I have read her biography and yes what a girl, more camels than motorcycles but she got about rather a lot.
My own inspiration was Jupiters Travels which I bought from a service station on the M1 on my first long motorcycle trip to Scotland, it did take me another 15 years to actually get out of Europe though.

My inspiration, back in the mid-Noughties, was a couple of books:

1. Good Vibrations: Coast to Coast - by Tom Cunliffe.
2. Backblocks America - by Gareth Morgan. Soon after reading that book I met Jo Morgan (Gareth's wife, and co-author) ..

.. and then I was really hooked.

Shortly afterwards, a 42,000 km ride in-and-around 39 US states and 7 Canadian provinces followed. A sensational adventure for a parochial-minded Cornishman like me at the time (2007-08).

Ooh arrr!
.

__________________
Right Way Round ...

Hi all,

I think the boys have come in for a lot of stick, but this certainly inspired me!

EWAN AND THINGY (EPISODE 1 of 9) PREPARATIONS - YouTube

Happy trails,

Peter

__________________
Atlas Overland - Specialist adventure tour company providing off-road holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts in Europe and North Africa.
Tours to Morocco, Iceland, Arctic Circle, Portugal, Alps, Pyrenees, Eastern Europe, Corsica, and UK weekend tours.

This will be an odd inspiration to most I'm sure

My reason for starting to travel, was the birth of my little boy Ben who was born at only 23 weeks gestation, after months of touch and go (I cannot even talk about it 6 years later) and visiting him at far away hospitals I was left nearly 100% numb so after that, the fear of doing something completely alien to me, going out of the UK was not so scary after all.

Now all I think about is planning my next trip around working full time.

Too give them there due they still had to put the miles in and that ain`t easy ,
and watching the LWR on a wet winter Sunday with a few cans and your travel mates, always gives you a good laugh and makes you feel like a hero (
(and who of us when we are tired and in the shit would love too of had a backup truck)

zebb

www.motoloco.eu

also look up Wilfred Thesiger the first European to cross the empty quarter in Oman

[QUOTE=*Touring Ted*;400238]
Funny Ted, I had the same experience. Had the idea already, but when I saw those guys doing it I knew for a certainty that I could pull it. So can't help but love them for it.

Still haven't actually gone much of anywhere tho..

__________________
bugsonmyboard.org
two wheeled wave hunting dispatches

Mondo Enduro all the way!
I never watched the long way around because I always knew BMWs were for c**ts, so a couple of rich actors doing a travel program on BMWs didn't exactly appeal to me. Someone recommended the Austin vince stuff to me saying it would be right up my street, but I think I decided that if they'd made a film about it they were probably wankers. About two years later I was looking through a mate's dvd collection and spotted Mondo enduro. I watched it the same night and I think within a day or two, or possibly that same night, decided I was going to do a proper long distance trip the following summer.

It was the can-do attitude and apparent lack of detailed planning or attention to rules that got me. I didn't need to be inspired to travel, I needed to be shown that if you ignore all the nay-saying, micro-managing, safety obsessed losers, it's actually quite easy to go pretty much anywhere you want.


On my Mongolia trip I probably came across as a Mondo Enduro fanboy, but in reality I used a DR350 because it does stand out by a mile as the best cheap, low-tech smaller capable trailie, and the rough camping and lack of 'proper' bike luggage/clothing etc was what I'd been doing for a couple of years anyway.

__________________
UK to Mongolia 2009, on a DR350

haha ! Hold back why don't you...

They're going to throw Touratech branded rotten tomatoes at you at the next HU meeting.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

It's a lot easier when your hotel is pre-booked for you, your bike manages to service itself and you've had someone to lubricate you through all the border crossings.

I do love a good E&C thread.

I stayed in a place those hosted them in Malawi on their LWD. The owner loved to tell everyone how the support crew arrived two days early and set up the tents on his back garden when all along they were staying in a 5* private cabin on the cliff overlooking the lake..

True story..

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

bullshit! no more stories. you're wrecking it.

__________________
bugsonmyboard.org
two wheeled wave hunting dispatches

Published 1996.

He'd wouldn't have ejected C&E. They simply would have fallen behind, fast.

But the Darien Gap would have squelched their whinging, permanently.

__________________
Orange, it's the new black.

These 2 snippets sum up the "argument" nicely. Thanks.

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

I heard that a couple of actors with lots of back-up had pretended to travel east form UK at least as far as Siberia. The trouble is, before setting out, yhey had phoned a guy called Austin Vince to ask him details about such a journey, so as to not come across any surprises. OK, I'd not criticize anyone for wanting such information, but to then not give credit is not on. They then pretended to boldly go where no-one had before (equipped with the contact details of a Siberian truck driver to stage a spontaneous recovery). They ought to be ashamed and keep their heads down. Austin's excellent adventure travel film festival could do with some sponsorship which would be appropriate thanks, I think.

There, I managed to stay polite! Lindsay.

Ha! this is hotting up nicely (MONDO EVERY TIME )

www.motoloco.eu

I only came to Mondo late, although it's quite good!

In terms of fostering a love of travel, I'd have to say my first inspiration was Michael Palin. The "80 days" got me hooked on different cultures and travel. I've really enjoyed all his travels.

Whilst I can accept that E+C isn't the reality for those who travel by bike, I have to admit that I really enjoyed both their series. If you take it for what it is, I think you can get a lot of enjoyment out of them (and I have done).