Long term bike trips... HOW do you do it? (time/work/career)

[willys]

I can relate to this thing that you say about everyone westernizing......not that I'm interested in seeing nakid natives but every time you see a documentary on something now a days they are all wearing what appear to be our hand me downs. Now unless they are given clothes for the shoot and then returned to their way of life to preserve our delicate few who get offended at a nakid native with a bone through their nose .....I don't know. But it seems there are no off the beaten track sort of villages or cultures left any more. Now, I'm not about to ride off to see them but if these far out people, culture wise are wearing western garb and using some technology, what are the places we can reach easily going to look like? Perhaps Disneyland? Where they put on a show for us to see and pay for while they fleece us for cheap trinkets? I was lucky enough to go up to the Arctic when I was young for 10 days, yes still in modern times but many of the locals still used old ways to do and live their lives, many still relied on dog teams to get around and wore their native old style clothing, not store bought crap they seem to wear now. It was a treat to see and experience....something I will never forget. I guess what I'm trying to say is......go soon before everything is westernized and nothing is the way it once was.....like above stated, it will soon be no different than driving through the low income areas in the US or any other non third world country.
That is if this is what you seek for an adventure.

[Wildman]

To date, I've been able to work rides within Europe around a little business but taking a "career break" this summer (three months) to get off the beaten track in Russia, Mongolia and the Stans. I'm self-employed and having to pull some work assignments forward and push one or two back but it's not seeming impossible right now. My only concern would be (and it's a possibility) that a new contract comes along that can only be fulfilled whilst I'm planning to be away. That'd put an "opportunity cost" of lost income on the trip that would make it a real hard decision to go.

There again, my brother buried his best friend at the end of last year. 48 years old; heart attack! Carpe Diem as they say. You're a long time dead and besides that, I don't want to be sitting in my armchair in twenty years time saying "Gee, I wish I'd ridden my bike a little more"!

[willys]

You're a long time dead and besides that, I don't want to be sitting in my armchair in twenty years time saying "Gee, I wish I'd ridden my bike a little more"!

EXACTLY!!!!

[n16ht5]

I take it back. you're still young, no commitments. get out and ride a year or two. I don't think you will regret it. Work side jobs at bars, restaraunts. You'd be surprised how easy it is to find grunt work. I've never gone a week without being able to find a job paying more than $10us an hour.

[CanadianX]

I think just about everyone can build some flexibility into their lives to free up tme/money to travel go adventuring. Might have to start with looking at flex hours at work or working remotely cutting out your personal latte factor to max your adventure budget. Some decisions will require perhaps some lifestyle adjustments. My wife and I are talking about these things now. I have more vacation time and one thought is for her to change from full time to part time so we can have more time together.

You have the power to choose but may have factors like family etc to consider or it maybe how much uncertainty you are willing to accept.

In the near term maybe carving off time that works without making drastic changes might scratche the itch.

[Uglyprimate]

This WAS my plan a long time ago.

I was 21 years old. Just started trucking and soon the first wife left me.

I bought a new truck, put anything I wanted to keep in the attic of my parents house (not enough to fill a short bed Chevy) and went to work.

Within ONE year, Dad and I bought a sailboat in a permanant berth on the Colorado river. I bought a newish Jeep. He paid for the boat, I paid the slip rent and helped out the refurbishment. I took flying lessons in my spare time, kept shopping for a bike to take on the road with me. (drove a moving van, so the bike would be inside)

Within two years, the truck would have been paid off and I would work no more than 6 months a year. We would move the boat to Mexico. The ultimate plan was to vagabond till Dad retired and we'd do a circumnavigation. (his lifelong dream)

I fucked up.

I got remarried.

When I said "I do", she said "You DID"

What once involved the same dreams, but now with another partner, turned into a 13 year ordeal of getting rid of a cancerous bitch.

So fast forward to about 8 years ago.

New Plan:

Dad's retired, but Mom's health prevents him from sailing. They spend 6 months a year in camper travelling, so they're good.

I walk away from a professional career, finally got rid of the batshitcrazy woman and I'm looking at truck driving again for two or three years. No rent, no utilities, every paycheck is 3/4 savings. Enough child support saved, bikes paid for, money to travel for a year or two.

I fucked up again.

Married again and bred again. Why? Because life happens.

Now it's mortgage time all over again, child support again, credit cards, broken down appliances, lawn mowing etc...Life.

Now my dreams are down to asking the wife if I can take a week alone to go ride.

The only difference? This wife knows my plans and won't interfere. She has her goals and dreams as well. We plan for both desires.

You don't need to be rich to travel. If you live within your means, you can save easily. Any job can be walked away from except the military or probably the Space Station.

If you can't quit your job because of a car payment, sell the car.

If you can't travel because of your spouse, leave.

If you can't travel because of child support, work harder and save longer.

The question is not HOW you do it, but why DON'T you do it?

[willys]

This is exactly why, if he can jump the first hurdle, he should do it now! Before he makes the same mistakes we all make and think with the wrong head as usual! Get organized and set off, maybe not around the world, maybe just around the state, country, continent, come up to the Great White North and see it up here, who knows...maybe you will like it and decide to stay...who knows? Just do it before you wet your whistle so to speak and make a deposit you can't walk away from. Family and kids are great and all but no good what so ever if one is wanting to travel and one is wanting to breed or make a homestead all the time. Because if that is the case you will never get enough money, time, or permission to ride for a week, month, year or a few days.....so think long and hard.....now is the time....use it well.
Or forever hold your peace.....isn't that what they say as you tie the knot??? Life over as you know it...done....stick a fork in ya, your done!

