As my wife and I are planning to sell up just about all we've got and go riding through the Americas to learn of new people, new places and maybe even a new life.
Not wanting to play the obvious tourist we'd like to interact with local people staying away from big cities when possible and see where we might like to stay/return if we could make a modest living.

I hope some of you will reply with interesting stories about the how and why !

Cheers, Ard and Tessa

You have come to the right place if you are considering motorcycling through the Americas and want to know the hows and whys of international motorcycling from those who have some experience.

The Americas stretch from Alaska and Canada to the southern tip of Argentina.

This includes two continents North America and South America. So, North America, Mexico and Central America are connected by road. There is no passable land bridge between Panama and Colombia, so from Panama you will have to ship or fly yourselves and your bikes to the South American continent.

Many over landers fly themselves and their bikes from Panama City, Panama to Bogota, Colombia or sail from the coast of Panama to the coast of Colombia.

Or still other sail or fly from Panama City, Panama to other ports or airports in South America.

Or you might consider storing your North American bikes or legally selling and then buying new or used bikes in South America. Each country has different laws regarding tourist purchasing motorcycles or vehicles. Some countries, such as Argentina allow foreign tourist to purchase and sell Argentine registered motorcycles and vehicles, but do not allow the foreign tourist to take the motorcycle or vehicle out of Argentina.

Each country might have slightly different rules - although the Mercosur countries, (look up Mercosur) have agreed to the same or very similar rules regarding the buying, selling and exporting of motor vehicles.

Also, each country has a time limit for how long a foreign registered motor vehicle can remain in country. This can be confusing because Argentina only allows a tourist visa for three months, yet the foreign registered motorcycle or vehicle may be allowed to remain in Argentina for up to eight months.

It might be better if you post more specifics about your planned route, where you plan to purchase your motorcycles etc and I feel very confident many experienced over landers will respond.

I hope this very short intro to over landing in the Americas has helped.

xfiltrate

Thanks for those explanations xfiltrate but I'm afraid you didn't quite understand what I meant.
We're from Europe and will fly/ship our own bikes in and see where we will go.
We have nothing planned really (at the moment) so we're able to go and do as we see fit.
The only plan, or at least hope, we have is ending up somewhere in the Americas to build up a new life and I was wondering if there are more people who did this sort of thing and would they share their experiences here and explain how and why they ended up living in the country they now reside in.
I am particularly interested in people who have traveled to/through the Americas and their reasons for ending up in a different country than where they originated from.

Cheers, Ard

Good luck for you! I allways end up back home were i own a little house. For Visa reasons it is hard to stay in a foreign country for a long time and even work there. Its much easyer to earn money for the next trip in a rich so callesd first world country but then spend it in the third world were the earning of a month will last for 6 months of traveling. Its also nice to visit family and friends again before you start your next trip and escape from the winter :-)

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http://reisemotorrad.eu

In the previous post ta-rider made excellent observations about starting a new life in the Americas.

Obtaining tourist visas to visit the Americas is relatively easy when compared to obtaining temporary or permanent foreign residence status.

In our cases - I hold a USA passport and rosa del desierto holds a Spanish passport. We first flew to Argentina for an academic sabbatical of one year.
We did research in Buenos Aires for six months, having entered on tourist visas and then purchased two new Argentine registered motorcycles and toured 8 South American countries for six months. We were issued a special "temporary export permit" for our motorcycles exit from Argentina by presenting academic credentials and agreeing to ride back to Argentina within six months. This was a very special case that required some deep research of Argentine law to convince border officials that indeed we intended to return our motorcycles to Argentina - which we did.

If your motorcycles are registered in a EU country, and you have passports from an EU country, you will have little or no trouble crossing Mexican, Central American or South American borders if you have purchased insurance - where required- have your title, registration valid plates (although validity of plates is seldom checked) and a valid drivers permit (these are checked, not necessarily at borders, but by local and national police and in some countries by the military, you must present an idea of your route and where you will be staying for some countries. (Bolivia for example).

