Are you planning and saving money for the Pan-American Highway? In this post, I will cover the complete cost of my own three-year adventure. All costs are grouped and detailed in a few categories: vehicle costs, travel and living expenses, human and pet health costs as well as recurring costs (bills). Just as our rigs and travel styles vary, so will cost.
My Trips Stats
Parameters for this cost breakdown: one person, gasoline truck with an average of 12 miles per gallon, 25 months of travel, 10 months of vehicle storage, and 10 countries (including shipping the gap & flying to Colombia) with my dog, Porter, who sadly he passed away in Colombia from liver cancer. More on that in the vet section.
Vehicle Costs
| ⛽️ Gasoline | $12,637.44 |
| 🚚 Temporary Import Permits | $211.97 |
| 📄 Auto Insurance | $2,672.75 |
| 🛠️ Truck Maintenance | $822.33 |
| 🚢 Shipping | $8,370.53 |
| 🚔 Fines | $0 |
| 👮♂️ Demands for Bribes | $0 |
| 🚛 Truck breakdowns | $0 |
| 🚗 Auto Storage | $410.00 |
| Total Vehicle Cost | $25,125.02 |
Gasoline, always the cheapest option. TIPs are all paid for Mexico and Central America, free in South America. Auto insurance purchased at each border, Baja Bound for Mexico and via WhatsApp broker for SA minus Ecuador and Peru. Auto Storage cost was four months in Colombia ($60) and six months in Argentina ($300) plus $50 for airport transfer from the host on departure and return.
Shipping the Darien Gap
Both shipping adventures were inside 40-foot container shared with another vehicle. My truck, bumper to bumper is 18.5 feet which made it easy breezy for me to find a shipping buddy. From Panama to Colombia the cost was $2,400 USD that I paid in cash to avoid a 5% fee for using a card.
Flying From Panama to Colombia with a Dog
COPA airlines!!! The absolute best option in all of The Americas to fly with pets. They allow small pets, ESA and service animals in cabin. Porter had a certificate, so he was in cabin. Very easy process and they loved him. We were the very last to board and everyone flight attendant and person sitting in an aisle seat gave him pets all the way to our seat. Porter was walking proudly, I’m sure he felt like a celebrity.
The only constant in life is change, be sure to check current pet allowances with COPA here.
Shipping From South America to USA
Second shipping was from Montevideo, Uruguay to LA, California. The process in Uruguay was fantastic. The US side was awful. Our container was “randomly” selected for an additional x-ray while it was still at sea. Then it was “randomly” selected for an invasive exam. Unlike LATAM, where you must be present to verify the lock, witness the opening of the container and verify your vehicle inside. The United States does not allow you, the owner of the vehicle to be present nor do they allow your paid shipping broker that promises VIP services. LATAM definitely offers a better shipping experience. All in all, they held our container for 19 days, charged a daily chassis fee, train fee, tailgate fee, a fee to pay, this fee, that fee, all the fees. Ended up costing $5970.53 per vehicle, just under 12k, an additional 3k. Best of all they never even searched the container.
Travel and Living Costs
| 🍎 Groceries | $8,446.37 |
| 🍽️ Restaurants | $2,612.22 |
| 🧺 Laundry | $215.88 |
| 🏠 Rentals | $9,578.40 |
| 🏞️ Parks & Tours | $1,907.86 |
| 🤿 Galapagos | $5,566.95 (scuba diving liveaboard) |
| ✈️ Flights | $1,020.37 |
| ⛴️ Transport (ferry, uber, taxi, small planes) | $682.38 |
| 🛍️ Shopping | $14,825.71 |
| Total Cost | $44,856.24 |
That shopping price tag hits real hard. You can easily save 7k if you don’t lose a drone in a volcano and then proceed to buy two additional new DJI drones. In addition to three new drones, I also purchased a new underwater housing, Insta 360, Osmo action, four new tires, some new clothes, a 25L Dometic cooler, a few souvenirs here and there and other small things but the heavy hitters revolved around drones and other photography gear.
Rental costs were mainly Airbnb rentals in southern Mexico (hot and humid) Costa Rica -> endless rain, also unbelievably hot and humid and no air. Panama, Colombia and Brazil, I rented apartments for 1-3 months at a time for shipping as well as renting apartments when I got sick and when my dog was sick in Panama and Colombia.
Recurring Costs
| 🌐 Starlink | $2,618.17 |
| 📱Cell Phone | $2,352.44 (~90/month x 25 months) |
| 📩 Mail Service | $590.00 (America’s Mailbox) |
| 🧳 WI Storage | $2,160.00 ($720/year) |
| 🔁 Subscriptions | $4,749.62 |
| Total Recurring Costs | $12,470.23 |
Subscriptions would be monthly expenses such as Adobe Lightroom, premium Spotify, yearly photography insurance, email hosting, website hosting and charitable donations.
