RTW Route Planning
 

I'm planning a trip to wander the world for a few years. My route is only approximate, but I thought I'd post it here in case anyone has advice, or is interested in what I am planning.

Here is a map approximating my route. Dates shown are only guesses. The route is meant to show only the generic direction I will travel, not the exact countries I will visit. The route through Africa will depend on the political situation at the time. The route through Asia will vary based on time of year, but will hopefully include the regions noted.


https://docs.google.com/drawings/pub...A&w=1222&h=623

This map is about as detailed as I had planned to get preparing for this trip. The exact route will be determined only so far ahead as is necessary to (a) plan ahead for visas, (b) plan ahead for shipping the bike, and (c) keep moving forward at a pace sufficient that I accomplish my goals before running out of money. I should have funds sufficient to stay on the road a minimum of 3 years.

Comments?

A few comments to get the ball rolling
 

Looks like an amazing adventure, I'm very jealous. How long do you think it will take? Do you have the funds to ride for 3-4years? I guess that's how long a world trip would take without stopping.

I can't really comment on America or Africa as I haven't been there (yet) but here is my two bobs worth to get the ball rolling.

Europe: Is it worth spending some time in Scandinavia. Norway has some amazing coast roads, arguably the best in the world.
It doesn't look like you plan to visit much of Italy, but the Dolomites are well worth a few days.

Indian Subcontinent: It looks like Bangladesh is on your route, I'm not sure how it is to get into Bangladesh with a bike... I would check this out, failing that Nepal is a must visit.
The leg through Northern Pakistan, along the KKH will probably be the most expensive part to get through China. I understand from fellow riders that the few days will cost you US$1500 per person. This will take a chunk out of our beer kitty.

Australasia: I'm not certain but I think East Timor and Papua New Guinea are no go zones. Also, since you're going to Australia, you might as well see more of it than just the east coast. Go inland, see the real Australia. And if you go south, don't miss Tasmania, absolutely the highlight of Australia by motorcycle.

Also all up I see about 10 passages requiring either air or sea freight. I think that this will really start to hurt the hip pocket. If possible you might want to consider trying to reduce the number of times you freight the bike. If you estimate the cost of the bike and you to fly 10 times then at US$1000 each time it adds up to a lot of beers, or tanks of fuel (gas).

Let us know how your plan progresses.

Papua province Indonesia, to Papua New Guinea, to Cape York Australia....... I think that´s going to be very tough to do!!

And there may be some ferries in Indo (when they depart, is anyone´s guess, though!)... but to cross from Indo to PNG, and especially from there to Oz, it´s more likely to be a private yacht or something like that, which you´ll need to arrange once your there. Good to keep in mind there are no ferries between Oz and its northern neighbours.

East Timor seems do-able (..well, most of the time!) and from there, you can ship with Perkins as cargo to Darwin and fly. Kupang, West Timor, may have some small like shrimp-boats going to Oz in the dry season.

Me, I would include Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Malaysia into that itinerary (and western side of Indo is just fantastic, too, so its not a big shame, if you "have" to go through there!)...

In southern Africa, if I could I would make a loop to Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, and then find my way northwest to Victoria Falls, which is worth a longer detour. I don´t know how Zimbabwe is right now, but you can visit the falls from the Zambian side, too.

Norway is great, when the weather favors you, though Scandinavia in general is quite expensive. But if you dont stay very long, maybe it doesnt affect the budget so much on a trip like that.

I clearly was not clear enough the first time: This Route Is Approximate. It does not represent an exact list of countries! I may not visit some countries that seem to be indicated, and I will not miss some others that are not indicated!

I actually hesitated to post this particular map. It represents the ideal, my most ambitious plan. But I figured start there, get feedback, then whittle it down to the reality of what I will actually do.

Funds: I should have sufficient funds for 3 years minimum, possibly 4+ years if I am careful with money and/or reduce ocean crossings. The side-journey to Antarctica is another very big expense I want to do if the timing works out, but is one I will have to revisit once I see how fast I am going through my funds. Once I am on the road and see what my actual expenses look like I will have a far better idea of how long I will be able to travel and to what extent I need to simplify the trip.

Indonesia to OZ: Seems I have a bunch more research to do, I had not looked closely enough at that leg. Thanks!

OZ: I would like to spend more time in OZ than is indicated, but my funding will almost certainly be running very short by that point. I'd hate to do it, but I may drop off New Zealand to visit more of the continent. And Tasmania, thanks for the suggestion!

Africa: I should note that I hesitated listing any route at all through Africa as I plan to vary it based on the political situation when I am there. I had forgotten about Victoria Falls, that is a location I would like to see!

