Radioman Rides the World.......

[Katoom119]

Originally Posted by Radioman

I had come to terms that this journey does not need to be continuous. Talked with another long term rider about this, and there are times on the road that you get tired out, and need to take time staying in one place or returning home to regroup before continuing. No rules in how to do this kind of long distance travel, I have found that I will need a break somewhere along the trip.

We will all see what happens!

Ride till you feel like stopping, stop till you feel like riding. You have anywhere you need to be?

It's you're trip; we're just along for the ride. PSA 46:10 Vaya con Dios.

[DRRambler]

I've been reading, watching, crying, laughing, learning for weeks following your wonderful report and heart tugging story. I could not resist....I have been assimilated, thank you for all of it!

I'll be taking 6 months to ride south in 2013 so I eagerly await each installment hoping to soak in every bit of intel.

I'm curious if you think carrying the spare tire(s) was worth the trouble. If you hadn't brought them with you, do you think there has been enough availability of tires to just buy them when and where you need them? (and save carrying the weight)

Thanks
Dave

[Parcero]

While the romance of a long-term non-stop round-the-world trip is intoxicating, the reality is that not many people can do it due to time/money/logistics. I am thankful that I can rely on modern air travel to whisk me back to family and work (and then back to my bike) so that I can do a trip in stages. It's not the way I originally envisioned my trip, but it allows me to do it now, rather than wait until "I have the time," which might never happen.

Keep having fun and stay flexible with your plans, and enjoy the fact that you can be as flexible as you want.

Originally Posted by Radioman

My adventure is fluid. Looking at my Time and Money, and the Logistics ..... I have a few priorities one was riding in India, and hopefully China. Getting my bike there has lots of challenges, so I had always considered flying to India and renting a bike as one of my options. Since I am planning to spend extra time in South America..... It allows for tghe possibility to get to India during there summer season.....

I had come to terms that this journey does not need to be continuous. Talked with another long term rider about this, and there are times on the road that you get tired out, and need to take time staying in one place or returning home to regroup before continuing. No rules in how to do this kind of long distance travel, I have found that I will need a break somewhere along the trip.

We will all see what happens!

[Ebbs15]

Originally Posted by Radioman

My adventure is fluid. Looking at my Time and Money, and the Logistics ..... I have a few priorities one was riding in India, and hopefully China. Getting my bike there has lots of challenges, so I had always considered flying to India and renting a bike as one of my options. Since I am planning to spend extra time in South America..... It allows for tghe possibility to get to India during there summer season.....

I had come to terms that this journey does not need to be continuous. Talked with another long term rider about this, and there are times on the road that you get tired out, and need to take time staying in one place or returning home to regroup before continuing. No rules in how to do this kind of long distance travel, I have found that I will need a break somewhere along the trip.

We will all see what happens!

I like this mentality. find a place you wanna stay for a bit, explore, soak in it's culture and scenery. Then, when ready press on. Especially in South America where the cost of living is cheap (so I've heard, no first hand experience) it sounds like a great way to "time" your trips for the best season in the next country you conquer.

I'm following this closely as it mirrors what I want to do in about 12 years, when I retire from the military.

Hopefully this fellow Oregonian can buy ya a beer or three.

Safe travels, and lots of memories

-Ebbs

[Radioman]

Originally Posted by AlbertaStrom

I'm curious if you think carrying the spare tire(s) was worth the trouble. If you hadn't brought them with you, do you think there has been enough availability of tires to just buy them when and where you need them? (and save carrying the weight)

First I hated hauling the extra tire, was a pain to pack up everyday and work around, and the extra weight was not great either. I would work out logistics to buy them on the road. The larger dual sport tires are harder to come by, depending on where you are, but with just a bit of planning you can do it! That is my plan going forward.

Thanks for following along!

[Radioman]

Originally Posted by Parcero

While the romance of a long-term non-stop round-the-world trip is intoxicating, the reality is that not many people can do it due to time/money/logistics.
Keep having fun and stay flexible with your plans, and enjoy the fact that you can be as flexible as you want.

:Thumb

Originally Posted by Ebbs15

I like this mentality. find a place you wanna stay for a bit, explore, soak in it's culture and scenery. Then, when ready press on.

Especially in South America where the cost of living is cheap (so I've heard, no first hand experience) it sounds like a great way to "time" your trips for the best season in the next country you conquer.

Hopefully this fellow Oregonian can buy ya a beer or three.

The cost of living is relatively cheap in SA depending on how you want to travel. I am almost 50 and the youth Hostel are OK once in awhile, but I have been there done that. Traveling with two people certainly helps keep the hotel costs down to $10-30 a night depending. You can certainly go up from there.

I have not kept that great a track on my daily costs here in SA but probably around $50-60 as I have splurged a few times on a nicer place!

Will look forward to a few beers with you!

[Radioman]

Barichara was a really cool town up on a hill. Relaxing and a great place to just stop and relax!

Or do some fooling around!





The little stores had all their goods stacked up high. Liked the way they looked.



Building materials waiting the next project. The bricks and they use round poles as roof supports.



Last photo at the top of Barichara



We are at around 5,000 feet and the terrain is great for riding. But like all of this trip you have to watch for the unexpected potholes, animals in the road, crazy truck drivers!



Someone had a bad day..... Not sure what happened.



Had a great ride....



cool sun flares on the way.



Our GPS sent us into town the back way up a rough Gravel road....



Great views....






We had a great ride to Villa de Leyva which is an old colonial town. It has the Major Plaza which is the largest in the Americas. Hard to give you a good photo :)







it was cool at night.





The streets have smaller rounded "Wobblestones" harder to walk and ride.