Starlink Expenses
Day one in Ecuador my Starlink broke, I contacted support via Starlink app, they immediately sent a new dish to my apartment in Bogota. Since I was not in Colombia, I requested a phone call, and they explained how to proceed. I needed to purchase a new dish from an authorized Starlink dealer and then contact Starlink to activate the kit. The money spent was credited to my bill and ended up being one full year of free service with an upgraded dish.
Human Health and Vet Costs
| 🏥 Seriously Sick Two ER visits in Panama | $0 |
| 🚑 One 45-minute Ambulance ride in Panama | $0 |
| 🩻 Private ER and Medications in Panama | $737.41 |
| 🩺 Private MD and Special Testing in Colombia | $825.95 |
| 🦷 Dentist in Mexico and Colombia | $421.91 |
| 🐶 Vet x31, 9 health certificates, 3 daily medications including a narcotic and lots of medications at the end plus and a cremation and funeral. This also includes vet purchases I made for street dogs, flea treatments, heartworm, food, etc. | $3,166.51 |
| Total Health and Vet Costs | $5,151.84 |
Total Cost
| Total Cost | $87,603.33 (ouch) |
| Cost per day | $84.07 |
| Cost per year | $30,686.39 |
For fun, let’s eliminate my scuba diving trip to Galapagos, the near ten grand in Airbnb and apartment rentals, three drones, all my shopping, pet and health care costs. $87,603.33 – 14,825.71 -5,566.95 – 5,151.84 – 9,578.40 = 52,480.43 divided by 1042 days
| Example Total Cost | $52,480.43 (better) |
| Example Cost per day | $50.37 |
| Example Cost per year | $18,383.26 |
Free in the overlanding world? Yes, haha I created a customizable overland expense template to track expenses. There is one main log sheet that allows you to easily enter expenses in order or not, it’s easy, simple and it works. You can also see expenses month by month and for the entire year. As well as expense by country and spend type. If you would like a copy of this template emailed to you, fill out the form below.
Major Factor to Consider – Fuel
Will you travel in a diesel vehicle? This is a hot topic, I plan to make a dedicated post on this, will link here when it’s complete. South of Mexico all the way to Argentina the cost of diesel is roughly half the cost of gasoline and yes there are tens of millions of diesel vehicles in South America. Including brand new diesel BMW, Audi and Ford trucks with EGR and DEF. If you’re really worried about diesel, pack a couple extra fuel filters. Unlikely you’ll need them, but peace of mind goes a long way.
In 25 months of driving the pan-am, I spent $12,637.44 in gasoline. The traditional pan-am route is about 19,000 miles. For further context, I purchased my truck with 5 miles and completed the trip with just under 42,000 miles. Needless to say, I went thousands of miles out of my way, many times. So, if you’re sticking closer to the route in a diesel vehicle, your fuel cost would be dramatically lower. A conservative estimate of 8,000. That’s a huge savings.
Cost of diesel vs gasoline. When I say the cost of diesel is roughly half the cost of gasoline, I’m talking $1.50 – $2 per gallon for diesel! The cheapest gasoline, for me was in Guatemala and Colombia at about $3.80 per gallon. Every other country I paid roughly $4 – 4.80 per gallon and in Mexico 4.50+ per gallon.
Major Factor to Consider – Shipping
From Panama to Colombia, sharing a standard 40-foot container was 2,400 USD per vehicle. If you do not fit inside a container, RORO (roll on, roll off) is the only option. That cost can be anywhere from 6,7,8,000 to 20,000 depending on size and tonnage.
** INTERIOR measurements for a standard 40-foot shipping container **
Length 39 feet 5 inches
Width 7 feet 8 inches
Height 7 feet 10 inches
Vet Cost Further Explained
When Porter got sick, we spent a lot of time at the vet, 18 vet visits in eight weeks to be exact. This included invasive procedures, biopsies, his cremation and funeral. For years before this trip and during the trip Porter suffered from seizures, low thyroid and anxiety. All of which required daily medication. I share all of this to help explain why my vet costs are dramatically higher than what the normal cost to traveling with a dog would be.
If you’re going to be traveling with a pet and keen to read more about the quality and cost, click here.
Human Cost Further Explained
During this three-year period, I was getting Invisalign, so I went to the dentist more than your normal yearly cleaning. In Panama I got very sick and ended up making 3 trips to emergency care as well as a 45-minute ambulance ride. A year later, in Colombia, I was feeling dehydrated all the time and received specialized testing. Results were less than stellar, but I’m happy to be here and share the information.
Here in this post, I share in depth details about my health care costs as well as the quality of healthcare received overall.