I disagree: even though things are a lot easier now than say 20-30-40 years ago, this kind of travel is still hard.
Or maybe I'm just not as tough as some other folks - and I'm just fine with that.

Sure, I'd much rather search for info on the Internet than thumbing through an out-of-date Lonely Planet, but that for me makes it no less of an adventure.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

I am very much speaking for myself. It's just a throw-away thought I had.

When I started over-landing about twenty years ago, there were not many others around. Sure, people have been doing this for a millennia, but It felt a lot more unique, and I liked that. I loved that if I chose to ride the road less travelled, it would be a challenge because there wasn't another traveller ten minutes behind me that could help me out.

I loved it when I rolled into a fuel station and I would have people asking me questions and offering to buy me a drink etc. Egocentric ?? Probably... That rarely happens now.

I liked it when I wasn't just one of million doing the same journey. On the same kind of bike etc.

I want to feel like I'm exploring new places or being, dare I say it, "Adventurous" It doesn't feel much of an adventure to me if it's too easy. Or I'm surrounded by a safety net of people.

I suppose you can compare it to Climbing to Everest base camp. I bet it felt like much more of a special achievement when there wasn't 10,000 people in-front and behind you doing exactly the same thing.

With all this Covid disruption, It has kept people home. Too worried to travel. It's harder. Maybe I'm just saying I like less people

When there wasn't a million other overlanders on the same road, when you happened to see another one, you would both stop and say hello. "Where've you been and where are you going?" Make a new friend. It's a great feeling. Now there are so many of us around that you're lucky to get a nod.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy the other side of it too. Sometimes I just like to book a hotel, turn on the sat nav and ride somewhere for a relaxing break.

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

I think the key is then finding those locations that meet those "excitement" criteria.

I think the fact there are many more doing shouldn't come into it, other than the fact their numbers then "sanitise" and tame areas which would have otherwise been adventurous.

An analogous example would be the Turkish coast. I went when I was a kid: empty. Just traditional Turkish fishing villages with a couple of simple hotels. Look at Kusadasi now....

The fact is that development comes and consumes.

We might lose an exciting "genuine" destination, but then the locals get progress and investment, so then the next step is finding that excitement elsewhere.

I imagine there is a degree of trying to recapture times gone by: try as I might, I cannot now recreate the carefree me of my youth.

Back then if someone had said "fancy living in [enter random place somewhere remote] for a year?" and I'd jump on it.

Now, it's impossible, unless I want to abandon my partner, kids, home and burgeoning business...

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Well I don't know about making it more exciting but it is making it a real pain in the arse.

I am currently in Bulgaria, having just arrived from Romania.

I am from the UK and I am trying to get in to Greece however the bureaucracy involved is positively off-putting.

I have had to pre-book accommodation for 14 nights just to fill in the form saying that I want to enter the country as I am unable to do so without it. I then need to get a negative test within 72 hours before I enter.

I will apparently get my QR code from the Greek Government 1 day before my date on entry.

I can not enter Greece without it. If for any reason they decide not to issue me with a QR code or refuse me entry, then it is too late to cancel my accommodation and I lose the money for that.

Also, I want to tour about, not sit in one place for 14 days.

In addition, at the moment, Ukraine and Hungary are closed. If you want to go in to Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Northern Macedonia, Albania, or Montenegro, you can do but go then need to get quarantined for 14 days when you come back out.

Exciting? Not in my opinion.

I personaly like the fact that more people are doing it. After all I am part of the "more people" so I cannot sneeze at that.

More ressources for information from previous travelers allowed me to reach very beautiful remote areas of some countries where I would not have gone in say 1990 because of the lack of information.

The popularity seems to be a hinderance only in very touristy areas, the rest all I see are positives.

I truly hope that in the long run Covid does not make traveling harder or more expensive. It would be a shame to see it becoming less acheivable for others.

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Alaska 2014: Hotel Budget ZeroXmas in Death Valley, New Year in Urique

When I decided to ride to Tierra del Fuego in 1974, the only map I could find for Central and South America came from National Geographic. The only source of motorcycle travel information was Road Rider, that had a circulation of 10,000. Just getting out of the US was an adventure. To make a phone call from Peru required a trip to the phone company head quarters in Lima and making an appointment. If there was no answer, make another. Every thing was an adventure, frankly I would not want to be going blind again. But, to each his/hers own. I like to ride, not try to guess which dirt path at the fork in in the road(main highway) would get me to the next town.

The way I have rekindled my love for motorcycle and travel was to come off every motorcycle forum and all the motorcycle groups on FB. When you no longer have to see all the bullshiit post on Adventure and all the people trying to sell you a dream and charging ££££ to go riding or camping with them it suddenly became more enjoyable for me. What I want is not for everyone else and many enjoy the forums and paying for organise meets . I’m back out wild camping and getting the feeling I had lost over the last few years since I returned to the UK. Safe happy travels no matter how you do it. Dazzerintheflesh