The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
Hello
Just an update of what I have been up to since moving back from NZ,
My partner Ferdie knocked together this explanation
This is the grand idea. We would all like to have the time and money to buy a new shiny bike and travel the world for years. However most of us have jobs that we endeavor to keep, kids, a dog and a mortgage to boot. We are intending to present a budgeted, incremental, ‘less covered’ style that we feel has merit in a world of mammoth round the world trips. We feel that newcomers to the world of Adventure Riding are daunted at the most common method. We are here to put across another variation on the theme- exploring the world one place at a time.
We have still have intentions to save up and do a big RTW, I am really trying to convey to Ferdie the pure joy of jacking your job in, and riding off into the sunset, experiencing amazing countries, and the contrast of shithole border towns and tough tough days in the saddle.
Ferdie: On my motorcycle holidays I would normally go round the UK or maybe Spain for two weeks on my bike. Though time kind of limits how far you get before you have to turn round. I’m not saying these aren’t adventures because I’ve had a smashing time in the Pyrenees. But I wanted something more of a culture shock. More than the labels in the supermarket being in a funny language. Somewhere the menu wasn’t amusingly translated. I wanted to go where all the ride reports & talks take me. However, it would mean a year plus off work and tens of thousands of pounds to ride round the world and visit all these far off places…. So that was that, I took my 2 weeks annual leave and visited the Pyrenees again.
After knowing Fern a while her talk of prior adventures started me wondering if you could just fly in to these far away places and rent a bike and explore for a week or 10 days and have a mini moto adventure on a budget. Do the tourist bit and bounce. I was pleasantly surprised when after a bit of research that it was doable for about a grand each, on 3 continents. So after a bit more research I booked 2 flights to Thailand. We had 4 months to get the other bits together international driving licences, travel insurance etc.
Well there isn’t much else to do really, you have to look at a few places on Google you want to visit, make a rough itinerary. We don’t ordinarily book anything up in advance other than the flights. It’s more of an adventure that way, not knowing where you end up each night. Just go where the bike takes you.
Google, Booking.com and other websites like skyscanner make it so easy to arrange everything yourself.
So to recap. What is the Grand Idea…
Bikes £20/£30 per day – £250 (10 days)
We tend to choose 250cc honda bikes as they are electric start, light weight, have off road tyres and are good on fuel (200km+) and are cheap. As little as £18 per day in Thailand.
Food/bed/fuel £20/30 per day – £350 (14 days)
While riding we normally stock up the tank bag with snacks, biscuits, fruit, crisps every few days. Stopping at roadside huts, cafes and grills for lunch. Thailand was about £1 each for lunch. Then pushing the boat out for dinner and spending £2/£3. Morocco was a bit more.
We tend to ride wherever the mood takes us, off road, on road into the unknown. Then once sufficiently tired just pull into a town, quick swipe of the phone hotel app, see what we like and just turn up.
Fuel is cheap enough and in Morocco and Thailand. About £5 to fill the bike average and run 200km. Some days we used a tank and a half, other days less than.
.
Flight £400
You will be amazed at the variations on getting to a place. For Thailand it was cheaper to fly via China and we could still fly into the north and fly out of Bangkok for less than £400 return.
Morocco, the budget carriers like Ryanair and Easyjet are reasonable if you are flexible, as low as £100 return.
Peru. Flights to Peru had a varied price range. You could get there for £495 if you were willing to fly to France the night before, back on yourself to Amsterdam the next day and after a wait, onward to Lima. We chose to fly via Columbia changing at Bogata to Cusco for £680, as this was a night flight and would put us in Machu Picchu country the next morning.
This is the grand idea formula!!. It’s no secret, but it was surprising how many people didn’t realise it could be done so cheaply, without hassle and to much preplanning.
We take all our stuff in a big 90 litre kit bag each. Helmets, jackets, boots, tools, tubes, clothes cameras etc.
This is RTW Patchwork adventure lite. Not having to get the bike ready for shipping, insurance, import paperwork the list goes on. It’s just getting on that plane with a book and sandwich In hand and smiling when thinking how many border crossing u will be missing out on flying there. I feel that riding a bike for 2 weeks round a country without a tent, huge panniers with tyres balanced on top, deadlines, bureaucracy and border crossing is to be admired. (Ferdie)I’ve travelled the West Coast of Africa in a hurry and found I saw more of Morocco while bumming about on a bike for 10 days than I did while overlanding to my distant destination. And as you have guessed border crossing were not my fondest memories.
If your currently planning a RTW Trip this probably isn’t the method for you. Lol. I jest fern and I are truly planning to go around the world on our own bikes at some point . Life just keeps getting in the way. I often worry I will never have the time and money or crucially both. So while we wait for our inheritance or pensions we are engaged in fly and try before we ride or die.
