Hi All,

On behalf of Grant, Susan, Sam and myself, I'm very pleased to announce that the HUBB UK event page is now online and pre-registration is open.


For the complete picture of what this brand new event is all about, who it's for and what you can expect when you get there, please visit the main HUBB UK page here.

Here are the headlines...

HUBB UK is taking place from Thursday 30th May to Sunday 2nd June 2013 at Donington Park Farmhouse Hotel next to Donington Park Racing Circuit.

It's an event for overland adventure motorcyclists, cyclists and expedition vehicle drivers, and it's the successor to the old Summer UK Travellers' Meeting.

Our nominated charity for the 2013 event is Prostate Cancer UK.

Over the four days, there'll be more than 200 sessions of presentations, demos, workshops, Q&As, challenges and competitions, with many presentations being repeated to make it easier to see everything.

We're inviting presenters to submit their ideas for potential inclusion in the final event schedule, which will be organised in five themed “HUBB Tracks”.

From today until 31st October, the price for a full 4-day event pass is £45.

There are no camping fees and no parking fees.

When you pre-register there's an option to offer a little of your time as part of the Volunteer Crew.

The venue has two bars, excellent value food, free WIFI in the main buildings, HotSpot WIFI and 10amp power hook-ups in the campsite, and plenty of toilets and showers that are open 24 hours a day.

We'll be posting regular event updates in this thread, on the Facebook event page, and you can also follow the hashtag #HUBBUK on Twitter.

See you there!

Iain Harper
HUBB UK Co-Organiser

We're excited to see that there's a brief mention of the HUBB UK event on page 4 of today's edition of MCN...

The HUBB UK page now includes a section where we'll highlight a selection of the overland adventurers who'll be presenting at the event.

We're delighted to start things off with Colin Pyle, Tom Allen, Danielle Murdoch, Pete Gostelow and over 3.5 tonne 4x4 specialist Rich Clafton.

We'll highlight more presenters over the coming weeks and months as their submissions come in - along with more additions to the Adventure Travel Zone and HUBB Zone.

Just a quick reminder folks.... there's only a month left to pre-register for the HUBB UK event at the £45 rate (saving £30). The price per person goes up to £55 on 1st November.

All the info and links to the pre-registration forms are here.

Just updated the HUBB UK page again following confirmation that Land Rover World magazine will be in the HUBB Zone and its editor will be giving presentations about winching and recovery plus travelling with children.

Long-distance cyclist Jon Slade will be presenting too, along with intrepid Unimog adventurers Merv and Sarah Colton hosting a live webchat from somewhere in South America.

With 230 days to go (and only 19 until the pre-registration price goes up), the HUBB UK event page has been updated again....

The irrepressible Chris Bright has confirmed he'll be presenting a talk on motorcycling in central Asia, Russia and Mongolia. Chris has been a popular presenter at many HU events in the past and we're really pleased he'll be with us again at the end of May.

Joining Simon Ward-Hastelow from Land Rover World magazine will be Toby Savage with a presentation about his epic 2,000 mile journey across the Sahara with two 1943 Jeeps, retracing routes used by the Long Range Desert Group in WW2.

Kaapstad Adventure Motorcycle Tours are going to be in the Adventure Travel Zone and the 4x4 Overland Forum will be in the HUBB Zone.

If you haven't pre-registered yet, don't miss out on the most discounted rate of £45 available until 31st October.

Next week we're hoping to be able to make an announcement about something that's brewing in the background and which will be fantastic news for the event, for everyone who'll be there, and for Prostate Cancer UK. More on that as soon as we can.

We're delighted to announce Adventure-Spec.com as the new sponsor of the HUBB UK event in 2013.

As you'll discover on their website, and on their stand at the event itself, Adventure-Spec manufactures, distributes and retails the very best parts and accessories for adventure overlanders. Based in West Yorkshire, the company was co-founded by Dave Lomax who's been a loyal supporter of Horizons Unlimited (and an ever-popular presenter) since our very first UK event over 12 years ago.

Adventure-Spec is providing financial support for HUBB UK, along with extensive event promotion, an adventure cycling clinic, several fantastic presentations, the donation of a £500 Klim voucher to the charity raffle in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, and a 3-day adventure riding holiday in Spain for the winner of our prize draw.

They'll also be screening 'Adventure Motorcycle Morocco' and bringing along their sponsored Enduro rider, Graham Jarvis, to give demonstrations of his incredible bike-handling skills and offer some expert instruction about off-road riding techniques.

As part of our effort to make HUBB UK the most enjoyable and inspiring Horizons Unlimited event ever, a great deal of work has been going on behind-the-scenes over the past couple of months to secure an event sponsor.

