Our Jeep Gladiator Is Heading to Africa. Ask Me Anything.

[HourlessLife]

Today is surreal for us, and I wanted to share a little bit about the process for the community.

TL;DR we're driving around the world, just finished 3 years 4 months driving through Latin America, and our Jeep is being shipped without us present from Montevideo, Uruguay to Cape Town, South Africa. Happy to answer any questions for folks considering overlanding internationally or shipping a vehicle in a container.

We've been vehicle based traveling full-time since Feb 21, 2014. So we're currently on our 12th year of full-time travel owning no home or property.

We keep a Jeep Wrangler "GUARDIAN" in the USA (our home country) and our other vehicle, pictured above "DAUNTLESS", our Jeep Gladiator, we are driving around the world.

After 3 years and 4 months which took us all the way to the bottom of the world in Ushuaia, Argentina, we drove back up the continent to Montevideo, Uruguay and left our Jeep in a long term storage facility.

Uruguay is known for the storage of vehicles as the Temporary Import Permit (TIP) is a 365 day permit to have a foreign plated vehicle left with permission by their government in their country. The longest permission that we've ever received.

This permission allowed us to leave DAUNTLESS on March 5th of this year awaiting us to be ready to ship to Africa.

Today was the loading day into the container in Uruguay.

My family and I are currently in the Denver, CO area for the Christmas season with family. I share that because we were not present for the loading of the vehicle into the container.

All that to say that it is possible to load and transport a vehicle across the world's oceans without being physically present. It's not easy. It takes some logistics, some prayers, a good team, and a whole lot of patience.

Our team consisted of:

Overland Embassy in Panama City, Panama. They are essentially a concierge that facilitates connecting the right people to make something like this happen. We used them to ship across the Darien Gap when we went into South America and used them again for this shipping.

A Logistics Team in Montevideo, Uruguay. They were brought in by Overland Embassy and were the main point of contact for all logistics and paperwork in Uruguay. They handled the documents, and the setting up of the flatbed tow from the storage facility in Uruguay to the warehouse at the port.

The storage facility. We used UY storage, a company in Soca, Uruguay about an hour outside of Montevideo.

The POA. We had to have a power of attorney that had the authority to act on my behalf from a legal standpoint.

And of course us. My wife did 99% of the logistical work on our end. I hopped on a few video calls, signed documents, and answered questions.

So all of these pieces of the puzzle had to work together to make this a reality.

This morning I was on live video calls with the logistics team and our POA at the port in Montevideo as they loaded our home into the container.

The container will be loaded onto the ship sometime between now and January 21st, and then the ship sets sail for Cape Town, South Africa.

We'll meet DAUNTLESS in the port, do the paperwork, reconnect the systems, pick him up, and get him to a local mechanic to get some work done to prepare him for our 1-year journey around the southern part of the continent.

There were a few moments of brief panic this morning with a few logistics, but ultimately DAUNTLESS was loaded into the container, and the container was sealed.

If anyone has any questions, I'm here for it.

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[JTdiRtyD]

How are they with cleanliness? I've dealt with too many military shipments sitting at port where they rip everything apart and find one tiny spec of dirt and turn you away.

 

[HourlessLife]

How are they with cleanliness? I've dealt with too many military shipments sitting at port where they rip everything apart and find one tiny spec of dirt and turn you away.

Great question. They want it clean but not New Zealand or Australia level clean from what I understand. I guess we'll really know when we pick him up. The Jeep was washed before he went in the container. Hopefully we're good to go on that end. If not there are port services as you know that will do the work for the price of a kidney.

 

[Hootbro]

I wish you the best. There is a lot places on that continent I would not recommend a Western male go, let alone with a wife and a small kid in tow.

 

[Gvsukids]

Great question. They want it clean but not New Zealand or Australia level clean from what I understand. I guess we'll really know when we pick him up. The Jeep was washed before he went in the container. Hopefully we're good to go on that end. If not there are port services as you know that will do the work for the price of a kidney.

Are you sure you'll get the vehicle back?

 

[berb]

do you have a YouTube channel of your travels?

 

[JTdiRtyD]

do you have a YouTube channel of your travels?

Here let me find that for you...

 

[berb]

Here let me find that for you...

Ok, make fun of the guy that didn’t read the fine print.

 

[Stan H]

Today is surreal for us, and I wanted to share a little bit about the process for the community.

TL;DR we're driving around the world, just finished 3 years 4 months driving through Latin America, and our Jeep is being shipped without us present from Montevideo, Uruguay to Cape Town, South Africa. Happy to answer any questions for folks considering overlanding internationally or shipping a vehicle in a container.

We've been vehicle based traveling full-time since Feb 21, 2014. So we're currently on our 12th year of full-time travel owning no home or property.

We keep a Jeep Wrangler "GUARDIAN" in the USA (our home country) and our other vehicle, pictured above "DAUNTLESS", our Jeep Gladiator, we are driving around the world.

After 3 years and 4 months which took us all the way to the bottom of the world in Ushuaia, Argentina, we drove back up the continent to Montevideo, Uruguay and left our Jeep in a long term storage facility.

Uruguay is known for the storage of vehicles as the Temporary Import Permit (TIP) is a 365 day permit to have a foreign plated vehicle left with permission by their government in their country. The longest permission that we've ever received.

This permission allowed us to leave DAUNTLESS on March 5th of this year awaiting us to be ready to ship to Africa.

