Dreaming of a motorcycle trip to distant climes? This section will help you to plan your trip, whether it's to the next state, country or all the way around the world! Start here!
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive video guide for planning your motorcycle adventure. Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
You could just get on a plane with your credit card and passport and buy or rent everything you need when you get there. That includes the bike, riding gear, etc. etc.
Gear Up! is a 2-DVD set, 6 hours! Which bike is right for me? How do I prepare the bike? What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers! "will save you a fortune!"See the trailer here!
So you've done it - got inspired, planned your trip, packed your stuff and you're on the road! This section is about staying healthy, happy and secure on your motorcycle adventure. And crossing borders, war zones or oceans!
On the Road! is 5.5 hours of the tips and advice you need to cross borders, break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Tire Changing!Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
With an HU blog, you'll get a lot more readers than in some obscure corner of the web, it's all set to go, no setup required, and it's free! Start your Travel Story Blog right now!
800+ HU Communities in over 115 countries! People who want to meet travellers - yes that's YOU - and can provide local assistance, and may be your new best friends!
Make a DifferenceTips on fundraising or donating time and energy to a cause.
After the big trip - Was the trip the best - or worst - thing you ever did?
Resources and Links
Horizons Unlimited Presents!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
"It has me all fired up to go out on my own adventure!" See the trailer here!
Meet people who don't think you're crazy for wanting to ride your bike to South America or across Asia! They will encourage you, share their experiences and advice on how to do it!
We're not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown a hobby into a full time job and a labour of love.
When you decide to become a Member, it helps directly support the site. You get additional privileges on the HUBB, access to the Members Private Store, and more. Of course, you get our sincere thanks, good karma and knowing you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. :-)
All contributions are gratefully appreciated and acknowledged.
T-shirts, Calendars, Stickers
T-shirts Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Calendars Featuring the 13 winning photos from the Horizons Unlimited annual motorcycle travel photo contest!
World Map Sticker for PanniersShow your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Travel BooksMotorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
Videos - Watch and Learn!
Horizons Unlimited presents!
Achievable Dream The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
"The series is 'free' because the tips and advice will save much more than you spend on buying the DVD's."
Advertisers- Horizons Unlimited is well-established as the first source of reliable, unbiased information on all aspects of adventure motorcycle travel.
We reach a dedicated, worldwide group of real travellers, and are the only website focusing exclusively on long distance motorcycle travellers.
If you sell motorcycles or motorcycle accessories, riding gear, camping equipment and clothing, transport motorcycles, organize motorcycle tours, or have motorcycles to rent, you should be advertising with us!
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Birds congregating on a window sill enjoying the weather
We took a break from the historic centre to enjoy the weather along the boardwalk by the coast
The warm sun is coupled with the cool breeze coming off the Adriatic Sea. It's such a lazy day, taking a slow stroll along the coast, while people-watching and peering over the waterfront into the deep blue waters.
These marbled steps are part of a large experimental musical instrument/sculpure called the Sea Organ
Waves lapping towards the shore hit 35 harmonically-tuned tubes underneath the concrete boardwalk, forcing air up through whistles in the sidewalk above. You can see the whistles on the top step in the picture above. Depending on the size of the wave and which tube it hits, a series of notes are played either singly or in chords.
The benches near the Sea Organ are arranged into the corresponding black and white keys of a piano
Nikola Bašić, the artist who created the Sea Organ, also designed another sculpture nearby, called Sun Salutation. It's a huge round circle of blue photovoltaic cells that charges up a bank of batteries throughout the day. When night falls, it releases all this pent-up energy in a dazzling display of disco-inspired lights.
Cool reflections on the Sun Salutation
Like all the towns along the Adriatic, Zadar is one of the stops for cruise ships
Not that we were trying, but it's lucky our visit to the historic centre was between cruise ship stops. Just can't handle the crowds spilling out of these behemoths!
Sphinx of Zadar - a little known tourist attraction
Neda found out there's a Sphinx in Zadar! A local artist built it in 1918 as a memorial to his wife. It used to protect a goldfish pond between it's paws, but the pond has long since vanished. The sculpture is tucked away on one of the beautiful estates in the Bay of Maestral just outside the historic centre, and we saw it while riding around town. I hope we get to the see the bigger version in Egypt one day.
Neda planning out our next steps on the Adriatic coast
Ever since leaving Chiang Mai, I've been in charge of our route all throughout SE Asia. Such a relief to relinquish the reins and have Neda do all the planning and logistics. It makes sense, since she speaks the language, but it's really nice just to relax and follow for a change.
We're slowly heading south on the Adriatic coast, taking our time to see all of the small towns along the way. We really have to thank the Pula Girls, Iva and Tajana, for organizing our route, they were invaluable in pointing out stuff that's not on the "Top Ten Things To See in ******" lists on all the tourist brochures and websites.
