Road Tripping 40 Countries in 12 Months

Nicolas Rapp, an Associated Press art director, is taking the idea of a road trip to a whole new level. Rapp plans to leave New York in his tricked-out Land Cruiser on the 15th of November, intending to make his triumphant return to the city a year from now. At 33, Rapp has already done his fair share of road tripping, preferring the open road to the open skies. This trip however, is the end-all be-all, record-breaking-trip (though I don't know if there is a standing world record for the most far-reaching road trip), as Rapp plans to hit up 40 countries, including war-troubled spots like Pakistan -- he'll have a military escort there.

He’ll also have escorts through China and will skip the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia. He’s decided to go with a car-top tent for most of his lodging and has tricked out the 1996 Land Cruiser so it has an extra battery and a refrigerator (he’s also loaded up on vaccines and malaria pills). He’ll end up shipping his car several times, from the southern tip of Africa and driving north to Morocco, to Spain to drive southeast across Europe and Asia, and finally shipping the car to Los Angeles, and finishing off with an Americana cross-country drive. The gas costs range wildly, from 38 cents a gallon in Iran to $3.70 a gallon in Portugal. Watch the events unfold on his blog, Trans World Expedition. Total cost for the whole shebang? A trifling $45k.