What I’m about to share is probably one of those stories that I would best keep to myself. But, what’s done is done, and there’s no turning back now. I’m partly telling this story because I haven’t seen any similar ones available out there on the internet. We weren’t lucky enough to get the insider scoop on how things work in these parts, which is why I’m fully ready to share our experience of what happened to us in Panama from top to bottom. So hopefully you don’t make the same mistake as us!
Let’s start by saying I’m a big vision dreamer. I can’t say that I always think through every little detail as much as I should. But that’s why Adam and I make a good team. As I’m ready to push every boundary, Adam reels us in and brings us back to reality. The blend of big thinking and practicality makes things fun, exciting and above all else, POSSIBLE.
When it came to how we were going to navigate our Central America stretch of this wild expedition, we really only had three options: fly it, bus it or drive it. It’s one thing to take flights and buses when you’re backpacking. But for us, we have bags upon bags of scuba and camera equipment, making simple travel virtually impossible. So, the best and most convenient choice was to get a car and drive the stretch. Plus, it would give us an epic way to see Central America without missing a beat.
Living in Australia, you get very used to driving long stretches and keeping yourself occupied. So, Adam and I were equipped for the journey and Marla was glad to jump onboard this one, as who wouldn’t want a full fledged immersive experience?! So, we put our hands in and agreed for the long haul—that we were all in and ready to commit to months of driving the PanAmerican Highway together, with lots of detours off the beaten path obviously. From Panama to Costa Rica and up into Nicaragua, we would then cross the entire country of Honduras and then post up in Guatemala for a short break. Then we’d venture the entirety of Belize and up into Mexico following the Caribbean coast to the Yucatan.
Touching down in Panama, we knew it wouldn’t be the easiest mission to find the perfect vehicle for our wild adventure. We knew it would take time and patience. But, it was surprisingly not as bad as we first imagined. We posted up in Panama City near car yards and began our search, meeting the first lot owner and liking his straightforward vibes. Used car was the way to go, as we didn’t want to feel bad about any damages that occurred, but we also needed something that wouldn’t leave us stranded in the middle of nowhere.
After looking through all the used SUVs on the lot, there was something a bit wrong with each one that was a deal-breaker for a journey as long as this. So, we agreed that a slight upgrade to a highly reliable 2017 Nissan X-Trail was in order. And that’s when my tiny pea brain switched on and thought, let’s go even further on this one if we are already willing to upgrade the vehicle.
Instead of stopping in the Yucatan, why not cross all of Mexico, take the ferry over to Baja California, drive up to San Diego and start the great migration from west coast to east coast USA, making our final stop at my parents house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Yes, I can imagine what you're thinking: I’m a psycho. Either Marla and Adam have been spending too much time with me, or they actually thought this was a good idea too. Shockingly, I got another all-in deal with the gang and just like that,the epicness of this road trip had increased tenfold!
We had gotten advice from a few friends who did some of these stretches in the past that THE SINGLE most critical thing to do is have all your car, identification and insurance documentation ready and available in printed format. We’d also been advised to carry not just one copy, but multiple in various locations among our belongings. So, we took this to heart and tried to plan ahead.
Transfering the car title from the car lot to my name was the biggest challenge, as that formality just took several days to complete. We ended up leaving Panama City to head north to the coastal Santa Catalina for diving and surfing while we waited for the formal title transfer. But once the car lot had mailed me the title, we were finally ready to rock.
Now, the next step that we had to conquer was called the “Adwana” which basically means customs in Spanish. We had to visit this center in a small city called David that sits close to the Panama-Costa Rica border—a notoriously difficult border crossing. Here, we would get exit paperwork that would allow the car to move from Panama to Costa Rica smoothly. Feeling hopeful and ready to conquer more steps, Adam and I make our way to the center to be met with the worst possible news we could have imagined.
Panama has established a rule that you CANNOT own a vehicle as a non-resident and cross this border. You would need a Panama Permanent Resident card, which takes 3 years to receive. The only way to own a vehicle as a foreigner and get it across that border was to put the vehicle on a boat and while that’s happening, cross the border by foot and pick up the car at the port. This would take days and simply was not a viable option, as we had planned partner sites to visit as part of our expedition. The only other option was to roll up to the border and test our fate in real time.
Mortified, we head back to the car to let Marla know the bad news. Another all-hands moment where we agreed to roll the dice. Who knows what would happen at the border given everything else was in perfect order. So, off we went from David to the crossing, all wondering what would happen next and how this would impact our massive plans. And that's when we met Carlos, that bloody legend.
Carlos seemed to know the ins and outs of what to do here. This was clearly a common issue, and something NO ONE talks about. If we had known this fun fact, perhaps we could have done the road trip in reverse, choosing to purchase the car in the USA and drive south. But, with absolutely zero info on the internet about how to navigate this, we were left with nothing to do but roll the dice and hope for the best. Carlos sure did save the day, helping us navigate the paperwork fiasco at the borderline.
Here’s what happened:
First, you really do need all the paperwork. It is checked once, twice and then again. You need to make it through Panama’s exit process which isn’t the hard part—that’s just a stamp that you get on your passport and has nothing to do with the car. But then, you need to go through a car inspection and fumigation, which requires you to make it across the border already.
So, how did we get the car across? We drove the car through some unmarked back roads that ultimately got us across the border without detection, all based on Carlos navigation. From there, he was able to bypass the resident card requirement by showing that the car had ALREADY crossed the border. No longer was this paperwork needed. We had cleverly skipped a step.
What happened after was your typical border crossing procedure: car inspection, fumigation car wash, insurance purchase, Costa Rica entrance stamp. We parked the car in a small gated lot on the Costa Rica side, changed clothes for cover and emptied the car for the inspection process. I left Adam and Marla sitting on mounds of bags while I went to test fate yet again with the inspection. After clearing this, and no more paperwork requested, we were home free.
Every step was completed as it should, the exception being that very tiny intermediary step that would’ve stopped us in our tracks. A few back roads later and our entire expedition was back on track, crisis averted. Here’s the thing: if you’re going to tackle road trips of this scale and size, or any massive travel for that matter, you’ve got to realize things won’t go according to plan. You’re going to have to think on the spot, make game time decisions, and sometimes step out of your comfort zone to mitigate these sorts of logistical issues. You won’t always make the best or right decision either. But at least you’ll make one and once you do, you own it and live with it.
And through this experience is how we came to name our beloved car “Carlos” the forever hero of this long stretch of expedition. Never forget.
To be continued …
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