这个帖子是请由乔胜利el (inmate @SouthamerAddict）。这是关于规划和乘坐边界以南的三部分文章的一部分。

While in the military overseas, cobbling together a Triumph Trophy in the 1970s, and with a Wing in the 1980s, I’d always pondered doing some overseas riding after exiting Uncle Sam. During and after my second career after retiring from the military, I finally got around to it.

就上下文而言，我在德国和菲律宾的海外军事时期里不包括一些骑行的海外旅行包括指导，自我引导和个人之旅的混合。大多数是拉丁美洲，但一个到新西兰，两个到阿拉斯加和西北地区的北极海洋。

So, here are five foreign bike travel methods, and suggestions based on my lessons learned, with the proviso that there are others with far more experience than me undertaking in this type of endeavor:

• Guided tours.最方便,与此同时最前pensive. You can count on a minimum of $600/day plus additional for a pillion. However, don’t choke, there’s value: A bike, usually gas, a truck with your luggage, a Spanish fluent guide riding point, breakfast and fancy dinner, nice hotels, maintenance, and sometimes required intra-country airfare. (International airfare, lunch, and alcohol extra.). But remember you’re still riding, sometimes in challenging conditions, sometimes off-road, Patagonian winds, etc. Our 2017 Argentina and Chile pillion trip included 3,000 miles with 1200 off-road, some in deep gravel and serious crosswind. It’s possible to find paved only trips, but you’re limiting some great destinations.

• • Pros: all of the above, plus new friends to enjoy a beer or three with. You’ll see great places that otherwise you’d miss.
  • Cons: a lot of the adventure (at least for me) is removed, and there’s always “ohh..that guy” on every tour. You’ re locked into the plan. You’re also limiting your contact with local.

• Self-guided tours.Like my Costa Rica trip, this involves flying to Country X, met at the airport, taken to a hotel, and the next morning taken to a bike shop. You’re then given an insured bike, trip map, and pre-planned hotel vouchers. Daily routes are planned; food and gas are on you. For any show-stopping mechanicals, they’ll come and take care of it, although you may be holed up for a bit.

• • Pros: all of the above and cheaper than guided tours
  • 缺点：同样，一些冒险已经从中取出，尽管事先进行了路新利18苹果线和酒店类型，但您几乎将其锁定在他们的计划中。如果您不满意在外国环境中处理自己，请坚持进行导游

• 飞行。（或买/出售。）这开始接近冒险的一面。飞往X国家，租一辆被保险的自行车然后离开。

• • Pros: the adventurous aspect of the trip, but again with showstopping breakdowns they’ll handle it or direct you to somewhere that can.
  • Cons: you’re on your own. Navigating, accommodations, food, etc. I personally don’t find these a con, but some might.

• Ship and drive.我尚未做到这一点，但是如果/当Covid之后再次接壤时，我正计划乘空运DL650 V-Strom到Valparaiso，智利，然后骑回去。大概三个月。
  • 优点：一个真正的自己拥有的冒险经历，取决于运输成本新利18苹果，是便宜的选择之一。您真的会认识人民和文化。与他人一起旅行时不太可能发生，因为您不太平易近人，因此在导游的旅行中肯定不太可能。
  • Cons: Accidents, breakdowns, etc. require quick thinking and patience. Some level of Spanish fluency is obviously a huge benefit, but not mandatory.

• Ride round trip.我已经完成了两次。通常是最便宜的选择，但涉及过境。横梁有时很简单，通常令人沮丧。有关此的更多信息。
  • 优点/缺点：请参阅第1段。4.，但是您会避免运送自行车的物流麻烦。

这是您需要计划的一些问题：

• 语言障碍。我经常问这个问题。在拉丁美洲，英语无处不在，但不一定在农村地区。挥舞双臂并指向事物是传达流利性的国际手语。但这不会让您走那么远，您会得到有趣的外观。请不要依靠说英语缓慢而大声。您只是很烦人，加强了刻板印象，并将商誉恢复了十年或四年。成为一个好大使。

You’ll find English speakers in the cities. Buying food equals putting stuff on the counter and whipping out credit cards or currency. Hotels can write the price down; have calculator will travel. Getting directions in rural areas without fluency? Problematic. Use your GPS (smart phones are better IMO) and carry paper maps, the more detailed the better. If it comes to an accident or breakdown, try to find an English speaker to get your point across about hiring someone with a truck to take you to a shop. If you have an unfixable flat, tire repair shops are everywhere. Take off the wheel and beg a ride. There are several apps where you can translate with people. The translation quality is something to be desired, but they’ll work for basic stuff. Hotel staff can be extremely helpful. Again, some fluency is a benefit but again not mandatory. Many do RTWs (Round the World) speaking only one language, and no one speaks every transited country’s tongue on an RTW.

As an aside, I started studying Spanish three years ago. I’ve been to the Spanish school Baden-Powell in Morelia, Mexico three times. (Highly recommended!baden-powell.com）我与整个拉丁美洲的英语学习者进行了双语言聊天。它不仅使事情变得更容易，而且我发现西班牙学习旅程很有意义，即使在Medicare时代，我的神经道路并不那么灵活。（Argghh。）即使在基本到中级水平上，也能够传达友谊和经验的世界。我与我的家人一起度过了65岁生日，与我共享西班牙语 - 英语学习会议的人将我带到了墨西哥梅里达的一家高档餐厅。难忘。我已经从墨西哥到秘鲁有邀请。

• Navigation:By preference: 1. iPhone. 2. Paper maps. 3. GPS. With smart phones, you can plug in hotels, bike dealers, etc., pretty much anything. Garmin in my experience is more limited. There are many apps that work off-line, where no data usage charge or signal required after downloading regional maps. Download region specific maps to your GPS SD card also. Signage is usually pretty good. Before I started studying Spanish I googled “Spanish road signs” and memorized some. One of my favorites in Guatemala is “Jaguar Crossing”.

• 沟通。Even in rural areas Wi-Fi is common. Verizon has $5.00/day plans, and SD cards are available with reloadable minutes/data in all countries. Cell coverage is pretty good, although there is a long stretch without it in Baja, California and in mountain ranges like the Sierra Madres or the Andes. It never ceases to amaze me when I’m 30 miles in on a dirt road, watching immaculately dressed school kids using smart phones by their cinderblock houses.

Spot，Garmin和其他人的应急定位器带有卫星发短信。“亲爱的，一切都很好。”我已经从危地马拉的塞纳（Sena）打了电话，可以通过门铃进行视频。（1970年代与泰德·西蒙（Ted Simon）的哭声相去甚远，更不用说1930年代的罗伯特·富尔顿（Robert Fulton）了。）一个令人难以置信的应用程序是Ioverlander。它是人群来源的，并提供有关您能想到的任何事情的信息。Camping, hotels, food, bike shops, cool places, etc. If you’re not willing to dedicate three years like me grinding-out the Spanish subjunctive pluperfect, memorize a few phrases like “do you speak English”, “I don’t speak Spanish”, “where’s the bathroom/ATM”, “please write down the price”, etc. When I was an international airline pilot I carried flash cards for four different languages. But remember, when you spout out a phrase, sometimes locals assume you speak Spanish and will answer in rapid fire. When this happened “in my early days”, I’d drop to a knee and beg for mercy. Haha.

Se dice que solamente vives una vez/It is said that you only live once.

欢呼和安全！

Comments criticisms and catcalls welcome

Joe Siegel, Fox Island, WA, USA