The Dufresnes

The Pan-American Highway is the ultimate overland journey — Alaska to Argentina, tens of thousands of kilometres, and a connectivity challenge unlike any other trip on earth. Here's the honest truth up front: no single eSIM covers the whole route, because you're crossing three of the world's regions. What works is either regional eSIMs leg by leg, or — for the multi-month reality of actually driving it — a Holafly Plan that follows you across 160+ destinations on one subscription. This guide lays out both, with the real prices, so you can plan connectivity for a trip most people only dream about.

Code THEDUFRESNES = up to 30% off (5% off regional eSIMs, 10% off monthly Plans). 👉 Get connected for the journey · New to Holafly? Our complete Holafly guide.

A note on our experience: we haven't driven the full Pan-American ourselves, so this is researched guidance — though we've spent years living across Central America (Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama) and traveling Mexico, which is a big chunk of the middle of this route, and we've drawn on that where it's relevant.

Why no single eSIM does the whole route

The Pan-American spans three distinct connectivity regions, and Holafly (like every provider) sells coverage by region:

1. North America — Alaska, Canada, the USA, Mexico
2. Central America — Guatemala down through Panama
3. South America — Colombia to Argentina (after the Darién Gap, which has no road — the one stretch you ship or fly around)

There's no "Americas, top to bottom" single eSIM. So you have two sensible strategies, and for a trip this long, one clearly wins.

Strategy 1: A Plan for the whole journey (usually the best call)

Driving the Pan-American takes months to years, and that changes the math entirely. A Holafly Plan covers 160+ destinations — including essentially all the countries on your route — on one subscription, with unlimited hotspot (essential when you're running a rig, multiple devices, and often working or blogging from the road):

• Monthly Unlimited: $64.90 → $58.41 (10% off) — cancel or pause anytime
• Quarterly Unlimited: ~$52.79/month (up to 20% off)
• Annual Unlimited: ~$566/year (~$47.17/month) — up to 30% off

For an overlander out for six months or more, the annual Plan works out to about $47.17/month for unlimited data across nearly the whole route with unlimited tethering — far simpler and cheaper than stacking regional eSIMs leg by leg. This is the honest recommendation for most Pan-Am travelers.

Strategy 2: Regional eSIMs, leg by leg

If you're doing the route in distinct chunks (say, the North American leg this year, South America next), regional eSIMs can fit:

North America regional (Alaska/USA + Canada + Mexico) — priced above the single-country ladder:

• 30 days $97.90 → $93.01 with the code
• up to 90 days ~$234.90

Latin America regional (18 destinations — Central and South America, Guatemala to Argentina):

• 30 days $97.90 → $93.01 with the code
• (see our Latin America / South America guide for the full ladder)

Both share about 1 GB/day to another device. Note that two 30-day regional eSIMs already run ~$186 — which is why, past a couple of months, the annual Plan pulls ahead.

For the middle of the route, we've also got firsthand-informed country guides: Mexico and the Central America stretch we lived in.

Coverage reality on an overland route

This is the trip where coverage honesty matters most, because you'll spend real time genuinely off-grid:

• North America — excellent in cities and along the main highways; Alaska's interior, northern Canada, and Baja backroads have long empty stretches.
• Central America — good in towns and along the main Pan-American route; mountainous and jungle sections drop out.
• South America — strong in cities (Bogotá, Lima, Santiago, Buenos Aires); the Andes, Atacama, Patagonia, and Amazon fringes are sparse to none.

No eSIM or local SIM changes this — it's terrain and tower density. The move is to treat connectivity as excellent-in-populated-areas and plan for offline in between: download offline maps for every leg, carry paper backups for the truly remote sections, and lean on Always On (1 GB/month free backup across 150+ destinations) as a safety net when your main plan is between cycles.

What you'll run it on

• Navigation — Google Maps plus offline maps (iOverlander is the overlander's staple for camps, water, fuel, borders, and mechanics)
• Border-crossing info — requirements shift by country and season; real-time research between legs matters
• Translation — Spanish the length of Latin America, plus Portuguese if you detour into Brazil
• Comms home — WhatsApp over data; keep your home number on your own SIM for 2FA
• Working/creating from the road — the unlimited-hotspot case for a Plan

Pan-American FAQ

Can one eSIM cover Alaska to Argentina? No — the route spans three regions. Use a Holafly Plan (160+ destinations, one subscription) for the whole thing, or regional eSIMs leg by leg.

Plan or regional eSIMs? For a months-long drive, a Plan (annual ~$566/yr, unlimited hotspot) is usually simpler and cheaper. Regional eSIMs suit doing the route in separate chunks.

Does it work in remote stretches — Patagonia, the Andes, Alaska's interior? Cities and main routes are well covered; genuinely remote terrain has gaps with any SIM. Carry offline maps.

Can I run devices from the rig? Plans Unlimited gives unlimited hotspot — the right choice for a rig with laptops and multiple devices. Regional eSIMs share about 1 GB/day.

What about the Darién Gap? There's no road between Panama and Colombia — overlanders ship or fly the vehicle around it. It's a logistics gap, not a coverage one.

Get connected for the Pan-American

Code: THEDUFRESNES

• The whole journey (months+): a Plan from $58.41/month, or annual ~$566/yr (~$47.17/mo), unlimited hotspot
• North American leg: North America regional, 30 days $97.90 → $93.01
• Latin American leg: Latin America regional, 30 days $97.90 → $93.01

👉 Get Holafly for the Pan-American Highway with THEDUFRESNES

Plan connectivity by the leg or by the whole haul, download your offline maps, and drive the greatest road trip on earth knowing exactly where you'll be connected — and where the road goes quiet.

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