Ending
I’m convinced that in life you can have either stuff or experiences and over time I’ve noticed the stuff weighs you down, making the latter evermore unattainable.
Light weight and exclusive, maybe memories are the best thing you’ll ever have.
Last edited by fernando; 07-03-18 at 12:53.
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
On the HUBB (where I know you're a regular Fern) some people have done tallies of what their RTW has cost them, and the general consensus is it's between $40-80 a day depending on how frugally you want to live. If you wild camp, live on pot noodles and do minimal daily mileage on a small bike that's your lower end. The upper range is using a more conventional RTW tool and a mixture of hotels and camping, doing moderate daily mileage. It all adds up, if you're moving you're burning fuel and if you're not you're probably paying rent/hotels.
You touch on something that's an issue for many people as well, how to finance it in terms of time and money. Some people just sell everything, go to live on the road and away for years. That's a bit too hardcore for my tastes, and if someone's got a career, mortgage and family it'll never work for them either. Hence a growing number of people doing a RTW in segments, riding their bike to a destination over the space of a few weeks, paying to store it and flying home to resume work, then coming back the following season to pick up the route. I've heard of people hiring bikes for a fly-drive holiday as well, but never point to point. If you can make it work it's pretty cool - certainly the problem with doing a RTW in stages is things like carnets and MoTs run out (most countries say your bike must be legal in its country of registration to be legal to ride there).
Myself, I'm planning to be boring and conventional, buy a conventional RTW tool (Not a BM though!) and finance my trip out of savings. Had the career, got the house, just a question of when the savings are available and I've got the time.... it's already pencilled in the calendarAnd I won't be going "RTW". To do that means a lot of hassle and expense ferrying your bike over major ocean crossings, and when you're in the US I find it hard to imagine the notion of Adventure Riding when you're never more than an hour from a McDonalds. If you just want a touring holiday there's so much you can do in Europe without the expense of going miles away. There's a great loop you can do across Asia that will scratch my itch, and I don't feel I need the bragging rights of saying I've been all the way round.
Keep us posted on how you get on, love those stories
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
Really? Clearly its very 1st world compared to parts of Russia / Asia but I'm sure there's plenty of places where you can get yourself more than a tank and some jerry can's distance from a fuel station. It kind of brings up another angle. Where does motorcycle touring stop and adventure riding start?Originally Posted by Tomcat
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
Very good question and one I've often asked myself. I don't think there's a simple answer, except maybe "somewhere you can't just get on the mobile and dial up an air ambulance".
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
when I first started riding my GN125, getting to the Norfolk coast seemed like the end of the universe. Just a tank full of fuel, no phone, no 10p to ring dad if I broke down.
As to adventure, I quite often in the UK carry on riding like a nana on trail rides. I'm so used to riding in countries where there is no air ambulance or phone signal to call for help. In Morocco I had to brief the lads who kept tearing off like hoons that there was no backup, and basic hospitals were a long way off whilst we were in the Sahara.
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
Yep, I'd buy that one. For some though, its not the potential peril, its the spontaneity and the unknown, neither of which require knobbly tyres. I've always fancied crossing the emptier parts of North America. I don't think the experience necessarily needs wild camping, just taking say, 15 - 20 days with a notional route would be enough of an adventure in my book
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
does anyone know how to properly embed you tube vids into this forum?
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
When you write a post there is a little icon in the row above the input box, one of the icons near the right-hand end looks like a ladder (or film). Click on it and paste your YT link into the dialogue box it pops up. If the preview of the video doesn't come up edit the link to "http" instead of "https".
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
I've toured bits of the western US in a 4x4. Some parts certainly feel pretty remote, not Siberia remote but remote enough for a wus like me, and the scenery is spectacular. The advantage is that a motel/burger/bar is usually available at the end of each day - a plus point IMO.Yep, I'd buy that one. For some though, its not the potential peril, its the spontaneity and the unknown, neither of which require knobbly tyres. I've always fancied crossing the emptier parts of North America. I don't think the experience necessarily needs wild camping, just taking say, 15 - 20 days with a notional route would be enough of an adventure in my book
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
we've posted our Thailand and Morocco write ups to our website if anyone is interested.. I'm still trying to proof read the errors and sort things out on the website so apologies for the editing.
https://grandideauk.wordpress.com/thailand/
https://grandideauk.wordpress.com/morocco/
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
I did the same in 1999, and as Jack says, easy access to fuel, food and somewhere to sleep is very handy.
Re: The grand idea, round the world 2 weeks at a time
AAMOI treat yourself to a copy of 'Blue Highways' by William Least Heat Moon. It's a travel diary by a guy who converted a van into a basic camper. Blue highways are US unclassified roads.
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