[grecy]

I also quit my Software Engineering job, and I'm driving around Africa right now!

I decided I didn't want to sit at a desk for 30 years to pay off a mortgage, so I'm not going to. Dumping my life savings into this likely means I'll never have a new car, big screen TV or new iPhone, but I'd rather have this experience than those things.

In 2009 I spent two years driving from Alaska to Argentina too.

The details on the Jeep I built into my house are here: http://imgur.com/a/OLK3o

I'm filming a YouTube series as I go:

http://youtube.com/c/theroadchoseme

And you can follow the adventure in real time across social media:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/theroadchoseme

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theroadchoseme

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dangrec

And my website: http://theroadchoseme.com

[extr]

I remember your reddit thread, nearly everyone was convinced you'd be murdered and robbed by the end of the first day. Seems like you're doing alright so far, but have you run into any substantial trouble along those lines?

[grecy]

No, nothing.

Friendly people everywhere I've been - in fact much more so than I was expecting.

Just today I was talking to a guy who agrees he feels much safer and more welcome here than he would if he showed up in a random city in the USA or Europe.

[fapjacks]

Right. This always surprises me. Americans are especially guilty of this feeling that the rest of the world is a dangerous, lawless hellhole. When in fact, 99.9995% of the world's population is just trying to get by with the least amount of trouble possible. Also, thanks for sharing your comments. They are inspiring and cool.

[knowaveragejoe]

I wish this sort of blatant exaggeration wasn't so highly upvoted.

[wehadfun]

Do you need a drivers license?

Are you in communication with the local governemnts about your travel.

How do you know what areas are ok to travel to? Do you have to register your vehicle in these countries?

Who do you ask for permission to park your car.

How are you on the internet right now?

How do you communicate with locals, do they know English or do you speak what ever local language there is?

Have you hooked up with any other travelers?

How about any of these tribal women?

How do you pay from stuff. Do they take U.S. Dollars or Euros or do you have to get a billion Zimbabwe dollars for candy.

What are you eating.

When you get sick from eating local food what do you do?

Are you armed?

If so did you have a license for your weapons?

How do you cross the Sahara. Do those sand dunes move around and block roads or do they just stay in one spot. Or are these trucks able to ride over them without sinking into the sand.

If you are in Sahara and water runs out what do you do?

[grecy]

Thanks for the questions. I hope you don't mind, I'll use them as the basis for an FAQ on my website. Speaking of FAQ, checkout the FAQ on WikiOverland which covers lots of the basics of driving your own vehicle around the world.

wikioverland.org/Overland_Frequently_Asked_Questions

> Do you need a drivers license?

The one from your home country is enough, sometimes you will be asked for an International Driving Permit, so you may as well get one from your home country (the AAA, or CAA or whoever in your country will issue it for about $10)

> Are you in communication with the local governemnts about your travel.

Local ones? no. They don't care.

> How do you know what areas are ok to travel to?

Talk to locals, talk to travelers, read online from other travelers, read government travel warnings - i.e. checkout Mauritania right now - mostly OK, some red. I'll stay out of the red :)

> Do you have to register your vehicle in these countries?

No. It stays registered in it's home country, and I'm given permission at each country to "temporarily" be there with the vehicle. Usually 30, 60 or 90 days. I MUST take the car out again.

> Who do you ask for permission to park your car.

Depends where I am, but in cities there are paid lots just the same as you are used to.

> How are you on the internet right now?

There is a lot of infrastructure here - 3G is everywhere so I caved and bought a $20 smart phone that I now tether to. I'll buy a new Sim for $1 in each country.

> How do you communicate with locals, do they know English or do you speak what ever local language there is?

I'm trying to learn French as fast as possible, which is the generic language of West Africa. I can say a few words in a few local languages, but it keeps changing when I change countries. I want to learn more Swahili, which I'm told will be useful in many countries in South/East.

> Have you hooked up with any other travelers?

(assuming you mean met/hungout with) Yep, there are other people getting around in cars and on bikes and motorbikes, and there are backpackers, and tons of UN ex-pats.

> How about any of these tribal women?

Dude, keep the questions SFW please.

> How do you pay from stuff. Do they take U.S. Dollars or Euros or do you have to get a billion Zimbabwe dollars for candy.

There are ATMs in the capitals where I can take out the local currency, otherwise I'm changing USD and Euro to the local currency on the street - getting the black market rate is fun :)

> What are you eating.

