Let’s be honest: flying is easy, but overland travel is where the real adventure happens. There is a unique thrill of walking across an international land border, stamping out of one country and into the next.
I also love observing how everything evolves slowly as you near a new country, when flying, you don’t see that.
But land borders can be a massive headache. Dealing with the corruption, aggressive money changers, unofficial helpers and ever-changing visa rules.
I have spent over 30 years backpacking the world, crossing hundreds of borders on foot, using a mixture of chicken buses, colectivos, ferries, trains and pirogues. I don’t take expensive tourist shuttle buses, and I have never paid a fixer to help me navigate the bullshit.
This page is a collection of my raw, first-hand, step-by-step, guides for crossing international borders independently.
Every guide is based on my personal experience, designed to save you money, avoid the scams and get you safely to your next destination.
If you want to travel overland from El Salvador to Nicaragua and want to avoid going through Honduras, then your only option is to take the boat across the Gulf of Fonseca, from La Unión to Potosí.
I made this journey in 2022, but I have updated the logistical details, and they are current as of September 2026.
Travel guide: Everything you need to know about travelling from Barcelona Sants (or the El Prat BCN Airport) to Andorra by bus.
Updated: August 2026 (Fare and schedule checked).
This is how I travelled overland from Kourou in French Guiana to the town of Oiapoque in Brazil, a journey that took just over four hours.
Here I detail how I travelled overland from Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in French Guiana.
This post details how to get from Georgetown in Guyana to Paramaribo in Suriname via the border at Moleson Creek/South Drain.
This post details getting from Boa Vista to Lethem and includes the Brazil-Guyana border crossing at Bonfim.
Tres Fronteras is a Tri-Border Area in the heart of the Amazon, where Colombia, Peru, and Brazil converge at a single point. Great for those who are chasing countries or for those like me, who just enjoy being!
Backstory from 2011, when I travelled from Kashgar to Sost, China to Pakistan over the Khunjerab Pass on the Karakoram Highway.
Post edited and new photos added April 2026.
Backstory from 2015 when I hitchhiked across the Pamir Highway, from Osh to Dushanbe. This is part one of my trip from Osh to Khorog. I have added 32 new photos to the blog post.
If you are travelling between Belgrade and Budapest, there is still no direct service. You need to take this cross-border train from Subotica to Szeged via Röszke, and then take another train to Budapest.