suspension, the roads in The Sudan and Northern Kenya were sufficiently bad to almost defeat the long-suffering Porsche, which endured 27 separate breakdowns on the journey to Cape Town. The lesson here was not only the need for thorough vehicle preparation; but also what to take, with bodging materials being just as valuable as specific spares. It's amazing what predicaments you can solve armed with only duct tape, cable ties, silicon sealant and some lateral thinking.
However there's another moral to this story - that almost anything is possible. If a humble Porsche 944 can make it across some of Africa's worst roads, then there aren't many places on the planet that can't be reached in a normal car. Research the road conditions for any proposed journey and, nine times out of 10, you'll find there's no reason why a normal car can't make the trip.
If you like the idea of making a big overland journey in a rubbish car, but are unsure of where to begin, this brilliant event is the place to start. The gist of it is this: buy a random car, keep preparation to the bare minimum, then, along with about 400 likeminded folk, drive it 10,000 miles from Europe to Mongolia. The event takes place every summer and has developed a cult-like following. I won't give any further advice on completing the rally, as the whole point is to set off into the unknown totally unprepared and figure everything out as you go along! But for further information you can head to www.mongolrally.com.
If you're not in the position to be able to set aside a month or more for your road trip, then fear not! In only two weeks door-to-door, you too can drive from the UK to the Sahara and back and, what's more, you can do it at the helm of your very own V8 Rover P6. A round trip from southern England to Morocco comes in at under 3,000 miles, and with very straightforward borders and frequent ferry crossings via the Straits of Gibraltar, you can get to Africa quickly and explore Morocco's exotic vistas in style. The easiest route for this trans-continental caper is to take the ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta. The only unfamiliar paperwork you'll need in Africa being a customs document, which you'll get at the border, and insurance, which you can buy cheaply at the first town you reach. Inspired? The best source of further information for road tripping in this corner of Africa is 'Morocco Overland', by Doug Scott.
5) Pub2Pub
The problem I've found with epic road trips is that they're dangerously addictive. It's for this reason that next year will see me setting off on my grandest undertaking yet - a 30,000-mile journey from the northernmost bar on the planet to the southernmost! From the Arctic to the Antarctic, with the overland legs being undertaken in a sports car. I plan to detail the trip here on the site to keep you updated with our progress, and with all the lessons I learn along the way.
So there you have it - armed only with a car and a sense of adventure, the world can be your oyster. Any other suggestions or dream road trip plans of your own? Let's hear them!
Is it that pathological spanner monkeyness in you that makes you always choose aged or fragile old cars that are bound to cause you strife but then seem to come good and pull though for you?
Makes my 2.5k trek with work across rural New South Wales and a'little' bit of red dust outback this week in my Land Cruiser a tad 'ghey'
I have said it before, but never did I think that whilst working for a bank I would need a vehicle that could drive up the side of a house and require the services of a Shoo Roo (sonic sound emitting box to deter wildlife).
Off to do some push ups and catch/eat a live, raw fish, Bear Grills style, to compete with your manliness!
Bravo sir, bravo.
(Have got some decent car breaking trips planned for the Land Cruiser down here so may be able to come back with a legit response to this post soon, just need to make sure the Bank don't find out I am trying to break my company car, lol)
I guess my choice of vehicles comes down to two things - my appreciation of the preposterous, and what I have lying around at the time - for instance, the AfricanPorsche had been my daily driver for years before the trip. The Corvette, on the other hand, I chose purely because it's utter over-the-topness appealed to my sense of humour. The fact they're incredibly tough for a sports car was an added bonus, of course.as was the 5.7 V8.
I don't actually set out to break down in far flung climes; honest, it just kinda happens sometimes...
Sorry the sequel is taking so long to get out there. Real life isn't particularly keen on giving me the time to finish it right now...
Always wanted to enter the Mongolian rally...
My wife to be & I have just driven 13 countries & 10,000 miles around Europe this summer as a good bye to my 996 4s. The philosophy was no decisions till after breakfast...
An epic trip on some amazing roads!