The kids heading to school.



Quiet place on the weekdays. Fun to walk around.



We are staying just off the Plaza at Hospederia La Villa. Cheap place $12.50 USD for a single room. My bathroom is a multipurpose. You can shower, use the toilet and shave all at once




After leaving Medellin my rear tire was slowly going flat. I had converted the rear rim to be tubeless at Woody's Wheel Works. http://www.woodyswheelworks.com/ We had diagnosed that the spokes were leaking air Did not know what happened other than I had my rear tire changed back on Medellin.

So decided to keep pumping it up until I could make a run to Bogota to get a couple of spare tubes which would fix the problem. Nagging question what happened.... Talked with Woody's and they had never had one fail....

Rode into Bogota and Edgar at Autogermania was really helpful!!



We was ready and got my bike right into the shop.



even got a free cup of coffee and BMW water



Took us into the shop after they pulled my rear rim. It is part of a large BMW car dealer.... Really upscale wow.



With quick look..... The job that Woody's did, got destroyed during the tire change. Looks like they took the strapping tape off the rim that was part of the sealing process, then the next layer just broke loose and allowed the rim to leak. Arggg!







They put in a tube, and tire back on... Back on the road again.



Ended up with a 3 hour ride in the rain back to Villa de Leyva that took us into the dark (which I have not done but a couple times as it has been my Cardinal rule. No riding at night ) But we were told the ride was 2 hours maximum :)

Just added to the adventure of the day!

[NCK]

Originally Posted by Radioman

:The cost of living is relatively cheap in SA depending on how you want to travel. I am almost 50 and the youth Hostel are OK once in awhile, but I have been there done that. Traveling with two people certainly helps keep the hotel costs down to $10-30 a night depending. You can certainly go up from there.

I have not kept that great a track on my daily costs here in SA but probably around $50-60 as I have splurged a few times on a nicer place!

Will look forward to a few beers with you!

Radioman - Very very helpful of you to continue to answer questions about costs. This is where the rubber meets the road for so many of us, and to have more information about costs allows us to build our dreams more accurately. Thank you for this!

[Radioman]

Originally Posted by hope2013

Radioman - Very very helpful of you to continue to answer questions about costs. This is where the rubber meets the road for so many of us, and to have more information about costs allows us to build our dreams more accurately.

I have read so many RR to help me, and really glad to be able to share the information that I have experienced. Of course other will have to decide for themselves what makes a great trip. For me splurging on a nicer hotel in some places, or outings is worth the money. I had actually been planning for total expenses around $100 day with transportation costs. I will try to total things up at the end and see what it actually costs.

Thanks for following along!

[Mustang28027]

I have been following along as well. I think most RRs that I have read say that 40.00 per day is a good to plan for while on the road. This includes fuel, food and also lodging. Totaling this up, to live on about $15,000 year round sounds like a pretty good deal. Dont know if it is realistic. Have to consider other things like medical care, etc, for additional costs.

Does your budget allow for staying put for an extended period of time? Dont have to go back to work, do you? While it is winter here, I assume your time there is seasonless. Sounds to me like staying there is a wonderful idea.

Dave

[Ladybug0048]

It does look pretty cool, all nicely stacked and colorful but if I were shopping there I'd be grumbling. I hope they had step stools for the less than tall people.

[drrags]

I burned more than $40/day just in gas. If you're talking about an extended trip, calculate $100/day. High mileage days takes a lot of gas. Caught after dark and you're taking a surprise $80/night hotel room. Tires, oil, border crossings, and in SA trips, crossing to Colombia. Food, beer, entertainment. Then there are the surprises, like damage to your bike that needs repair, busted luggage, clothing, gifts, things like that. When you are done and you do the calculations, you'll see that you will have averaged $100/day easily. If you base your trip planning on $50/day, you will most likely find yourself coming home sooner than you expected.

[Tall Mike]

Originally Posted by Ladybug0048

I hope they had step stools for the less than tall people.

We've got your back Bug Sister!! (we'll loan you a long reach! )
It doesn't look like earthquake country, judging be those shelves!

Looking Good Mark! Loving the adventure! (hope the knee is on the mend!)

Shiny side up, Smooth sailing!

[Radioman]

Originally Posted by Mustang28027

I have been following along as well. I think most RRs that I have read say that 40.00 per day is a good to plan for while on the road. This includes fuel, food and also lodging. Totaling this up, to live on about $15,000 year round sounds like a pretty good deal. Dont know if it is realistic. Have to consider other things like medical care, etc, for additional costs.

Does your budget allow for staying put for an extended period of time? Dont have to go back to work, do you? While it is winter here, I assume your time there is seasonless. Sounds to me like staying there is a wonderful idea.

Dave

Dave,

It really depends what the costs that you include in your per day costs. There are always things you do not expect so you need to plan for this. Also being on the road can be "hard" work, and is not for everyone. Also side trips like I am planning on flying to the Galapagos Island and taking a boat around for a week or so. Looks like it will be $1,500-$2,000 to do this, but it is something I want to do. So that really adds to the overall costs.

My trip does allow for extended stay or other options, but I am very fortunate! But at some point I will need to start a new chapter of my life including going "home" and starting over with some type of work or business. But I do not have a specific plan yet.

Hope this helps!

[SchizzMan]

Hi Mark,

Good job keeping the RR going! It's a nice easy read with good pix.

Trice and I finally got our CA tickets punched with a brief foray into Guatemala. Lake Atitlan, Antigua and Tikal before exiting for Palenque
and the ride home. Best 2 week ride of my life. Looking forward to doing
a greatly extended version in a few years. Ojala que si!

JD