[dukedinner]

Or forever hold your peace.....isn't that what they say as you tie the knot??? Life over as you know it...done....stick a fork in ya, your done!

Truth is, we guys can't live with them, and we can't live without them. Some of my friends are married and in hell, others are in bliss. So go figure. I have been lucky and have been married to the same gal for 28 years. Two fine sons. Lots of similar interests but we are also both independent and enjoy time apart..so riding by myself or with friends has never been an issue whether its one week, two, or more etc. Look before you leap and don't be in a rush would be my advice to young couples these days...

[bumblebee1]

Originally Posted by Uglyprimate

I fucked up.

I got remarried.

When I said "I do", she said "You DID"

What once involved the same dreams, but now with another partner, turned into a 13 year ordeal of getting rid of a cancerous bitch.


I fucked up again.

Married again and bred again. Why? Because life happens.

Now it's mortgage time all over again, child support again, credit cards, broken down appliances, lawn mowing etc...Life.

It woulb be interesting to hear of a woman's views on these comments.

I am free once again in about two months

[securety10]

I'm in my late 20's and one thing I am quickly learning is the more I bounce around job wise, the higher the pay tends to be...go figure. This is usually due to the fact that contract/consulting jobs tend to be fairly short, but I have no issue only working 5 months to get equal pay to someone working a "full-time" job. On the other hand if I was married and had kids I would probably prefer the benefits and security of the "full-time" gig but I also work with guys that have the whole family deal and they still do this type of work.

I'm not sure how much 'data' is behind Witold's numbers in his above post, but I think he is probably on target. I have actually been surprised be the number of people posting on here that seem to be doing this that are in their 20's/30's, I expected it to mainly be retirees or lotto winners.

Not sure what you do in the corporate world but it seems to be a lot more common for people to bounce around from job to job nowadays. My dad had been in his "career" for 8+yrs when he was my age. He's now been there 35+ yrs and climbed his way up the chain to a high level position. He absolutely hates it, wants to retire, but is afraid to with the state of the economy. He is also real worried that he will never get to do the things he wants before it is too late. On the top of his list is a motorcycle trip to AK from FL and back.

I just don't want to be in his position when I am his age, don't want to wish I had done something or not be able to due to family/money, I want to be able to sit back and recant what I did...

[bumblebee1]

Me again.

I've been giving this a lot of thought.
The most attractive aspect of riding away for a long trip is the unexpected.
I always think that it will come around the next corner or in the next town, but it can't be predicted.
The most memorable experiences are the ones that have caught me totally off-gard and lived to talk about.
Ripping around a remote dirt road and almost plowing into a moose...now that I remember.
Ya know, rocks and trees all look alike after a few hundred miles.
I have also seen a ton of pictures,videos and articles from all around the world, and it sort of takes the magic away.There's not much virgin scenery left.
If you can imagine the first white men to walk in the woods and come upon the roaring Niagara falls, now that would have been a sight to behold.
I guess I'm just pondering as to the "Why" we want to travel (slow day at work).

[rufusswan]

Originally Posted by PowerSmoke

He's now been there 35+ yrs and climbed his way up the chain to a high level position. He absolutely hates it, wants to retire, but is afraid to with the state of the economy. He is also real worried that he will never get to do the things he wants before it is too late.

Ain't my place to comment, yet sounds like your dad should be setup to retire - cut back- or some such thing. He's worried about X but can't act on Y and in the end, he'll probably regret the fact that he did .. NOTHING 'cept worry that now is not the time while worrying that when? will be too late.

[securety10]

Originally Posted by rufusswan

Ain't my place to comment, yet sounds like your dad should be setup to retire - cut back- or some such thing. He's worried about X but can't act on Y and in the end, he'll probably regret the fact that he did .. NOTHING 'cept worry that now is not the time while worrying that when? will be too late.

That was exactly my point.

He can retire anytime and get full benefits. Problem is part of their retirement was tied up in real estate (that they have owned for 20+ yrs) and if they would have sold a few years ago they'd be set, now not so much. Besides that my mom is diabetic and the insurance coverage is going to be ridiculous once he retires. I've been trying to talk him into retiring and he seems to really be considering retiring in the next year or so. I hope he does...

[MarkGS]

I quit my job in October of 2008 (was 31 at the time) and went backpacking for a year. Best year of my life.

Came back, got rehired at the old job. I don't like it. Currently it is funding one year of massage school and my next trip which will be a one year motorcycle ride down to Argentina and back. Maybe longer...

It is tenuous and risky in that the more I do this, especially at this age, the less easy it becomes to live an everyday life. But as I learned while backpacking I'm not happy unless I'm doing interesting things and taking risks on a regular basis. Once I experienced being "for real happy" there was no putting the genie back in the bottle.

[simondippenhall]

Good topic.
I started motorcycling when I was 14 (well, strictly it was a moped!) and took a 1 day road trip.

When I was 18 I had a 125 which I got to ride from Paris (where my parents lived) to Dublin (where I went to college). That was a 2 day road trip
Then corporate life for a lot of years.

Come the year 2000 I took a redundancy package (that was the internet crash) and spent some of my job hunting time doing advanced motorcycle training.

Come 2005, my next employer was taken over and I cashed in my (little) portion and, while job hunting, rode with friends from london through Morocco to western sahara...a 3-4 week trip.

Come 2008, I was on the job market again....so took the opportunity to ride from London through Turkey, Syria and Jordan to the Red Sea. A 5 and a half week trip, this time I went on my own and, if i am honest, it was even better.

So the point of all this? Carpe diem...if you can take the financial risk and are out of a job , use the freedom. Certainly countries like Morocco, Turkey etc are cheap to travel in.

My 10 cents