A Dream Lies Broken
 

When 'this thing' that has since taken hold of my every waking hour was first conceived about 4 months ago, it seemed at first like a childish escape. One last adventure before i turned 30, which is obviously when you settle down, get married, have children, grow old etc. (Right?) It would only ever be a dream, or watching others travel on TV or the net. Then, as I started reading a bit into it, I started believing…. No - I was becoming convinced - that this was achievable…

My partner, Susie, and I have been planning this trip properly since Christmas, the conversations that have filled our evenings have all been about the journey or at least trip related.

We had a basic budget, and knew roughly how much we could save – I should point out that we’re living in NZ, and are to return home next year – Instead of flying back, the idea was to travel back overland. I have a Triumph Tiger1050, it’ll be 18 months old by the time we were to leave, I know it’s not the ideal bike to take, but it’s MY bike, and after initial concerns about parts and fuel quality, I had all but decided that all would be good, if we traveled mainly on tarmac.

Then, last night it all went wrong. After some (very concise – thanks) info from Keith1954 re carnets, (we’re both traveling one way remember) we decided to sit down and draw up an accurate budget. We’d reckoned that 35k NZD would be enough to complete the journey, and we could just about save (and justify – this is where it gets objective) this amount.

Anyway, it turns out that we need 51 000 NZD between us to make this a reality. Please, somebody tell me this isn’t so. The main costs, apart from eating sleeping & fuel, seems to be the carnet – I reckon the bike will be worth 12000 NZD when we leave – and the cost of flying us and the bike 3 (yes 3) times means it all adds up.

I will attach a spreadsheet detailing the costs for everyone to peruse if you wish..

Please don’t get me wrong, I am of the opinion that anything is achievable as long as you are prepared to work hard or sacrifice elements of your life-style to suit, but I think it’s more than I’m prepared to give, at this point in my life anyway.

So we will travel on the way home, yes, tour Oz, maybe a little of America, maybe not. We could have missed out bits, stopped & worked en-route, left same time the following year, etc but none of these things fit in with our longer-term plans.

Forgive my sombre tones, but i am gutted

Joey

Life is not a spreadsheet ,
Motorcycles are just heaps of metal ,take something cheaper ,
You are only 30 ,
Improvise ,
Adjust .

Well it seems a pity to throw everything away because one nights budgeting went wrong. It took me literally 3 months for me to find a shipping company who I felt comfortable with and the price was what I wanted to ship my bike over to Europe from the states. Keep searching, keep looking. there are deals everywhere. Go down to the docks in NZ, I'm sure there's plenty of cargo boats that could work with you to Australia. Or modify the trip some. You're not exactly in the best location for ease of access, but there are solutions to every problem.

What about selling your bike at the end destination rather than riding back? NZ to UK would be a killer ride, and you could spend more time exploring instead of riding back. If you planned 6-8months there and back, take that extra time and spent a week of two at every destination you felt worthy. Then sell of the bike and fly home when you're done. No reason to throw away all plans at this point, just adapt and conquer!

Good luck with your planning, hopefully you keep on keeping on. And remember, we've all had the doubts as well, so we're all here to help out because others had done so for us in our times of need.

Hey Joey,

Have you considered doing it on a different bike ( with a much lower value - therefore a much smaller Carnet) It's happened plenty of times before. People wanting to take that shiney GS or Triumph etc but, Bang! carnet! maybe a cheap twin of some kind ( especially as you say that you've already decided to stick to tarmac). Also air freight is also done off weight?? so a slightly smaller bike would mean lower costs here as well?? Also with the difficulty of getting insurance, a cheaper bike would add lees stress, in the case of accident, theft etc.

Something to think about

Anythings possible mate. keep your eye on the ball.

Some info: I am on my second carnet now. The first was issued by the Canadian Auto Assoc at a cost- mostly deposit- of over $5,000usd. The second was issued by ADAC, the German auto club. The carnet looks the same and is just as valid, However I only paid something like $250 usd! Try to look up ADAC online. I will look around for you and post whatever I find here. If that fails, just modify your route, you can still have a heckuva good time on your original budget! H.

