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How To Get a Carnet de Passage & Drive Around the World In Your Own Car
If you are travelling overseas with a car, motorbike, campervan or trailer registered in Australia, you will likely need a Carnet de Passages en Douane.
The Carnet de Passages en Douane, or CPD Carnet, is the international customs documents which covers the temporary admission of motor vehicles. The carnet (pronounced car-nay) is valid for 12 months and lets visitors temporary import their private vehicles for touring purposes only, without paying customs duties and other taxes when entering or exiting a country. It’s like a passport for your car.
The Stages Broken Down
Do you Need one? Not all countries need you to have a Carnet to Visit but sooner or later you will likely need one. It depends on where you want to go so, you can check eg here
Once you have established that you need one then approach the relevant authority for issuing Carnets; for us here in Australia that was the Australia Automobile Association
Hint try to do this before but close to the date of travel because it becomes valid for 12 months only on the date of issue
Once you have received the form start the process of completing it as soon as possible, this will include a declaration of equipment such as tools taken in the car along with the necessary identification of the car such as chassis numbers and engine numbers.
Hint the car will need to be both registered and insured in your country. You will also need membership of a club eg. the AA or RAC
Send the form for processing and upon its return and close to car shipment day you will need to get the form inspected by the shipper and customs, if you have an agent they will do this, otherwise, you can do it yourself.
Now the Carnet is stamped and you are ready to repeat the inspection process in the country of destination when needed.
What are the costs and fees to apply for a CPD Carnet? (as of 2024)
The total application fee for a CPD carnet is $1,609 AUD. This incorporates the following components;
Application fee of $1,109.00 (non-refundable)
Bond of $500.00 (refundable)
Note of Caution: Sometimes they will charge you in US $ and, not your countries currency...
The application fee includes postage of your CPD Carnet within Australia. If postage is required overseas, surcharges apply. The application fee also includes an AUS sticker or plate for your vehicle while travelling overseas.
The bond is refunded when a fully discharged original CPD Carnet is returned to AAA.
Indemnity insurance is provided through Miller Insurance. This enables the CPD Carnet holder to take the vehicle out of Australia without having to provide a deposit of importation, duties and taxes in each country they visit.
How do I discharge my carnet and reclaim my bond?
When you are returning your vehicle back to Australia, ensure that your CPD Carnet shows a discharge customs stamp from the last overseas port of call. This will enable Australian Border Force to endorse upon entry back into Australia.
Once completed please return the CPD Carnet back to AAA GPO Box 1555, Canberra ACT 2601.
How Do We Camp ?
How Do We Camp ?
How Do We Camp?
In the past, we have done the accommodation thing but mostly for the last few years, we have been using a 20-second RV tent from Oztent. It's a great tent but heavy and being 2 metres long folded is hard to carry.
https://www.oztent.com.au/collections/family-tents/products/rv-5
We thought about going with this again and even tried to fit it into the car. Unfortunately, it was too big and too heavy so, we opted for a cheap dune rooftop tent. It's very lightweight and easy to put up. The rest of our camp is stored in boxes, a primus multi-fuel stove and backup for cooking.
We keep things very simple when travelling and only have the basics of what we will need for travel in varying climatic conditions. we will as we always do, buy what we need when we need it.
How To Travel Full Time - A Guide For Future Full Time Travelers
How To Travel Full Time - A Guide For Future Full Time Travelers
Turn your travel bug into a travel lifestyle! ѕм ✈️ 📰 NY Times Featured Business & Full-Time Travel Lifestyle Coach, TEDx Speaker, Polyglot,🌍Professional World Traveler, International Best-Selling Author
As I reflect back on the beginning of my full time travels, I realize there was no guide. I set off on my adventure, presuming it would be like my vacations, and learned, along the way, that full time travel is much different than I had expected going in to it. It's definitely not a vacation. I remember desperately wanting someone to help advise me before going, but couldn't find one. For those of you future full time travelers, you may think it's as simple as packing up and taking off, but in reality, there's a lot more to it. Here are a few tips on how to make the most out of your future full time travels.
Find Your Pace, But Try To Go Slowly
In my last article, I talked about boredom and burnout, and you definitely have to find your own pace. However, the whole point of traveling full time is that you are no longer at the mercy of someone else's schedule. You can travel indefinitely, which means staying in one place as long, or as little, as you like. Some of the most boring activities lead to some of the greatest insights. I've taken long walks in nature and experienced wonderful epiphanies. I've sat at a cafe and spoken to everyone at the tables next to me, or the barista and sparked friendships. I've taken an unexpected path and discovered lookouts I might never have gotten to admired. I've stayed in places for weeks and began to feel like a local, and learned new vocabulary words. These are just a few of the many impacts of traveling slowly.
