RTW

Anything goes, and mine's a Guinness.
Redmurty
Posts: 11717
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:44 pm
Has thanked: 337 times
Been thanked: 153 times

RTW

Post by Redmurty »

With a personal relationship on the rocks and going down the sh**a rapidly, I am in a position that I could possible be able to undertake a life times ambition (every cloud has a silver lining)of doing a long distance journey.
So my questions to those who have done it or are in the process of planning a RTW, I am looking at a start point in the planning process, the cost and what the ideal bike would be.
How do you break the news to your kids ? and how do you deal with life when you get back. I am interested in any other information that may or may not seem relavent
The funds will be coming out of my portion of the house, so to a greater or lesser degree I dont have to worry about raising the money.
cheers Spud ;)
Life... it's not a dress rehearsal



You don't waste time... you waste yourself
Bushman_uk
Posts: 545
Joined: Sun Aug 08, 2010 5:54 pm
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: RTW

Post by Bushman_uk »

Spud , lots of questions, to much for us on the road at the moment, JFDI , just feckin do it, if you would like we could meet up after our trip from around the Balkans. Not sure on what time we will be back but should be around end of july or August.
First would plan the rough route you would like to do and then find the the pro's and cons of that route
moto al
Posts: 11334
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:24 pm
Has thanked: 158 times
Been thanked: 167 times

Re: RTW

Post by moto al »

very sorry to here that,have a long think before you do anything.take care.alan,moto al
moto al
Redmurty
Posts: 11717
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:44 pm
Has thanked: 337 times
Been thanked: 153 times

Re: RTW

Post by Redmurty »

moto al wrote:very sorry to here that,have a long think before you do anything.take care.alan,moto al
Cheers Al but when the negatives out weight the positive it's time to move on. cheers Spud ;)

Plus it might just be the insentive to get off my ass and actually do my dream :woohoo:
Life... it's not a dress rehearsal



You don't waste time... you waste yourself
Redmurty
Posts: 11717
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:44 pm
Has thanked: 337 times
Been thanked: 153 times

Re: RTW

Post by Redmurty »

Bushman_uk wrote:Spud , lots of questions, to much for us on the road at the moment, JFDI , just feckin do it, if you would like we could meet up after our trip from around the Balkans. Not sure on what time we will be back but should be around end of july or August.
First would plan the rough route you would like to do and then find the the pro's and cons of that route
;)

yes please lads the beer will be on me cheers Spud ;)
Life... it's not a dress rehearsal



You don't waste time... you waste yourself
Travelling Sam
Posts: 446
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:30 am

Re: RTW

Post by Travelling Sam »

Really sorry to hear your news. But silver lining? Absolutely. My Gran used to say, ‘As one door closes, another one opens.’

The planning process though. The fun starts straight away. I think the first points are to work out how long you feel you’d like to be away. For me the key is to not travel too quickly. You risk riding past everything of interest if you do so and you risk learning little about the people and cultures. You also put yourself at risk of spending all your time battling with one the road issues, leaving little time for all the good times. I think it’s better to cover less distance and to gather more out of what you do.

Work out all the things that would be important for you to be able to achieve. Eg things to see, people to meet, places to ride, historical buildings to see and so on.

Decide what sort of riding you’d like to do. Asphalt, trails, really off the beaten track, or a combination. Decide what standard of living you are happy with – wild camping and cheapie local hotels, or something a little more um, normal. All of those things will help you decide which bike and how much the trip will cost.

In general on those two points, I think re your bike choice, ride whatever you enjoy riding and is in good mechanical nick. But do beware the carnet...