I cannot advise on tourist visas or temporary import permits for your motorcycles into Canada or the USA, but I am sure others found here can.

OK, after our sabbatical we decided to "retire/invest" in Argentina. We returned and initiated the three year process to become permanent foreign residents of Argentina so we would not have to leave the country each three months to renew tourist visas and we wanted to be able to have a business and work.
The process took four years - we had to meet financial requirements each year - meaning we could prove that we could support ourselves with a verifiable income, pass interpol screening and jump through many other hoops during the four year process - including waking up many mornings at 4 AM to be in line for the 10AM opening of immigration and then hoping we were among those to be admitted that day.

But, after the first year we were issued a temporary residence permit DNI and then after four years finally received our permanent Argentine foreign residence status. We invested in a motorcycle parking business, and although we return to our ranch in Arizona every two years or so and visit Spain every two years or so, we have enjoyed our new life in Argentina for the last 12 years.

Currently we are riding Mexico. We keep 2 Argentine registered Honda NX400s in Buenos Aires, our 2 Spanish registered BMWs G650GS in Spain and are currently riding our 2 U S registered KLR650s. By keeping motorcycles on 3 continents we have avoided all transport costs, port fees etc and have been able to ride from Spain to Turkey and return. And, now that we have our permanent foreign residence status in Argentina can exit and enter Argentina as we please with no tourist visa or TVIP needed.

Working for a corporation that might expedite your temporary residence status is easier as the process is done by barristers. And, if you have substantial money to invest, you may be able to obtain special considerations regarding residence status. We did it the hard way without paying barristers or bribes.

Why we did it. I grew up overseas in Japan and Turkey as a military brat, frankly, once I completed my education, my career was international. Elisa received her PhD in New York and taught for seventeen years at U S universities. She was pretty fried by the rigors of academia and I, although having settled in Arizona have created an NGO that assisted returning U S Peace Corps volunteers. I had served as a U S Peace Corps volunteer 1966-1968 in Costa Rica and motorcycled the not yet then completed Pan American highway from costa Rica to the States in 1968 and at that time realized, like you I wanted to travel the world by motorcycle.

Why Argentina? We love the Argentine people - we have found them very well educated, welcoming to immigrants and good friends.

The Peso AR has a very enticing exchange rate with the U S dollar so our retirements using XOOM.com gives the "blue rate" as opposed to the official rate, increasing our retirement incomes by more that 33%.

Our Argentine and Spanish health insurance plans cover us while traveling and cost about 1/3 what the cost would be in the USA, with no deductibles, no upper age limitations or financial limitations and thus far have proved to have given us excellent medical care.

And, rosa del desierto went to acting school in Buenos Aires and acted in several award winning films. This would not have been possible for her in Spain or in the USA.

So I hope this has been more on target. Ask specifics when you can.

xfiltrate

I've relatively little experience of travelling in the Americas; I've always wanted to go to places with a bit more history and culture. Not sure if you are looking for Americas specific replies, but here is mine after years of travel in Eurasia (on 4 wheels).

When I was 25, I left my native UK in my Toyota Hilux. I'd been working and saving for three years, had plenty of money in the bank and no commitments whatsoever to worry about. I left in May 2007, thinking that I would be away for 12 to 18 months. It turned out to be 55 before I came even close to the UK again.

I was travelling pretty much the whole time around much of Eurasia, but very slowly. Where I really fell in love was Pakistan. I passed through twice, then decided to go back a third time, stay with a local family and volunteer in a school. I felt more at home in Pakistan than anywhere else I have ever visited / lived, I loved almost everything about it.

If you are interested about my experiences there, I would recommend this article on my website:

Stage 15 – Pakistan: Interlude | EurasiaOverland

The key is to interact with local people. I see a lot of overlanders (on four and two wheels) whizzing through countries in something like a bubble, minimising their interaction with locals and their culture, and I wonder what they are getting out of the experience. It's no coincidence that cyclists (as in pedal bikes) tend to write the best travel blogs, they generally have far more interaction.

