Around the world starting in the UK
 

Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to plan a route around the world.
Where you can ship your bike
what countries are a no no
what time of year to leave
where the border crossings are
and many more questions i have not thought of yet.
Thanks Martin

Hi Martin,

welcome to the forum! I am sure you are at the right place to find the answer to your questions.
Going throuhg the different sections within the forum will give a good flavour of the "main" routes taken by other overlanders before:


Get Ready for Overland Adventure Travel! | Horizons Unlimited

I just finished reading this book, I strongly recommend it as a starting point on your research:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventure-Mo...ycle+adventure

It has several "route planning" chapters, divided by continent. You may find them useful.

I am sure there are much more readings out there.
Have fun!

On its way from Amazon thanks

I strongly recomend the adventure motorcyclists handbook by Chris Scott

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You can ship the bike (by sea or by air) from many places around the world. Seaports will naturally be located on the coasts, but airports can be anywhere. Getting the bike to move without you riding it is a major PITA in many ways, though, so it´s better to avoid it any time you can. (That said, I thought it was by far hardest to do, when doing it for the very first time, and every time after that, felt quite a bit easier, but it´s always a hassle).


Shorter distance is usually better to do by air, very long distance, by sea could be cheaper. But by sea it takes a lot of time, and if there are delays, they could be much longer, days or even weeks, whereas if an airplane is delayed, it´s usually just a few hours. And generally airports handle small shipments (like 1 motorcycle) quicker and easier than seaports, where huge volumes of freight are processed.


And while you could ship from/to many places, it makes sense to use the major transportation ´hubs´. Quite often your shipment will be routed through these hubs anyway, so if you want it to start from some smaller location, or go to some smaller location at the other end, it means that there will be another transport before or after it travels between these hubs. This will up the costs.


It would also make sense to use locations, where other travellers have sent shipments from/to before. Just an example: Burma has been closed for foreign vehicles for decades, and there are no passenger ferries between India and Southeast Asia. So Kathmandu Nepal <-> Bangkok Thailand by air has become a popular solution to get bikes across the Bay of Bengal. That also means that the shippers at both ends already know how to deal with motorcycles, which is a great benefit, as there is quite a bit of paperwork involved to get a bike flown on an airplane.


With shipping, doing your homework well will often pay off. It is also critical to find a good agent to deal with. Those are also easier to find, when you ship from places where others have done it before, so you can learn from their experiences. But also remember, that each shipping will be an individual case, and there are many variables, so even if somebody has had a good experience using a certain shipper on a certain route, does not guarantee it will be the same for you.


Having some faint idea, which way you would wanna go, might help to get better answers on routes, timing, etc.

Paperwork seems to be the biggest problem for this type of journey