I'm trying to cook as much as possible to save money - so oats, toast for breakfast, usually buy rice with some kind of sauce for lunch from a street vendor, and maybe cheap street food or cook rice/pasta for dinner. Food is a couple of bucks a meal when you eat on the street.

> When you get sick from eating local food what do you do?

Suffer. I'll be writing about the worst case I've ever had on my blog soon...

> Are you armed?

No. crossing an international border with a firearm is a serious, serious no no. I would spend many years in jail if they found it, and they've searched well enough already to find all my "hidden" stuff like my money stash, so they would find it.

If so did you have a license for your weapons?

> How do you cross the Sahara. Do those sand dunes move around and block roads or do they just stay in one spot. Or are these trucks able to ride over them without sinking into the sand.

There is a road from Morocco to Mauritania - the sand blows onto it (think drifting snow) it's passable.

> If you are in Sahara and water runs out what do you do?

Why would it run out? why does water magically run out because I happen to be somewhere hot? I have a 13 gallon tank, I make sure it's full as often as I can. Also there is traffic on the roads, I would flag someone down if I had major trouble.

[wehadfun]

-There is a lot of infrastructure here - 3G is everywhere

I wonder why Mark is building satellites and custom drones if 3G is allready wide spread

[wehadfun]

Lol, thanks for answers man.

[sgt]

When you make it as far as Cape Town I'd like to meet up with you and briefly chat, if you don't mind. I've followed your blog so far and I'm very interested in following your process as you're making your way down south. It's definitely going to be a challenge.

[grecy]

Absolutely. Drop me a line when I'm getting closer.

Just this week I've bumped into three different people who just came North on the West Coast from Cape Town, including a guy from South Korea on a bicycle, alone, who doesn't speak a word of French and very basic English.

They all loved it :)

[wehadfun]

So many questions. I'll look through your website tonight. This is awesome

[grecy]

I made http://wikioverland.org to help get the knowledge out there so other people can do trips like this. As you might imagine, I'm passionate about helping others - ask away!

[shitgoose]

awesome! i certainly appreciate the Jeep part:)

installing diesel instead of perfectly fine gas engine looked like typical mistake of a software engineer - we don't really need it, but it would be sooo cool to try!:)

[pmarreck]

Software engineers make pretty decent money, and can work from anywhere. If you want an affordable mortgage, all you have to do is move out of range of the big cities. I'm also a software engineer and I am fully aware that we have a job that has one of the highest satisfaction rates AND pay in the world right now. I have no sympathy for you lol

But enjoy your time away, the creature comforts will still be there when you tire of not having them, and anyway, you will appreciate them more. ;)

[grecy]

> I have no sympathy for you

Sympathy? I think you're confused. I'm living a life dream, no need for any sympathy.

> the creature comforts will still be there when you tire of not having them, and anyway, you will appreciate them more.

Last time I drove Alaska->Argentina, and since then I've been living in the Yukon. I'm in no hurry to get back to creature comforts, trust me :)

[collyw]

In the States. Elsewhere in the world the salaries are much more average.

[beachstartup]

uh, who are you trying to convince, him or yourself?

i think he's already made up his mind.

[pmarreck]

I wasn't really trying to convince him, I just think making drastic life decisions based on what sounds in essence to me like "whining" is possibly less than ideal, he had many other choices available to him if simply paying a long mortgage was the prime motivating factor. I may also be showing an anti-millennial bias /sigh

I have also heard one too many stories of post-college kids doing cross-country bike rides for similar reasons and getting run over and killed, and that upsets me.

[grecy]

> I have also heard one too many stories of post-college kids doing cross-country bike rides for similar reasons and getting run over and killed, and that upsets me.

Do you propose they sit at a desk instead, and be scared to actually live?

[pmarreck]

It's cool to bash on desk jobs but for most it's low-risk high-income work, and there are surely plenty of guys doing very manual risky jobs who would be only so happy to trade up to a cushy air conditioned office job for the same or better pay.

But some folks will figure out what works for them eventually. And admittedly it's probably not for everyone.

[grecy]

> it's low-risk high-income work

Is that the goal of life?

> And admittedly it's probably not for everyone.

Of course, that's the point. If someone wants to quit so they can ride a bike across a country, that's as valid a choice as yours is to keep going to work. Nobody is wrong, everyone is just making their own choices.