You Don't Need A Goal Or Structure
I put a lot of pressure on myself when I took off to have a goal. There had to be a reason I was traveling the world, and it had to relate to getting another job. I tried to find a way to measure my success with my goal, as I had been trained to do in corporate. That magic job idea never happened for me (instead, I created my own!) It was when I arrived in Chile, on year two of my travels, that I met a young man who had been traveling for 18 months. When I asked him what his goal had been, he said, "It's about the journey, not the destination." That moment gave validation to everything I'm doing. I stopped worrying about where I was heading, and, instead, decided to live in the present moment. It's a place we often don't spend enough time. It's ok to travel just for travel's sake. You don't need to plan every moment. You can just focus on being.
Leave If You Don't Like It
One of the moments where I truly connected to my freedom was when I arrived in El Chalten, Argentina. I had booked a couple of nights in a youth hostel. I spent my first day doing a hike and then came into the town and realized it was a complete tourist trap. Though the hikes are ungodly beautiful, it felt to me like the town was literally constructed around sleeping and eating venues to cater to the tourists that wanted to hike in the area. I couldn't find the essence of the town itself and I didn't want to stay. So, I fled a day early. Though I of course lost the money for my hostel room, the sense of satisfaction and freedom I felt for choosing my happiness was worth it. This is one of the greatest parts of full time travel - being able to choose yourself over your circumstances.
Say Yes (Unless Your Intuition Says No)
Another aspect of this wonderful journey is meeting new people or showing up someplace and finding an unexpected event, restaurant or activity. I've learned that traveling full time gives me opportunities I never dreamed of, and that by saying yes, I got to make new friends, learn a new skill, or discover a beautiful place. I met two wonderful women on a boat tour in Argentina. I said yes to meeting them a couple days later and we spent the day hiking a trail I would have never heard of without them. We dared to walk to the out of the way paths and I ended up with some of the most beautiful views I had ever seen.
In Costa Rica, I became friendly with the owner of a wonderful coffee shop in La Fortuna, called La Vaca Purpura. I went every day and we developed a friendship. She invited me to dinner with her husband one evening, and I said yes. Not only did I enjoy getting to know them more deeply, I discovered a restaurant outside of town that I'd never have found, and I was introduced to new foods that I might have missed.
Always listen to your intuition first, and if it warns you of danger, then heed that feeling.
When Things Don't Go As Planned, Find Another Way
The greatest advantage you have as a full time traveler is, time. If a flight gets canceled, you can rebook, or travel a different way. If the tour you wanted to go on gets postponed, you can sit in a cafe or find something else to do. The one thing not to do, is get angry and blame everyone for ruining your trip. There's no point when you can, literally, make a new trip. On vacation, you have a finite amount of time and it's upsetting if you can't visit or experience something you had planned. When full time traveling, plans not working out is often a blessing that guides you to a wonderful experience you would never have had without the mishap, and it creates some of the best memories of your travels.
Be Open-Minded
When you travel the world, you'll see that people live very differently than you do. Sometimes, you may not like how they live. You may find yourself uncomfortable or missing parts of your own culture. If you truly want to experience a new culture, then try to adapt to it as best you can. That's going to mean trying strange foods, possibly wearing different clothing, and seeking to understand things, rather than change them. There are times that's not easy. You may find your values and assumptions challenged on a regular basis. That's what causes you to grow as a person.
Observe Local Rules And Traditions
I think this is one of the most important areas of full time travel. Respect local laws and guidelines. In many places, it's greatly disrespectful to enter a religious venue without covering your limbs. You'll find signs telling you not to climb to spot that looks like a great Instagram shot, and others instructing not to feed animals. If you're going to experience cultures, learn to respect them while you're there. Follow the guidelines, take the time to ask questions, learn why guidelines are in place (often for your safety). I learned, in New Zealand, that if their Department of Conservation (DOC) puts up a sign telling you not to use a walkway, and you disregard it, get stuck, and need to be rescued, you are potentially taking away resources from an emergency situation, and costing them a lot of money, all in the name of you disregarding the rules.
Markel, H. (2022, June 2). How to Travel full Time - a guide for future full time travelers. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-travel-full-time-guide-future-travelers-heather-markel Accessed 5/09/2024 11.06am
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