So for many years now, I've been wanting to ride a motorbike around the world. It almost happened a just before Covid, but got put on hold for various reasons, the majority of which were other peoples ideas and plans that I agreed to at the time. It felt right at the time.
I reckon, so far, I've travelled to around 56 countries. Mostly for work, sometimes for fun and others just to tick a box in my head. There are 195 countries in the world apparently, so I'm a third of the way through that list.
Since 2024, (and the end of the whole world closure because of the very dodgy Covid situation), I've been working towards selling up everything in the UK and finally setting off. I've almost completed all of my contractual obligations at work. I've handed over all of my volunteer roles to others and all I have left to do is decorate the house and choose my mode of transport. My thinking is that my family history shows most of my family passed on around their mid 60's. With modern processed food, (ie full of preservatives that I've been eating for years now), I reckon I might scrape it out until mid 70's ish. So that gives me around 15-20 years left on this little blue ball. I've worked pretty much since I was 12, so a long time. Its time to go have some fun.
Of course as I write this post, we have an orange twat in the US trying to start a war with Iran/China/Mexico and everyone else in between. We have Klaus Schwab and his multi government cronies trying to lock down the entire world for their personal gain and to satisfy their horrible globalisation ultra control needs and we have the UK being sold off to anybody with a ounce of coin, whilst its society sinks into the mire of radicalism, racism & selfishness. So world stability isn't the greatest and if any of the above come to desired fruition, I've no doubt I'll end up stuck somewhere unplanned and maybe even with restrictive funds, which could seriously hamper having any fun!
Meanwhile, in the land of hopefulness and positivity, (in my head I mean!). I've been researching and making plans. I have a vague route in my mind, which I've committed to map images below, mainly for reference as opposed to reality. I also mapped out the No Go areas in the world at the moment, (Red = No Go, Orange = No roads), and I've been collecting a lot of country by country info into one really big Excel file aptly named 'Overlanding Stuff' (Last count was 67.5GB of data).
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Within that file, I've split the world into continents, then countries. Then for each country file, I've downloaded GPS map images, visa/permit info, places to visit, real time blogs/reports and Facebook based info that is relevant to whatever country. I hope to use some of the many off road routes available o the internet, such as the Trans Euro Trail, the Trans Morocco Trail and whatever I can find.
Sticking points at the moment are the idea of a Carnet de Passage. This is a worldwide vehicle insurance scheme. Its really expensive and only needed for certain countries. Kenya & India are two examples. There are two parts to the insurance. One part is the bond payment, usually a fixed amount and based upon your vehicle value at purchase. This is held by the issuer and you get it back when you shut down the Carnet, provided they haven't had to use it. The other is the cost for each country you add to the Carnet. Now, for Europe and a lot of Africa. You don't need one. You buy third party insurance at the border, which is often worthless, or you do without and travel as carefully as you can.
Another sticking point is one that has a lot of variables. Which vehicle to take.
My last trip was in my Landrover Defender. This was a deliberate choice. I wanted to see what travelling for a long time in a 4 wheeled vehicle was like as its been a long time since I did that. It's easier than on a bike in a lot of ways, but more expensive at borders etc. (It's the same price for the Carnet as my bikes and the Landy all cost roughly the same amount at purchase). It is also more restrictive as to where you can go, even with a 4x4.
Bikes give you more freedom. That sense of freedom is important to me when travelling. You experience the world first hand. The wind, the temperature, the rain, the smells etc. Its more dangerous and exposed, so it heightens your awareness of your surroundings. Bikes are also easier to fix or get them to somewhere to be fixed. You also carry a lot less kit.
Measured against that thinking is questions about fitness. Riding a bike takes effort. It takes an amount of fitness that you do not need sat in a metal box. Your responses need to be sharper, you need to be mentally stronger, you need more stamina and you need more control over your emotions. Things like navigation, problem solving etc, there are no hiding places to chill and relax whilst you try to sort something out. You can't carry as much food or water and fuel capacity is much smaller. All of which mean you have to stop more often. That leads to interaction with locals. This is both a positive and a negative. But either way, it takes energy.
So, the final question actually becomes a simple one. Cost vs Practicality. A bike makes absolutely no sense when all the variables are calculated. The positives of a 4 wheeled carriage outweigh the difficulties of a 2 wheeled vehicle every day.
Yet a bike would still be my choice. That sense of freedom and the effort required are some of the reasons why I want to do it that way. My innate stubbornness, the need for that sense of freedom and the idea that I'll be a stronger person because of facing those difficulties, actually makes me choose the more difficult path. Life is rarely easy, when it is, most of the human race loses focus, forgets the why. I'd rather not follow the trend I see around me in this so called 'civilised first world civilisation'. So, bike it will be. Now which one. The 450cc, 115kg version or the 690 150kg option?
I have the rest of this summer to decide, but at the moment, the 690 is winning in my head as I've already done a lot of trips and miles on it and know it intimately. It is also already set up as I want a travel bike to be. But 115kg bike weight is a powerful incentive as picking up 150kg + luggage is a painful experience multiple times a day!