Come on Joey - chin up - sounds like you've just had one of those evenings where you've decided to do the budget 'properly' and, if you're anything like me, you've taken the top possible price and gone with that, take a look at my budget here

Google Docs - JTR Budget Spreadsheet

the most expensive thing there (I know this is a MUCH shorter trip) is fuel - and this is because I've calculated it at more than I know I'll need, then I've gone with the top price ferry tickets etc - because for this amount of money I KNOW I'll be able to do the trip. In reality I don't expect to really spend that amount of money, my fuel budget if I do it on the fuel consumption figures from my last trip, and take into account we're in Russia for 7 days not just an average cost, drops to about £450.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is, just because it's written down in your budget doesn't mean that's what it's going to cost - there's some great advice in this thread - use it and don't let that dream slip away.

m

Joey - You don't have to complete your whole trip in one non-stop hit. Consider, like me, being away from home (England) for no more than say three months at a time, storing the bike in safe-secure locations during the breaks, e.g:

Ride #1: Jan-Apr 2009 = NZ and Australia, to Perth.
Ride #2: Feb-May 2010 = Perth-Darwin, Indonesia, Malaysia.
Ride #3: Feb/Mar -May/Jun 2011 = Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand
Ride #4: Feb/Mar -May/Jun 2012 = (ship to) Bangladesh/India, Bhutan, India, Nepal, India, Pak
Ride #5 & 6 ... et seq

Alternatively, you can simply break your trip up into two BIG chunks, with a year[+] gap in between. The combinations are, of course, limitless.

Working-earning along the way? Consider returning home to the UK or NZ (or even Oz) in-between rides and secure temporary work. Even minimum wage jobs in the modern developed world will pay more in a day than you can earn in a week, or month, along the substantive regions of your chosen route.

If you can get hold of a copy, Grant & Susan Johnsons' DVD 'The Achievable Dream', is worth a view and has some good tips. Remember, they spread their RTW trip over 11 years (1987-1998); with appropriate work gaps at home along the way whenever they ran out of money.

Just another angle I'm suggesting you think about bro - Where there's the will .. etc. You already have the bike – and the dream .. Now one way or another, go MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Firstly:

29 is nothing, you are a mere whippersnapper.

Secondly:

If you don't have quite enough money, get a loan and pay it off over the next few years. Christ, people get loans to pay off sofas. Getting a loan to pay off an incredible life experience doesn't seem all that barmy in comparison.

Matt :)

lower the value of the bike, when getting your carnet. Let's face it, the bike will worth very little once you have used it on your trip. And the carnet is not insurance, so you do not again anything by quoting a high value.

Hi Joey,
You could have a different dream.
Make the trip fit the budget, sea fright the bike to LA and go from there you don't need carnets for the Americas and it is a big continent.
You have the rest of your life to travel, do it in smaller chunks.

Mind you, if you throw the towel in this easy it's just as well because there are tougher challenges on the road.

Steve

go to australia and pick up two ct110's :) they're awesome

DONT give up. I didnt embark on my first adventure till I was 30. 30 is when you start to live. You dont have to settle down, by all means spend your life with your partner but dont follow societies norm.
Forget having kids, they have little or no future, the planet is at bursting point with resources running low and an ever expanding population. Invest all your time and money in yourselves.
Once you leave on your Adventure, and you will, settling down will no longer appeal to you. You may find new careers, a better place to live.

You will find a way. Good luck

first of all flog the triumph, get something smaller and cheaper to run, insure etc.
ship bike to states where no carnet is needed, while bike is at sea/air hire a bike in oz for a while and do some touring there.then fly to us pick up bike and like a previous contributor said, it's a big continent.
then get cheap one way shipping to europe and thats a fair old sized place that also does not need a carnet.
personally we are going to do the world tour on our bikes to places that don't need carnets and if we really, really want to see some where else we'll make some other plan. a bike is just a bike after all.
I've had as much fun on my enfield as i had on my 180 mph hyabusa! only slower:innocent:

The cost of your carnet is the non-refundable fee you have to pay to the NZAA. This is negligible. You get your bond back, which is the big bag full of money. When they issued my carnet in 1988 the money was placed into a locked account in my name and the bank paid ME interest on it. BankDirect are currently paying over 8%...

