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fast & furious OR slow & steady.....? fast & furious OR slow & steady.....?
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Route Planning Where to go, when, what are the interesting places to see
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  #1  
Old 22 Nov 2007
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fast & furious OR slow & steady.....?
hey folks,
just wondering what your thoughts are on pace of travel. I've read stories of people flying through the entire African continent in four months!! to me, this is nuts....why even travel if you can't stop and take it all in for a few days. Why rush? i guess they only have a certain time limit/budget./whatever, and want to pack it all in. who knows? what are you guys saying out there. Turtle or hare???

peace,
T&T
Motos Against Malaria
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  #2  
Old 22 Nov 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd & Christina View Post
hey folks,
just wondering what your thoughts are on pace of travel. I've read stories of people flying through the entire African continent in four months!! to me, this is nuts....why even travel if you can't stop and take it all in for a few days. Why rush? i guess they only have a certain time limit/budget./whatever, and want to pack it all in. who knows? what are you guys saying out there. Turtle or hare???

peace,
T&T
Motos Against Malaria
,
,
,
Hi, is 4 months a fast time from top of Africa to Cape Town ?

I thought it could be done in a lot less,
perhaps I am way off the mark though.
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  #3  
Old 22 Nov 2007
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Arrow Turtle
Hi,
Having covered Nigeria to Ireland in about 7-8 weeks in 2002, the one big lesson I learned is: don't rush. We weren't going absolutely flat out the whole time, but we did feel under pressure to get somewhere on several occassions. After it was all over, I just thought it wasn't worth it, and if I had the chance to do it again, I'd take a slower pace, spend a few more days in the places that took my fancy, and generally adopt a 'whenever' attitude.

For an extreme example of how not to do it, take a look at Messrs. Mac Gregor and Boorman on Long Way Down. Ridiculous.

Ken.
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  #4  
Old 23 Nov 2007
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well said sir !
Quote:
Originally Posted by KenKeller View Post
Hi,
Having covered Nigeria to Ireland in about 7-8 weeks in 2002, the one big lesson I learned is: don't rush. We weren't going absolutely flat out the whole time, but we did feel under pressure to get somewhere on several occassions. After it was all over, I just thought it wasn't worth it, and if I had the chance to do it again, I'd take a slower pace, spend a few more days in the places that took my fancy, and generally adopt a 'whenever' attitude.

For an extreme example of how not to do it, take a look at Messrs. Mac Gregor and Boorman on Long Way Down. Ridiculous.

Ken.


Well said sir!!
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  #5  
Old 23 Nov 2007
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slow-cooked
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Originally Posted by KenKeller View Post
Hi,
Having covered Nigeria to Ireland in about 7-8 weeks in 2002, the one big lesson I learned is: don't rush. We weren't going absolutely flat out the whole time, but we did feel under pressure to get somewhere on several occassions. After it was all over, I just thought it wasn't worth it, and if I had the chance to do it again, I'd take a slower pace, spend a few more days in the places that took my fancy, and generally adopt a 'whenever' attitude.

For an extreme example of how not to do it, take a look at Messrs. Mac Gregor and Boorman on Long Way Down. Ridiculous.

Ken.
looked on LWD site, but can't seem to find how long it took these guys? anyone know? thanks Ken, we'll definitely be taking the slow-cooked method, let all the juices and stuff simmer and stew together. After taking 19 months to ride all of the 23 countries of the Americas, we STILL wish we had more time.
Goodbyes are hard.
thanks for the input,
peace,
T&T
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  #6  
Old 23 Nov 2007
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However long you spend, it will always feel rushed. I reckon 150 miles a day on AVERAGE. Your limitation on time, other than work/financial constraints should only really be how long before you start getting sick of the road and want to head back to reality.
I'm doing UK to Oz in 7 months. I've run out of time so can't do Indonesia but happy to still ride for another 3 months. I reckon that most people have to speed up the final leg of their trips.
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Old 23 Nov 2007
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I have 4 children and a wife in the UK and am just pleased that I can make the journey! You should take however long you are comfortable with and enjoy it - if you feel the need to move quickly do so but also spend time where you want - from my own point of view it would be great to think that time and money was no object but in my instance both are.

Enjoy your trip - I may see you on route

Rob

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Old 23 Nov 2007
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I would say, just ride as far as you feel comfy. There are times when you might ride all day, others when you just might do a couple of hours, and then some you will just stay and enjoy.
The good thing is if you rush it enough you can always chill out in some third world hospital for a while.
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  #9  
Old 26 Nov 2007
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Each to his own
I would never try to tell anyone what to do as we're all different, but my preference is always to see more of less (a short trip with lots of time spent getting under the skin of where ever I am) rather than less of more (longer trips, but I only see the country either side of the motorway.

I have sometimes got this wrong, and I could list a number of long days when I have outstayed my time and had to get home/ to a ferry in too little time. Never had to do an "Iron butt" 1,000 miles and don't want to (especially as northern European roiads are less conducive to such mileages) but I've got too close for comfort more than once.

I am currently planning how to fund a year's sabatical for a long trip at my pace, but I'm also devising plan "B" which is to split the trip into bite sized portions. B is not as good, but (for me at least) it is better than rushing around and missing things.
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Old 27 Nov 2007
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Its another one of those horses for courses dilemmas - there is a definite satisfaction in covering a lot of miles, but you do obviously miss out on things you are not stopping to see. It boils down to what you want out of the trip in the end. I have come to the conclusion that the ideal scenario would be to have unlimited time and resources with no places to be or people to meet!
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Old 27 Nov 2007
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Originally Posted by henryuk View Post
I have come to the conclusion that the ideal scenario would be to have unlimited time and resources with no places to be or people to meet!

Here, here for that concept of travelling. Unfortunately, most of us (all of us?) have to compromise on this ideal with practical limitations that are externally or self imposed.
I believe that this thread overlaps with the one about the pros and cons of riding alone/with one other rider/with a group.

Nick Sanders - homepage has one approach to travelling that I am still trying to get my head around - more than one of his clients has ridden away from him along the way - and those guys who are currently on UK TV have another version (trying not to mention the latter again!!).
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