Everytime we book into an apartment, we make sure to pick up some groceries along the way. We've been making our own meals a lot more since getting back to Europe, since it's cheaper. But Neda loves cooking so much, so it's a win-win situation.
As we get closer to our destination, I spy a grocery store ahead.
"Let's stop in that one", I radio to Neda.
"No. That's a Lidl. It's German."
Just a Lidl bit picky? I don't say this out loud. Instead, I just agree, "Ooookey..." A bit later on down the road: "How about this one?"
"No, Carrefour is French."
CaresNot for Carrefour. Got it. "Okay. How about that one over there?"
"I don't know where SPAR is from, but it's not Croatian. We're in Croatia now. We have to go to a Croatian grocery store!"
I get reminded that Neda is a Pula Girl too...
Far from being a nationalist, Neda just likes going to a grocer that carries all the brands that she's familiar with from her childhood. What we've discovered while traveling is that you don't have to eat at restaurants to get the local flavour. Sometimes it's enough just to shop at the neighbourhood grocery stores and see what ingredients and spices the locals use.
What makes it more special is that in Croatia, I have a personal Croatian chef using authentic Croatian ingredients!
Arriving at our apartment outside of Šibenik
As usual, we are staying in a neighbourhood outside of Šibenik (SHEE-ba-nik), just an hour away from Zadar. Yes, we are redefining Slow Travel. But the Adriatic is one of Neda's Bucket List trips, so we are savouring it. And the weather is co-operating beautifully!
Neda gleefully unpacks her Croatian grocery goodies like a kid at Christmastime. She's making mackeral with blitva, a Croatian specialty!
Edit: Neda says, "Please do not send me fish for Christmas."
There's a ceramic stove/fireplace on the right behind Neda. I thought this was an interesting-looking appliance. It's called a Kachelofen, and although I've seen it in a lot of Croatian houses, it's actually German in origin. It's a masonry heater - the fire inside heats up the bricks around it, which is then insulated by the ceramic tiles and it stays warm for quite a long time to continuously heat up the entire house. Cool. Er... Hot!
After lunch, we ride out to a little-known spot that the tourists don't know about
Rather than just visiting the historic centre of Šibenik, we are going to hike a little (just a little - I was promised!) on a trail that's known only to locals called Šetnica (SHET-Neet-Sa).
Parking the bikes. Across the St Ante canal you can see Šibenik
Trail starts off low, but quickly climbs to get a better view of the canal and the town across from the trail
It's not a long walk and the trail is beautifully paved and winds along the ridge of a hill
The terra-cotta rooftiles of Šibenik are so Mediterranean!
Something I always do when I pass by these tourist pay-telescopes is to have a quick peek through them just to see if anyone has left some time on it. It's silly, I know.
To my surprise, this one was still working. I checked and it *was* a pay-telescope. Sweet! Free telescope-time!!! I'm so cheap. I put my iPhone up to the eyepiece and took a picture. Because in addition to free stuff, I also like taking pictures.
The days are sooo long here. Late aftenoon and still plenty of daylight!
The trail is frequented mainly by local hikers and bicyclists.
It was only completed a couple of years ago, and I think the city would like more tourists to know about it, but I'm glad all the literature isn't up to date yet. I like being the only foreign tourist around. Kinda hypocritical, I know.
The trail is 4.5 kms long one way and terminates at the St. Nicholas Fort, but we're getting hungry and want to make it to the old town before sunset, so we turn around before we get to the end.
The historic centre is not one of the best along the Adriatic, there are grander ones towards the south in Dalmatia, but we're actually here on a mission.
Iva is an avid foodie and she asked us to review this restaurant for her
It's taken "Best Restaurant in Croatia" awards multiple years in a row and since Iva hasn't eaten here yet, she's asked us to see if it lived up to the hype. We haven't been to a fancy restaurant in forever, so it was fun getting all dressed up and fussed over by the wait staff.
The food was good, but I don't know if it's the Best Restaurant in Croatia. We've eaten at better places. So we'll have to send a Skip-It review back to Iva. And then it's back to home-prepped meals for us.
Watching the sun get lower in the sky. So much daylight here!!!
While we were walking around the old town, this guy stopped us and asked, "Are you Gene and Neda traveling around the world?"
Wow! Dino is a local scooter-rider and is into anything two-wheeled. He and his girlfriend saw us pull up into town and he immediately recognized us from our blog! We talked about motorcycles and our trip for a while. He wanted to take a picture with us and of our bikes. We felt like celebrities! We always find it fun to talk about our travels with people.
On the way out of town, Dino snaps some riding shots of us
And when we get back home, I found this in my inbox! Hvala, Dino!
If you are wondering how I take all those pictures while riding, here's my secret!
Totally enjoying this lazy pace through the Adriatic!
Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's thelist of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now, and add your information if we didn't find you.
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers!
break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Show your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Motorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
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