So, once you take that off your trip is affordable again.

Cheers,
Peter, formerly from Lake Tarawera.

Without dreams we have no life; really bollocks to the cost, follow the advice and get a loan/smaller bike/jobs en route. Or on the other hand don't bother, some dreams should only remain just that.
But when your 39, 49, 59... you'll REALLY regret it...

I did my sums today (again) for my Argentina-Canada trip in 6 months time. They came out all wrong and I crumbled in a heap. Than I phoned the bank and made up some stuff about home improvements. Bingo! All is well. I'm 41 (for another 2 weeks). I had all this worrisome crap about budgets before I went to Africa and that was all fine as well.

Send us a postcard!

Hiya Joey, whaddya know, another Kiwi looking to sprout wings. I too am looking at a very extensive trip on a decent bike, and came here searching for information on carnets. My gf and me just did a round trip of NZ on our Triumph, and I loved it so much I've got to get out of here. There's only so many Charlie and Ewen antics I can watch.

I am trying to convince my friend to come, and while he is very keen, money is a problem. So I have tried to put it to him in another light, please bear in mind these are random figures based on a GS1200 he wants to take. You say the biggest cost is the carnet, and if you look at it like this you might not see it as too bad.

Let's say you have a 20k bike, and I'm not sure what you're final carnet figure is but let's pretend it is 30k. Now, you could probably borrow that at 15%p.a (finance is very easy to get these days!) and use it for your carnet. Now you go away for 6 months (just a figure), don't overstay anywhere and get back with all things in order. While you are away the NZAA have invested it (they say they will do this on their site) at what you would hope would be 7% (standard savings account interest). This means that once you've paid your loan off with your refunded carnet, provided you have no early payment penalties, it should only cost you roughly $1200 of your own cash to have done this.

Now I am not a financial advisor or a wiz in that sector, but I think this is very possible and unless there is something I have missed, should make it a much better proposal. What do you think?

Mate PM me if you like and I'd love to add you to my contact list so we could chat some more about what you're doing. There's so much to figure out, can't hurt having a couple of like minded similarly aged kiwi adventurers that are trying to nut out the same problems sharing a virtual beer every now and then.

Apologies for the bullshit
 

Thank you all for the input, 24 hours makes a big difference eh? - Just one of those days i guess... :censored: Believe me, when people who have been there and got the T shirt give advice, I'm all ears...

I'd be lying if i said there aren't various other factors, all playing their part here, - side issues and other aspects that have distracted me from the important topic.

Anyhoo, we have guests over the weekend, so we've promised ourselves not to touch this subject for a few days, give ourselves time to adjust, if you will.

Thanks again for the constructive replies.

New, dynamic, Joey

p.s Coincidently, I spoke to a friend from the UK last night, during the conversation he offered that his new sofa and Tv was £4000.... Puts it into perspective really, doesn't it?

Dodger's right. Adjust.....you'll find a way.....Good luck....

Don't worry, we all have the odd wobble before a big trip. For some reason they always happen in the morning for me. By lunchtime, and one cheese and pickle sandwich up, I'm a red blooded, obsessive adventurer again (or at least I like to think so!)

Matt :)

Simple Solution
 

Don't fret my man!

You have enough cash for 1 right?

So put the bird on a plane and do a solo trip:clap:

Niallo

Man skip a few days and people want to give up there dreams. Im cheap really really cheap. I cant see how you cant do a trip on that cash.

