What ' s the story behind choosing Sooty as your vehicle and home for the trip ?
[ Ernesto ] Actually , the first option we considered was a VW van . We have a crush on those machines ! We started looking at Westys , Synchros and Eurovans in good condition but the ones we found for a reasonable price also needed a considerable amount of work . These vans in top shape can be as expensive as a new ( er ) truck . I ' m not very mechanically inclined and the thought of traveling in 20-30 + year-old van I would have to potentially fix more often than we would have liked , was a bit discouraging for us .
As we talked about the kinds of places we would like to drive to on our trip , it became clearer that we wanted a .) An offroad capable vehicle b .) from a manufacturer with presence in the countries we were traveling through . And c .) A newer truck I could import and nationalize in Venezuela to be able to sell it there after we completed our trip .
We read dozens of Expedition Portal threads , asked other overlanders about their vehicles and checked with mechanics about their experiences with working on different 4x4 vehicles . We did a fair share of research on our own and narrowed down our option to a Toyota truck . Land- Cruisers , Tacomas and 4Runners were in for our consideration . It was important that the car met the legal requirements to be imported permanently to Venezuela . Unfortunately older LandCruisers don ’ t meet the age requirement and we were not interested in the newer fancier more expensive LC models available in the US .
Tacomas were great but we really wanted the full cabin so we reached the decision that that our overlanding vehicle was going to be a 4Runner .
We almost went with a pristine 4th generation Limited Edition but after looking at the features of the 5th generation Trail Edition , ( higher trim , rear lockers , A-Trac , Crawl Control , KDSS ) plus the resale value in Venezuela , we decided it was worth getting a brand new 5th gen 4Runner TE .
A little bit of background info . In Venezuela vehicles actually increase in value rather than depreciating . This is due to the high devaluation of the country ' s currency and the low availability of new vehicles . We can actually sell our truck in Venezuela for double the amount we paid originally when new even after completing our long trip . The problem is that we would be paid in Venezuelan currency which later we ' d have to exchange into foreign currency . This sounds easier than it actually is . I know you may be scratching your head thinking that that ' s not possible ... It ' s quite bizarre and complex so we won ' t get into more details .
Can you tell us what the hardest part of the trip has been for you guys ?
[ Ernesto + Taisa ] Actually leaving was definitely one of the hardest decisions . I guess subconsciously there were worries and doubts . We had worked really hard to get to where we were very " comfortable ". We had good jobs , a good home , great friends and family , and we loved our city . " Quitting " all these things was not an easy decision . At the same time we had been