Coming back to the UK, I got into a good university and then a 'good' job, but where I currently live (sorry if you are Dutch) in the north of the Netherlands is the most boring place I have ever been and I'm itching to leave and do something like this again. Luckily the long Dutch holidays allow me to do a 6 to 8 week trip each year, which is better than nothing!

Good luck!

__________________
EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

I've seen ... and done the same. Moving too fast, staying in their own little group, not interacting and not bothering to learn the language. Tourists.

Like you, I've lived and worked in a few places outside USA. Most all in Latin America. My Spanish is terrible (considering lengthy exposure/training) but I get by.

It wasn't until living in Guatemala that I finally connected a bit. Later, during 6 years in Cent. and S. America I hung out a bit more ... but often stayed too close to the Gringo trail and too close to fellow travelers.

The key is to BREAK AWAY, get out there the way you did in Pakistan.

Volunteer, work, do something to get away from tourist culture. At that point ... you may hate it ... or love it. (as you did!)

Until one is 100% fluent in local language I feel there will be a barrier to fully understanding local cultures. I know Brits here who have lived in USA 20 years and who haven't a clue who "Americans" really are. So, it's not an easy thing.

Thanks people ! Those are exactly the replies I'm after !
Don't worry about stepping on any toes here, Mine are safely across the border in Germany
We do intent to interact with the locals as we always do where ever we go.
I too have read a number of blogs/RR's where the so called overlander/adventurer is visiting all the touristy places and write comments like: "we had to leave early to avoid the tourist groups!"
We've been around to various places around the globe although admittedly not as extensive as we'd like so we're about to change that by selling up and moving out. If we don't happen to find a place where we can and want to stay we'll come back here, get a job again and see what to make of life from there on.
We're lucking out a bit with jobs and things it seems of late so now is as good a time as any. We're not set on anything other than getting to meet new people/cultures/places and experience a life different than the one we have lived so far. We'd like to be free and do as we please and for that we'll throw out most of our comfort and financial security. After the worldwide economic crisis it seems your money is mostly only as good as the financial institution where you have it parked. We like to help people and don't require much in form of material things.
Please keep the replies coming and especially why you ended up somewhere !

Cheers, Ard and Tessa

Just read you reply Mollydog and I fully agree. We're trying to get to grips with the Spanish language and have a year or so before we need it so there is hope.
We moved from Holland to Germany and we get along with the German people better than we do with those from our native country The Netherlands. We do speak German with them although a fair number of them speak Dutch as well as we only live just across the border. We do try to blend in where ever we are given half the chance.

It's a good mission you seek! Gutsy move!
I did a similar thing in my 20's ... traveling through Mex. Cent. Am and S. America looking for "The Garden Of Eden". I found several during 7 years ... but only lived for any length of time in Guatemala.(2 years) Many changes since then so can't confirm it's current status as a potential "Garden of Eden".

But there are many out there if you're willing to explore a bit, work hard and suffer a bit looking round, living and learning. Who knows what you might find?

Like Xfiltrate, I also fell in love with Argentina. Mostly because of suffering mightily through 9 months traveling/living in Ecuador, Peru' and Bolivia. Argentina in 1975, was similar to now ... with the Blue Dollar. Made it very cheap back then too due to 1500% inflation which led to a coup which I witnessed up close and personal, and of course 10,000 desaparecidos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_War

But the Argentine people are wonderful. The North and Central cities are full of Italian immigrants ... I heard Italian spoken in the streets back then. Now? Dunno.

Buenos Aires is the most incredible melting pot ever. The real Paris of S. America. I ended up working there and going back many times from 1975 to 1980.

I never really got to know Brazil, been several times on business and traveling but due to lack of language ... I never connected. Rio and Sao Paulo are truly massive, crazy cities. Very tough traveling at first. Not my favorites.

Having wizzed throu the majority of countries I traveled, I am blessed to of at least had that opportunity, most never will.


For whatever reason I was never accepted for volunteer work or even paid work abroad, frustrating as hell but I am not known for my luck so it is what it is.

to the OP I wish you the best, lots of people are moving to various places in Central and South America, I am sure you will find something.