Europe: Europe in general is an expensive place and will eat up my funds fast. I do hope to spend more time and visit Italy, Scandanavia, and a bunch of other locations, but I'm not certain if I can afford to.

Thanks for the feedback all!

Yikes! Thought I could avoid China on that route, but clearly I was delusional. I'll have to revisit that. Thanks for the warning!

+1 on seeing more of Australia, would be silly not to do the full circuit or at least not get into the centre or see Tassy.
Work an extra 3 months if you have to but don't miss the South Island of New Zealand. Leave your bike in Oz. Take a soft bag to N.Z and rent a bike for a week or so to reduce shipping costs.

Shipping to India from UAE or Oman
 

I noticed you aren't going through Iran/Pakistan. I understand from other members on this forum that the shipping directly to India from middle east is expensive and Indian port customs are more bureaucratic than land customs. I suggest you also spend a bit more time researching the best way into India. There is a lot of info on shipping to India, here are a few links to get you started:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...oman-uae-21170

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...possible-23163

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...to-india-35947


Enjoy the trip planning, it can be long and tiring when you all you can think about is being on the road but it is very exciting.

East Himalayas, SEA and Oz
 

A great way to start is sketch it out, then grab the threads and good ones here to be sure.

I'd strongly suggest don't miss Bangaldesh, the East Himalayas and the 'beautiful Bhutan" - it's worth the effort.

Why miss Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia ?? cheap as chip and such amazing peoples and places.

Oz, count on 15,000km minimum, tropical hot and wet to alpine cold - you'll have a ball.

Over-plan then go with the flow -

Cheers n Ride Safe
Frank.

Two reasons:
(1) No matter what route I pick, people will say "Why miss xxxx?"
(2) I had to pick something to post, and honestly I don't know here I will be that far into the trip....

My major alternate route includes those regions (at the cost of Japan, and possibly Mongolia as well).

No worries there, seems to be my philosophy in life!

I've been planning my trip for almost 3 years. I met my girlfriend last year, told her about it, and immediately picked up a passenger.

She's Portuguese, and we're planning on spending the winter in Portugal (2012-2013). Look us up if you're around there are that time. It seems like you might be.

Here a a few versions of my route:

Trip - Google Maps

Wordpress Route (Part I) - Google Maps

Looks like a fantastic trip, I do hope we can meet up on the road!

I like the chart you put together on your route planning page for temperature by country. Interesting way to lay it out! But out of curiosity, do you realize that Bolivia in December is the middle of the wet season?

Rockwell I wanted to PM you but it won't let me until I have 5 posts.
I'm planing a similar trip leaving fall 2012. If you ever pass by Montreal let me know, I would be very happy to pay you a drink and discuss routes.

Sorry for Hijacking your post Othalan.

Oh, knowing where to go isn't my problem at all. The list of places I want to visit is far larger than my budget. This route is designed to pass by what I currently consider to be the high points on the list of places I want to go. I also read blogs periodically to get new ideas, so my list is actively growing.

One question from my side:
Quite many seem to travel from west to east. Why this way? Why not from east to west?
Is it due to climate (easier to avoid rainy seasons) or something else?

Fantastic question, it made me think a lot about my route decisions.

Climate is a unquestionably big factor in deciding where I go when, but it doesn't really decide which direction I travel. Just as easy to make plans in the reverse direction, especially with the type of wandering route I am planning.

The reasoning I used is somewhat like this:

• Several destinations in Europe are listed equally as my #1 destination on this trip, but it is a very expensive place to travel. I thus do not want to start there so that I can practice traveling frugally before arriving.
• Asia (southern portions) and Africa (except Egypt for the Pyramids) hold the least interest to me. I thus do not want to start with either of those.
• My starting location is thus South America, Australia, or Russia/Mongolia.
  • Australia & Russia/Mongolia both involve shipping the bike immediately, and I would like to ride away from home.
  • South America involves only a short boat ride around the Darien gap.
• THUS: Start with South America.
• I want to arrive in Europe relatively early in the trip, but I need to be there May-September roughly for good weather.
• I could arrive in Europe directly from South America, but it makes more sense to travel up through Africa for many reasons.
• THUS: Next up is Africa and Europe
• From there, I just need to look at the climate to determine where I will go next.

Now, I should note that I consider all of this subject to change.


For example, if shipping directly to Europe from South America would save me $4000 over shipping to South Africa, I would probably do that and adjust my route accordingly.

Or if I decide I absolutely must get to Russia/Mongolia early on, I could go there after South America, and travel west to Europe, then south through Africa.