From conversations I’ve had in recent months with travelling friends your daily cost after your carnet (which depends on the value of your bike and which countries you want to ride) and your travel insurance, can be in the region of £25 a day if you can live cheap. How much beer you drink will obviously make a difference and how hard you twist your throttle the same : ) And the country you are travelling through can also make a difference cost wise in general. Having said that, travelling 1st world doesn’t have to be that much more expensive than 3rd. A mind set change will be needed though : )

Breaking the news to your kids? Hmmm, don’t have any so I’m not much help on that. But as a kid I think I’d have liked to have had it straight and would have liked to be involved in the process of getting set up. I would also have liked to have been involved as my father travelled. Lots of communication, info passed, interesting things sent back etc I think the key is not to let them feel that you are shutting them out and that you aren’t coming back. Like I said, not much help on that…

Dealing with life when you get back? That’s an easy one for me to answer. You just get on with it. Don’t come back skint!!!!! Accept that you will be a different person and that your friends and family will have changed, but not in the way you will have. Then perhaps, if youve not been able to take a sabbatical from work, look for a job where you can use the skills you have learnt over the time you have been on the road. Helps you scratch the itch! : )

Hmmm, not sure if any of this will have been of use but great that you are thinking of hitting the road. We live in an amazing world. Sorry that you are likely to be free because of your circumstances.
Willy_Eckerslike
Posts: 521
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2011 4:21 pm

Re: RTW

Post by Willy_Eckerslike »

Sorry to hear about your shitty situation, been there, done that, it does get better believe me even though right now it probably seems like it never will. The only advice I can give is to tell you that even if your kids are OK with you going away, if you can't square that away with yourself then the guilt will eat you alive while your away and you'll get nothing from what should be a positive experience. Visas, maps and bikes are the easy part, your relationship with your children is the part that takes the most work and it will constantly be on your mind if your worrying about it.
A ship is safe in harbour, but that’s not what ships are for. – Grace Hopper
Diesel Pete
Posts: 796
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 8:38 pm

Re: RTW

Post by Diesel Pete »

I'm sorry to hear about your circumstances. I've been divorced twice and the last time cost me pretty much everything I had in terms of money and "things". Nowadays, I don't have the sort of money I used to have and I certainly don't have the things I used to have, I have however never been happier than I am now. I am sure that one day you will be able to say the same.

I don't have kids so I can only imagine how you must feel but my thoughts are:

Will you be able to fly your kids out to meet you occasionally for a holiday? I am planning a trip next year and so far we are thinking it would be nice for Sue to fly out for a weeks holiday somewhere with me waiting at the airport for her.

Otherwise, Skype is great and you can speak to you kids very cheaply with a video link. How cool will they think Dad is when they see his face calling them from a desert or some such?

If it gets to much for the kids or you miss them too much you can always come home.

As for what bike, whats wrong with the Tiger? There is no better bike than the one you have as you will know its foibles and how to fix it.

This guys is two years into a five year trip on GS850, his videos are interesting [video]http://www.motorcyclememoir.com/motorcycle[/video]

Next years "Boil" won't be the same if you aren't there. You were the only other person who gets up as early as me and you were a welcome site as looked out over my orange Tiger to see you offering tea ;)

Best of luck, whatever you do fella ;)
beddowsm
Posts: 3459
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2011 4:01 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 50 times

Re: RTW

Post by beddowsm »

Id say go for it. Live the dream.

Good luck.
flipflopdog
Posts: 715
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 8:31 pm
Has thanked: 13 times
Been thanked: 110 times

Re: RTW

Post by flipflopdog »

Hello Red, basically your life’s about to improve ten fold if life at home is that bad, I bailed out of a similar situ over ten years ago, at the time I was still into suicide biking and didn’t discover adventure biking until 2006. To a degree, were all on the starting block’s ready for a potential RTW trip. For me personally the one and only thing stoping me is my kids and there age at present.I am planning or rather hoping to take off in 4 or 5 yrs from now and am at present building the bike to do it on, in the mean time some three month range of trips will keep me going..!! I think you have to decide in your heart of hearts when the time is right and prep accordingly. Read a couple of Sam’s books, if that does’t prep you nothing will...!!!
I wish you nothing but good will and luck. FFD
Post Reply

Return to “THE PUB”