1. As people have said get a cheaper bike and shop around a bit.
2. The Americas have no carnet. Not in the North or the South. (Fly your bike there will cheap but the USA has cheap bikes by the tone.)
3. Food and sleeping are cheap. Most places a cheap hostel can be found and if not get a tent ask around for a safe place.
4. gas prices suck no good way around it (smaller cc bike will help but your sill eating it up)
5. Ride fast threw place that are expensive spend more time in cheap places. Cheap places tend to more fun any way.
6. Refine were you want to go and places you need to go. See if you can chip off some of the carnet price that way.
7. Put the bike in storage and take a bus to places that the bike may be too price to run it in.
8. Sell some of junk you have go on a diet and work out more. You will get rid of things that own you and reduce the amount of you the bike needs to hall around, gaining stamina and cash for the trip.
9. Look around at CouchSurfing and Tent Space Sign-Up Thread - ADVrider for places to stay.
10. Dont say you cant do something ask how what you want to do can be done. Its a small thing but Im finding it helps.

Adventure Rider Motorcycle Forum is another good place for ideas. There from the USA for the most part and you will be dealing with young teens trash talk but there advice and experience is worth the time. They also have some good pics on there sight.

When is that first Baby due?
 

As has been suggested, sell off that Tiger.

Problem with this is that he won't be able to register it/insure it. Therefore riding it illegally everywhere he goes. I went through the same issues with Europe. Unless he finds a kiwi in the states selling off a bike from NZ, he's SOL. Last I checked Minnesota was the last place a non-resident could register a vehicle, and that ended two years ago.

Flying your bike as crazy as it sounds, is cheaper than on a ship. At least in my research it was.

Check Again!
 

It is quite easy for foreigners to register bikes in the USA

Same in the UK, if it already registered in the UK all you need is an address. If it's from europe you need to register it in the UK is the original registration documents, get the bike MOT (Safety Check) and bobs your uncle, registered.

Steve

As other informed folk here have stated, i'll add my own twist - "Adapt, Improvise, Overcome...". Change your kit to suit the budget. As i see things, this is a golden age of personal travel, and the near/medium future may not be so forthcoming in allowing our existing freedoms. Carpe Diem, indeed.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

When I learned to throw away my schedule and written budget, things got a lot cheaper and a hell of a lot more fun.

C

Fair enough. I suppose NY is one of the states that doesn't allow it then. When my Finnish GF arrived in the states to live, we were unable to do anything other than wait for her residency. I mean she could drive here with an international license for a year, but otherwise the DMV refused to allow us to do anything. And from other immigrant friends, we were told that onlyt Minnesota allowed anything like that.

Glad to hear I'm wrong, I didn't agree with what I was told in NY.

Flag surprise
 

A Rhodesian flag, now there's a flag I haven't seen displayed for a very long time.

Can't send you a PM as I've got less than 8 posts....

I'm, ex- Salisbury, went to St Michaels, Hartmann House, & St Georges. Durban and Capetown,

now in UK

PM me for a catch up if you can.

You must do it
 

Ok mate I have read your concerns, whats your route, do you need a carnet??

I have just travelled through many countries in Africa and now in Dubai and I got all the way here with out a carnet and everyone told me its NOT possible, I made it no worries, bit of ingunity (mind the spelling) at times but I made it, if you want to camp a bit keeps costs down, so with fuel and food I spend about 40 Aussie bucks a day, this includes everything from visas to new tires, since there are two of you it will not be doubled due to one bike so maybe around 60-70 bucks a day perhaps, depends how you travel I guess.

Which country you in, UK? so if you do get a carnet go down the road of the insurance option for the carnet, cost you about 700 quid then. Devalue the bike a little. There are many options mate.

You must do this trip, and face any problem that is put in front of you, I been on the road for 18 months now, Malaria Twice, maggot grew in my leg, held a gunpoint by drunken soilders and now here in Dubai my bikes been stolen, but I must go on!!!

Its all apart of it

Cheers

Robbo

He's got it bad though. I'm 54 and plan to cross Russia in a £60 Lada Samara.

Got no money, but stuff that. It's bears I'm worried about.:(