Early days yet as I piece this together, but wanted to get some route/timing advice.

I'm planning a 1 year RTW trip and am flexible on leaving dates, and routes. I want to see a lot of the world, want to go where the roads and environments are tougher. Want to leave from my hometown and will probably skip Central / South America, which I love, but I've been there lots in the past. Here's what

I'll be traveling alone, meeting up with friends along the way, and hopefully making new ones as I go. A mix of camping and cheaper hotels. KLR650.

I'm thinking:

April/May/Jun - leave New York and travel across the US. Trans Eastern Trail, then the Trans Am, then the Continental Divide and from there into Canada and Alaska

July/Aug - get the bike to Russia (where?) and head over towards Europe, passing through Mongolia.

Sept to Jun - get the bike to Africa. Can I ride through the middle east, or is it better to ride into Europe and cross into Morocco? Then I'd like to spend 6-8 months essentially circumnavigating Africa.

Obviously I havent nailed this down yet. Just wanted to get some early advice as I prepare.

Thanks
NY-Lon

Syria is definitely no-go at the moment, and probably will remain so for the foreseeable future. And it´s bordering Iraq (northern Iraq is do-able, but most other parts sadly are not), which in turn is bordering Saudi-Arabia (VERY hard to get visas), which in turn is bordering Yemen (not insane, but quite risky at the moment as well, kidnappings etc). So there you have the Middle East quite nicely blocked from most overlanders for the time being! You´d probably need to go by sea from Europe to Egypt, for example.

I would follow the situation in West Africa carefully as well. The threat of kidnapping, for example, seems to be going up after the latest developments. Not saying you won´t have any of that risk on the eastern route down from Egypt, though.

Australia - Southeast Asia - Indian subcontinent - Iran (OR instead of Iran, from Pakistan to China then via north side of Afghanistan) - Europe, or the other way, Europe to Oz., is also a very nice route option to consider.

Sounds like a great trip, as you say, you haven't decided when you're setting off yet, so remember that things change in countries and regions....

How and where are you planning to ship your bike out of N America? Prices vary a lot as do time frames ie shipping your bike out of Vancouver as opposed to flying it out of Anchorage.

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Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo

Ack, I managed to not subscribe myself to this thread...
Sorry for the slow reply.

The biggest question I'm still stuck on is Russia/Asia - can I cross it East to West, realistically (I'll be solo) starting in August?

I'm not really going to be ready to ship my bike from Alaska before July, by the time it shows up is there a way to cross Russia/Mongolia etc, or will I be too late in the season. Is there a do-able route that's warmer/southerly? Eventually you get down to the himalaya, and it will be monsoon season there.

I had wanted to ship my bike from Alaska to Eastern Russia, but if that's logistically tough, I could ride BACK across the US, or Canada, and ship it from New York to Europe, so I can get to Africa. But then I likely miss out Russia/Mongolia etc, unless I ride out there, and then double back.

I don't know why I'm so obsessed with traversing Russia.

Any help welcome.
NY-Lon

PS. Tiffany - are you really from Lands End? I grew up in Hayle...

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WineAndWater. RTW - Raising money for Wine to Water, supporting clean water projects in 15 countries.

Some thoughts..

Why tour your backyard (USA, Canada) when you can do that on a shorter holiday? Use the year off for places that are distant?

As you suggest it may be better going the other way - ship to Europe, tour Europe (UK through northern EU, eastern EU, Greece, Turkey (north hemisphere spring, summer) then go across southern EU to Spain, then Morroco on to western Africa.. possibly to the bottom ('South Africa' the country) then up the east coast (south hemisphere spring, summer autumn) ... then Russia through to the ferry to Korea (north hemisphere spring, summer) Ship home from Seoul (to west coast USA)?

Good call on not spending TOO much time in my backyard. I do want to put in quite a few miles around here, as the TAT trail etc will get me ready for the tougher riding, and teach me to be self sufficient in a more controlled environment.

Europe is my "backyard" as well, so I wouldn't spend too much time there, if I shipped the bike to the UK.

UK to Aus would be cool too - tons of diversity on that route, and I'm assuming a summer UK start, winter (southern summer) Australia finish would time it perfectly.

The reason I'm trying to do the route backwards, is that my girlfriend will join me for the last few months in Africa, so I want to end up there.

The 2 questions I'm still stuck on:

- What's the easiest route across Russia, and when can I ride it? I think its the Southerly road from Vladivostock, which is all asphalt now? And for season, between June to Sept seems reasonable? Can anyone confirm?

- What's the right "season" for Africa (thats why i put season in inverted commas...)? If I pass through Morocco and head down the East starting in the Autumn it will be cooler in the desert, and I can pass through Central Africa after the rainy season ends.
BUT...on my way back up the Western side, I can't figure it out. If I leave South Africa in January and head up the West, finishing in Egypt around April/May, what's the weather likely to be like along the way?

Thanks

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WineAndWater. RTW - Raising money for Wine to Water, supporting clean water projects in 15 countries.

Me and my pal Mark rode RTW East to west from UK across USA then shipped toVladivostok and rode across Russia back to UK - this was in 2011 and some questions you have might be answered in my blog. If you start here
Round the World in 80 Ways: Office Work

This starts in Seattle - there is a long bit in Vlad as we were stuck there for a month waiting for the bikes (long story) but if you follow the blog it may give you an idea of timings etc

Martin

Martin - Fantastic, thank you. I'll pick through your posts.

Now, if someone can help me figure out the seasons in Africa, then I'm set!

Thanks
Philip

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WineAndWater. RTW - Raising money for Wine to Water, supporting clean water projects in 15 countries.