Want to take the ultimate road trip? Join the Jeep® brand and Renato Costanzo and Renato Jack Costanzo, a Brazilian father and son duo, while they embark on a 25,000 mile adventure road trip, crossing sixteen countries within the three America continents www.americas2011.com. From Miami, FL to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, Renato and Jack will be visiting some seriously remote places in their customized Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. They’ll be off-roading in Moab, Utah, mountain biking on Whistler Mountain, Canada, paragliding in Baja, and skydiving in Arizona and Florida. Along the way, Renato and Jack will be making charitable contributions to the underprivileged and needy in the areas they’ll be visiting. Take a look at our interview with them below to find out how they prepared for the ultimate road trip in a 2011 Jeep Wrangler.
Q: Why did you want to take the Americas 2011 Expedition?
A: I am 49, photographer, skydiver, paraglider instructor and off road rally pilot. Jack, my son is 23, and also enjoys skydiving and paragliding. One of the many purposes of this trip is celebrate Jack’s graduation and discover the diversity of cultures and places within the American continent. Additionally, I feel that traveling by land is the best way to really know the surroundings of a place, there is so much to see out there, and flying means missing a lot.
Q: Have you taken a journey like this before and where did your travels lead you?
A: Yes and no. I am used to making many long car trips in Brazil and Europe but so far the longest trip I took was about 7,300 miles. In most of my travels I like to be away from big cities, concentrating on hard to reach areas.
Q: What preparations have you made to your 2011 Jeep Wrangler to make this trip? What modifications and accessories have you added to your Jeep?
A: Our new Jeep Wrangler is being equiped with a new suspension, rear bumper with water tanks, snorkel, winch, an off road camper trailer and many lights around it. Other accessories not directly related to the Wrangler are: a fridge, roof top tent, inflatable boat with electric motor, electric bicycles, paragliding and skydiving gear. Those parts and accessories came from companies like Mopar, AEV, The Long Ranger, Superchips, Hella, Sol Paragliders, Optibike, Global Power Store, ARB-USA, Warfield Offroad and Equipt.
Q: How will your experience racing rally cars and motorcycles come in handy during your trip across the country?
A: In long duration rallies you always face the unexpected – from broken parts to obstructed passages. These obstacles have to be managed fast and in the most eficient way. With my past experience I’ve learned that being creative and resorceful is as good on a rally as it is on this kind of expedition.
Q: We see you’ll be doing some hang gliding and mountain biking along the way. Which locations are you doing those activities at?
A: We won’t be doing hang gliding but we are definitely planning on paragliding, mountain biking and skydiving on as many drop zones as we find along our path. As for the locations the list is very long and not definive yet since we may detour from our intented route depending on advice from local residents. Some of the highlights though will be the Moab Desert (off roading), Whistler Mountain (mountain biking), DeLand and Eloy (skydiving), Baja California (paragliding) and the Titicaca Lake for boating.
Q: Tell us a little bit about the stops along the way you’ll be making, and what contributions to underprivileged areas of the US you are planning on making.
A: That is to be decided along the way since it may depend on many factors, like if a hurricane devastated area is on our path. We will also rely on information from local “Jeepers” about underprivileged areas- once we arrive and evaluate the situation, it will be a contributing factor in what kind of contributions will be made, like food, toys, medicine, clothes, etc.
Renato and Jack – have safe travels on the America’s 2011 expedition! And for all you fans out there – be sure to check out Renato and Jack’s latest adventures by following them on Twitter at #Americas2011 to find out where they’ll be going next.