I have also considered trying to work in Europe for a year working as a Software Engineer so that I can both work up more money and spend more time in an expensive place I am looking forward to visiting. If I do that, it could change everything about my route from then on.

I may even decide to completely ditch all the above and rework my route from scratch.

Nah mate, I think you got it a good way already. Leave from home put on some pretty big miles up to Alaska and back and work out all the bugs in your setup. You have until the border with Mexico to tweak and restock with cheap online motorcycle parts. After that, things only get more expensive and harder to come by. You'll have some good travelling "fitness" by that point.

If you are all dialed in already and are watching your cash, then a straight beeline to the wonderfully inexpensive Central and South America may be something to consider.

Also, North America to South America to Africa is a good way to transition culturally and from developed countries to less developed. If you go the other way, South America seems very well organized after Africa which can be a bit of let down if you are still seeking early stage developing country adventure or a plus if you are looking for the opportunity to recharge a bit.

The most common shipping method from Buenos Aires to South Africa is with Malaysian Air Cargo.

Happy riding.

I had almost forgotten that in my early reasoning. I was originally thinking of the Alaska leg as a shakedown trip, with repair & maintenance before I enter Mexico.

I was recently debating this exact topic. It would be nice to have Alaska as a Shakedown trip (and because I want to go there!), but the money I'd save by heading directly south would give me a lot more freedom in Europe and/or later in the trip. It'll probably come down to what my actual finances look like closer to when I leave....

Thanks for the feedback, MountainMan!

NA is indeed generally expensive, although if the shakedown trip is pretty high on your list of things to accomplish, you could also flash it in late spring and return to work a bit more and compile more cash.

It can however also be done fairly inexpensively if cash is tight and you are commited to camping. As you can imagine the wild camping opportunites in B.C. and the Yukon are almost limitless. Can be tough though in bad weather, the allure of the warm hotel room is hard to pass up if one isn't set up to camp in the rain.

Regards camping - which might be a good option, especially to bring down costs, for example in Europe, N.America, Australia, even parts of Africa - in South & Southeast Asia accommodation is so aplenty, and cheap, that I would actually consider sending camping equipment home (or somewhere, where I was going to need them again). Climate does suit camping, especially in the dry season, but they don´t usually have campgrounds, so you´d need to wild camp, and in densely populated areas a good spot, where there is no-one, could be tough to find except in some mountain areas.

I don´t necessarily mean that this would be a security threat, but for me, it would be frustrating to have 20-100 people staying next to your tent, and staring at everything you do. Park your bike anywhere in India, and wait 10 minutes, and you´ll see what I mean!

Here´s an example from South India (I think this may be from around the 5 minute mark, ´cos you can still see the bike... :rofl:)

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/...2/low_6083.jpg

Fantastic picture! Makes me want to caption it "The Gathering", or perhaps "There Can Be Only One (of those bikes in existence)" or maybe "Now just watch this little red light for me (while I convince you that is a motorcycle and not an alien spaceship)". :biggrin3:

Hmm, I must be awake far too long now to find that as amusing as I do....

Odd thought though. I'm used to traveling here in the USA where it almost seems a commandment: "Thou Shalt Ignore That Which Is Intriguing".

As for camping: I am planning on taking along camping gear and will use it frequently in the USA & Canada. Some people keep meaning to camp but end up in hotels anyways. I seem to do the reverse most of the time I travel. Though I'm a bit unusual in that I don't usually cook when I camp.

That is already factored into my finances however. Not because I need to camp to afford the trip (I don't by any stretch of the imagination) but because I know I will do it automatically.

I have no clue how much I will be camping once I'm out of the USA. I've also never been on the road more than a month at a time, which could easily change how often I am willing to camp. Sending the unused gear home (or onward) is a great idea which I will definitely keep in mind!

On our trip from Europe to Oz 3 years ago (that photo is from this trip, and there´s more at: www dot moto1 dot com / blog ) we sent plenty of stuff, like warmer riding gear, our cooking device, etc. home from India and I think also from Thailand. Took some time to arrive, but we were still travelling, so no problem. And they arrived intact, but I wouldnt send anything of high value by regular mail.

BTW, an Indian mail office (in general!), and how they´ll wrap your packages into a sort of woven fabric, and make the seals into it and everything, is like a trip back in time, and an experience in itself!

edit. I don´t like how the browser converts direct links to look like, especially this one, because it adds Scandinavian letters, that might not display correctly everywhere, but for your convenience, here it is (and that site is not mine, its a magazine´s site, that I´ve written to):
[url=http://www.moto1.fi/blog]

edit-2. ^ ok then, seems it´s not working... Reason #2, why I don´t like to put direct links!! (But I don´t mind, if you put up one, if you know how to make it work!) I probably should put it in my signature.

