'I drove the longest road in the world through 16 countries - and nearly died'

A British couple who quit their jobs and drove the world's longest road have admitted they "nearly died" after sliding off a 1,000ft drop. 28-year-old quantity surveyor Matt Saunders and girlfriend Rachel Kelly, 26, took on the epic Pan-American Highway, officially regarded as the world's longest road.

The pair set off in June 2024, purchasing a £15,000 Dodge Ram pick-up truck in before setting off from the starting blocks in Alaska, . The duo have ticked off a whopping 16 countries, passing through and South American nations such as Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. However, the pair admitted the epic trip had come with some rocky moments, with their truck even igniting in flames twice.

The wheel fell off the car in Patagonia before the couple admitted they nearly died after falling off a route in the Peruvian Andes.

Matt explained: "We have had our fair share of breakdowns, we had two fires in the camper, which was scary.

"We nearly died in the Peruvian Andes with our car nearly sliding off a 1000ft drop on muddy roads.

"It was a dangerous road, and intense rain basically made it impassable, but we couldn't turn around. Last week the wheel fell off the truck in rural Patagonia and had no spare. We were stuck for three days figuring out what to do."

Other problems included an issue with the couple's camper just hours into their epic adventure.

Matt added: "Day three into our journey to the Arctic, our camper broke and we had to live with it like that for six weeks.

"When we got to Washington State, a mechanic said it was unfixable, so we had to shell out another £5k to buy a new one, which was half of our budget gone."

After ticking off South American sites such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile, the duo finally arrived at the

they sold the 1997 Dodge to a follower in Uganda for £5,000 before heading to the Galapagos Islands.

The duo now have plans to return to the UK after the summer, despite admitting they are "daunted" by the thought of heading home.

However, the trip was a great success with Matt admitting the duo had made life-long memories on their road tour.

He said: "We loved visiting the American National Parks with their remoteness and wildlife.

"The culture in Central America was really cool, they had some great beaches. Patagonia has some incredible wildlife, which was amazing. We spent 11 months on the road going to some of the best countries you can visit."