Today was the loading day into the container in Uruguay.

My family and I are currently in the Denver, CO area for the Christmas season with family. I share that because we were not present for the loading of the vehicle into the container.

All that to say that it is possible to load and transport a vehicle across the world's oceans without being physically present. It's not easy. It takes some logistics, some prayers, a good team, and a whole lot of patience.

Our team consisted of:

Overland Embassy in Panama City, Panama. They are essentially a concierge that facilitates connecting the right people to make something like this happen. We used them to ship across the Darien Gap when we went into South America and used them again for this shipping.

A Logistics Team in Montevideo, Uruguay. They were brought in by Overland Embassy and were the main point of contact for all logistics and paperwork in Uruguay. They handled the documents, and the setting up of the flatbed tow from the storage facility in Uruguay to the warehouse at the port.

The storage facility. We used UY storage, a company in Soca, Uruguay about an hour outside of Montevideo.

The POA. We had to have a power of attorney that had the authority to act on my behalf from a legal standpoint.

And of course us. My wife did 99% of the logistical work on our end. I hopped on a few video calls, signed documents, and answered questions.

So all of these pieces of the puzzle had to work together to make this a reality.

This morning I was on live video calls with the logistics team and our POA at the port in Montevideo as they loaded our home into the container.

The container will be loaded onto the ship sometime between now and January 21st, and then the ship sets sail for Cape Town, South Africa.

We'll meet DAUNTLESS in the port, do the paperwork, reconnect the systems, pick him up, and get him to a local mechanic to get some work done to prepare him for our 1-year journey around the southern part of the continent.

There were a few moments of brief panic this morning with a few logistics, but ultimately DAUNTLESS was loaded into the container, and the container was sealed.

If anyone has any questions, I'm here for it.

Why oh Why ?

 

[Mr Miami]

Wow, best of luck in your travels. I just returned from a trip across Australia and the Outback and thought I was getting really off-road. You make my trip seem like a drive to the mall. Anyway, hope you have a great time and enjoy the adventure. These are things that we never forget and no one can ever take away from us. Enjoy!

 

[Maximus Gladius]

Just like NASA control station is there for all those souls that jettison themselves into the “unknown”, let us be that for you from our couches and work cubicles.
You, no doubt have weighed the pros and cons of your safety going through this territory,….my only advise is…

 

[biodiesel]

@HourlessLife, thanks for taking time to post and share your experiences. The world is a tough place, but you've found a way to navigate through it. How much time are you planning to spend in Africa and where is your next destination after leaving?

 

[smlobx]

Just like NASA control station is there for all those souls that jettison themselves into the “unknown”, let us be that for you from our couches and work cubicles.
You, no doubt have weighed the pros and cons of your safety going through this territory,….my only advise is…

There re a lot of guys that have navigated Overlanding in Africa (including me). As with any place in the world there are places to go and places to avoid. The key is doing your homework and from their past travels it certainly seems that they know how to do that. There is also another guy that occasionally posts here, Dan Grec, who has driven his jeep around Africa on a 999 day adventure.

The one thing that you definitely DO NOT WANT TO DO is carry any weapons with you. In many parts of the world guns are not allowed to be owned by civilians (although some do illegally) but considering that you already stand out the last thing you want to do is to take any unnecessary risks.

As an example, on our last trip to Africa where we traversed the Sahara desert in Algeria and Tunisia we spent 8 hours going through customs in Algiers . That was no joke and we encountered a total of 6 checkpoints leaving the Capitol. It got better as we moved into the more remote areas but we would have never gotten there if we had any weapons..

 

[Maximus Gladius]

My aunt and uncle have some history visiting Nigeria and having to have armed security with them at all times. They stand out as not looking the same. My uncle told me what the car ride from the airport, to where they were going, was like. The driver drove like a bat out of hell and even blew through blockades… I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

I don’t know what I don’t know but I also don’t like what I hear. My own parents sacrificed our own safety many times. It’s my trigger. @smlobx, you’re right, planning the safe route makes all the difference in the world. My aunt and uncle and parents were risk takers even if it meant the worst case scenario for everyone.

 

[HourlessLife]

I wish you the best. There is a lot places on that continent I would not recommend a Western male go, let alone with a wife and a small kid in tow.

I appreciate the well-wishes.

In all fairness to your comment about safety, there are a lot of places in the United States that I would not recommend anyone go let alone with a spouse and a kid. lol.

Obviously I keep my eyes on as much as I can my friend. I do my due diligence and make the best decisions that I can for my family. With that said, we are only planning to do a massive loop around the southern part of the continent in fairly well traveled and touristed areas.

But beyond that, there is something fundamental here that I'd like to address. We can't live in fear and do what we do. If we did, we'd never go anywhere.

If you had any idea of the amount of messages, emails, phone calls, smoke signals, and the number of times I was contacted or even blasted for taking my wife and son to Latin America, you'd be in shock.

But we ignored the fearmongers (not saying you are one, please don't misread this) and we made the journey of a lifetime. And it was amazing.

Ultimately there are those who will do these types of journeys and those who won't. There are people all over the world overlanding. We're in touch with many of them. I think most folks who express concern or even blast me for it don't really understand how or what we do. I'm not intentionally driving into war torn or high risk areas. Risky areas? Yes. But high risk areas not typically.

I mean I did drive through Chicago once... that was pretty sketch.

But seriously, appreciate the well-wishes and the concern. I'm sure it comes from a good place!

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