An Update to this post. I decided to do South America first. Europe will be second. I bought a 2006 Dodge Sprinter 3500 in the form of an Itaska Navion 23J (Winnebago) because I want to burn the older style diesel. It's been heavily modified for this trip.
I'm shipping it from Miami, FL to Cartagena, Colombia about 1/1/19 and expect to ship it back on this route about 12-14 months later. I just returned from a two month trip to Cuenca, Ecuador, where I learned some Spanish and did some recon. I'm in Tampa, FL now completing some solar work and having the brakes rebuilt, then I'm off.
I'll learn all I can from the European overlanders that I meet and get ready for Europe.