We'd therefore like to express our grateful thanks to Dave and his team for their generosity and continuing support.

And even more good news today....

Husqvarna Motorcycles have just confirmed their booking for the Adventure Travel Zone - fantastic!

The good news just keeps on coming....

James Cargo Services - the motorcycle shipping specialists - have just confirmed they'll be in the Adventure Travel Zone.

Jupiter's Traveller, Daniel Rintz, is going to be coming over from Germany to present at HUBB UK about his journey overland to New Zealand and his forthcoming feature-length documentary.

The Rider's Digest and the International Motorcyclists Tour Club will be in the HUBB Zone (where the bike show will also be taking place on the Saturday afternoon).

We're also very excited that round-the-world adventurer Sarah Outen is hoping to call-in via satellite phone from somewhere in the Pacific as she rows solo from Japan to Canada where she'll start the next cycling leg of her expedition.

Work on the event schedule is well under way. If you're hoping to present a talk, workshop or demo at HUBB UK, please get your ideas submitted via the 'Presenters' form as soon as you can.

An important reminder.... Today is the last opportunity to pre-register for HUBB UK at the most-discounted rate of £45 per person. The website will switch-over to £55 at around 11pm tonight (UK time).

All the latest event info is here and the main pre-registration form is here.

Recent news includes Zen Overland and Xpress Bike confirming they'll be in the Adventure Travel Zone, and Ted Hely (TouringTed), Zebb Penman, and Iain Nicholson all signed-up to give some great presentations.

Seb Leeson and Kim van Aerde from Belgium will be coming to the event too. As well as giving a couple of different presentations, they'll be making HUBB UK the official start point for their next journey to Mongolia. We'll be having a big send-off for them on the Sunday morning.

The HUBB UK schedule is going to include three 90-minute discussion sessions - each one about a different region of the world. The idea is to provide an opportunity for people who've travelled in each region to share their experience and advice with those who are planning trips and have lots of questions.

Each session will have a moderator to help things along, but other than that they'll be completely open and very informal.

We'd like to leave the choice about which regions get covered entirely up to you, so we've set up a simple voting page here.

Just pick the region you're most interested in and click the button. The three regions that get the most votes will be the ones that go in the event schedule.

Thanks.

Those of you interested in improving your photographic skills will be pleased to hear that a practical photography session is going to be included in the HUBB UK schedule.

To set the scene, probably on the Friday, Seb Leeson and Kim van Aerde will be giving a presentation about how to take better travel pictures without expensive equipment. Then the next day, Ken and Kristina Binns will host a practical session where you can try out different techniques using your own camera equipment and get advice on how to improve composition, make better use of light, etc.

Seb, Kim, Ken and Kristina are all professional photographers, so both sessions will be fantastic opportunities to learn from the experts.

Make sure you bring your camera along.

200 days to go!

I've been a bit quiet on the updates front lately - apologies. Recently started a new job and things have been manic. Anyway....

There are now just 136 days to go to HUBB UK and only 17 days left to book your place with the £20 discount. We'll be leaving the current rate open until around 11pm on 31st January, so everyone who's skint after Christmas (like me) and looking forward to their next pay-day will have a chance to pre-register. The price per person goes up to £65 from 1st February.

As you may have seen on the event page, there's been plenty going on since my last post.

Debbie Simpson & Iain Patterson, Annette Birkman, Craig Iedema, Will English and the "irrepressible" Ed March will be presenting.

The Adventure Travel Zone is filling up, with Continental Tyres, Overland Magazine, Adventure Overland UK, Frog Island 4x4, Overland Junkies, Stahlkoffer Panniers, Adventure Peru Motorcycling and Argan Tours all joining the trade stands previously confirmed.

Sam and I were also delighted to get the news at the weekend that Ted Simon will be at the event - talking about the Foundation created in his name and the travellers it supports.

At the last count a couple of days ago, there's only one hotel room left at Donington Park Farmhouse for anyone seeking on-site luxury rather than camp-site simplicity. Details of how to book (direct with the venue) are on the event page.

130 days to go and 11 left to book with the £20 discount.

All the on-site hotel rooms have now been taken. If you're looking for nearby alternatives to camping, the Thistle Hotel or Premier Inn at East Midlands Airport are probably your best bets.

The list of presenters has grown again. Norman Magowan, author of Leprechauns in Latin America and Leprechauns in Alaska, will be giving a talk about getting your adventure into print - explaining the process and pitfalls of writing and self-publishing. Plus Jupiter's Traveller, Dom Giles, is going to presenting about the advantages and disadvantages of travelling alone, two-up and in a group.

Also pleased to report that the Land Rover Classic Campers club will be in the HUBB Zone, where Frog Island 4x4 are planning a series of practical demo's.