Although very nice of you to try to not pimp your own site, I'm pretty sure people wouldn't mind you putting in an active link. Unless you're doing it for some other reason, of course.

And sheesh you look like my brother-in-law. It's downright scary!

Othalan
 

I don't mean to be the turd in the punch bowl... I was just wondering you say you think you have enough money to go at least 3 years maybe 4+ years. How much money are you planning on having in order to do this? I realize I'm about to get lots of responses from everyone about well if you camp, if you eat here, if you see this tourist thing, if you don't go there,if you kill your own food, etc. I know it varies tremendously. It seems you've researched this more than I, and already have a number in mind. I am planning roughly the same trip as you, happy to say just as vague as yours! Though I don't plan nearly as many jumps, and probably won't visit as many expensiveish places, I was wondering what the number you came up with. Thanks so much for your help, and maybe I'll see you on the road this summer!

I actually have no clue how much money it will take. I can walk you through the process I used, but you probably won't be satisfied with the result....

First, a lot of my decisions are based on my own experience from past travels. I know I have a tendency to camp. I know I almost never cook my own food, but always find the cheapest restaurants (preferably ones that I can get 2 means for the price of 1). I know I will drink alcohol periodically.

I've also looked into estimates of what it takes to travel in various parts of the world and separated the world into 4 "tiers" of countries, based on cost estimates by others and modified by my own travel style. For typical daily expenses (NOT visas, insurance, cell phone SIM cards, shipping, maintenance, etc. etc.) I came up with the following list. I have no clue how accurate it will be outside the USA.

Tier 1: $60 - $100 / day
The expensive parts of Europe

Tier 2: $40 - $80 / day
USA, Canada, Europe (less expensive), Northern Asia (Russia, etc.), Australia

Tier 3: $30 - $50 / day
Central America, South America

Tier 4: $20 - $50 / day
Africa, Southern Asia

I then planned out generically how much time I want to spend in various parts of the world to get a first cut at how much money I might need for the trip. Then I started planning some possible routes to find out more realistically how much time I will spend in each location. Then I start connecting those routes to the above numbers. Then I add in funding for things like shipping between continents, maintenance, visas, touristy things, the carnet, etc.

In the end I come up with a list of numbers that give me a goal to reach before I leave. It is incredibly generic, but it gives me something to shoot for. Here are some of the ranges of funds I come up with using the above, varying route and daily expenses:

2 years: $29k - $80k
3 years: $48k - $105k
4 years: $80k - $160k

Not very helpful is it?

My actual funds also took a severe hit recently: Selling my house was a lot more expensive than I expected because of the bad housing market.

How long will my money last? No clue. I am 100% confident of 2 years. I am 70% confident of 3 years. I think there is a reasonable chance of 4 years if I am careful, or my numbers are overly pessimistic.

But all of that could change. I might decide to skip Australia to spend more time in Europe. I might look for work while on the road. I might have been pessimistic in my cost estimates. I might even delay leaving so that I can work up more money.

No acutally that was really helpful! Thank you. I obviously need to sit down with a calculator and do some math, which I hate, but at least I know where to start now. Your trip sounds amazing, and from what I've heard from people who have actually gone RTW "GO NOW" you'll always come up with reasons why not to leave, not enough money, need more things, need more practice, personal relationships etc. Especially about the money, I've been told it's better to just go, you won't regret that you didn't stay home and make more money first, once you're out there! Best of luck, and I might be following your trail out of Colorado shortly!

I'm actually the opposite: I'm not looking for an excuse not to go yet....I'm looking for an excuse to go now, in spite of the fact that I have not yet reached my target funding for the trip I want. The trip has reached critical mass and will not be stopped.

As for planning ... Work up a spreadsheet to do the numbers for you. That way you can plug in different numbers and see what happens to your trip. Makes the math rather fun that way.

Hope to see you on the road!

Haven´t been all around Africa, only the southern parts... but I think the continent in general is actually not as cheap as south&southeast Asia. Some parts of it might be, though. So maybe Africa should be divided into areas, or be put on tier 3 on your list?

Also the difference in costs of living between Western Europe and cheapest parts of Asia could easily be more than 2- or even 3-fold.

All of the above daily costs are a gross generalization for the purpose of planning. For example, I happen to know from experience that I can travel the USA on $30/day if I want to.

I don't have the patience to research travel costs for every single country independently. I also cannot assume the worst possible case as I would then never have enough money for the trip. Nor can I assume the best or I would run out of money. So I make ridiculous generalizations and hope the errors balance themselves out.