We have just arrived in Florida and purchased a V6 AWD Chevy Astro, (there's a 6 cylinder AWD theme) with the loose plan of driving to see friends in San Francisco via some of the wide open spaces of the states.
From there we'll make our way down to Costa Rica bouncing around Central America.
Today is day one of bed build, so a timely read with my morning coffee!
Although this trip is van based it gives us so much more flexibility on the road so we can enjoy the freedom to stop wherever whenever!
Good luck with your next adventure Ben, will keep an eye out for any updates!
Always wanted to enter the Mongolian rally...
My wife to be & I have just driven 13 countries & 10,000 miles around Europe this summer as a good bye to my 996 4s. The philosophy was no decisions till after breakfast...
An epic trip on some amazing roads!
We have just arrived in Florida and purchased a V6 AWD Chevy Astro, (there's a 6 cylinder AWD theme) with the loose plan of driving to see friends in San Francisco via some of the wide open spaces of the states.
From there we'll make our way down to Costa Rica bouncing around Central America.
Today is day one of bed build, so a timely read with my morning coffee!
Although this trip is van based it gives us so much more flexibility on the road so we can enjoy the freedom to stop wherever whenever!
Good luck with your next adventure Ben, will keep an eye out for any updates!
It sounds like you'll be getting a head start on the central section of Pub2Pub, as the route takes in the States and Central America:
https://pub2pubexpedition.com/the-route/
Will you be posting about the trip on here? There are few better ways of building psyche than following other folks' adventures before you hit the road yourself...
Always wanted to enter the Mongolian rally...
My wife to be & I have just driven 13 countries & 10,000 miles around Europe this summer as a good bye to my 996 4s. The philosophy was no decisions till after breakfast...
An epic trip on some amazing roads!
We have just arrived in Florida and purchased a V6 AWD Chevy Astro, (there's a 6 cylinder AWD theme) with the loose plan of driving to see friends in San Francisco via some of the wide open spaces of the states.
From there we'll make our way down to Costa Rica bouncing around Central America.
Today is day one of bed build, so a timely read with my morning coffee!
Although this trip is van based it gives us so much more flexibility on the road so we can enjoy the freedom to stop wherever whenever!
Good luck with your next adventure Ben, will keep an eye out for any updates!
It sounds like you'll be getting a head start on the central section of Pub2Pub, as the route takes in the States and Central America:
https://pub2pubexpedition.com/the-route/
Will you be posting about the trip on here? There are few better ways of building psyche than following other folks' adventures before you hit the road yourself...
I had planned to write about our euro trip from the road, but the trip got in the way so to speak!
We have some brief notes & memory jogs, but never got round to putting anything together as I'm not that tech savvy!
Maybe this trip...
Been researching how to customise the van to sleep us, but I'm a firm believer in the road and the universe will take us where we're meant to go!
I'll watch your trip with interest, when do you envisage hitting Central America?
I've been following your exploits for a number of years now and you've either given me some fantastic ideas or shown me that my own ideas aren't quite as nuts as they seem.
I've also done the Mongol Rally and I can heartily recommend it to anyone. Just don't take a car that's worth anything to you because it will suffer terribly and possibly die. It's great.
Another trip that's worth adding, and that Ben's also partially sort of done, is to drive to the North Cape in winter. Take the most unsuitable vehicle you can find and go find the most northern tip of Europe at the worst (best?) possible time of year. You'll get to see the northern lights, swerve around moose and reindeer, not see the sun for a week, and the last hour of the way to the North cape is like driving on Hoth. You can visit Santa in the most touristy place on the Arctic circle, and enjoy his amusement park built in his nuclear fallout shelter (yes, really). You don't need any paperwork for this trip, it takes around two weeks, and is utterly amazing.
The Africa book took nearly 4 years to see the light of day; I'm hoping to have this book done in about the same time. So, hopefully if you ask in another 6 months, it'll at least be finished and in editing...
...and a trip report: http://bencoombs.net/hell_tripreport1.html
One very important piece of advice I can give you:
Too much weight is the single biggest car killer on the rally.
Make a list of all the things you want to bring on the rally, then leave two thirds of it behind.
Unless it's an inflatable giraffe, always bring the giraffe.
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