How do you feel just before you set off on a big trip ??
 

I'm less than a month away from leaving home heading to Capetown. Two years of saving, planning , stressing, working , saving some more etc etc !

As I lay in bed at night my mind is racing with a multitude of things...

Am I doing the right thing ?

Am I crazy spending all this money ?

Am I mad quitting my job

I will have no money, no job and no home when I return. This trip is a large turning point in my life !!

I know it's fear of the great unknown... I've well and truely got back into a cosey bubble since I got back from South America in 2008...

Surely I can't be the only one full of doubts ??? Do you all have second thoughts, worries and melancholly ???

Don't get me wrong, im very exciting and really looking forward to it but it's a roller coaster of emotions at the moment...

Am I alone ???????? :rolleyes2: How do you feel before you set off on a great trip ??

Bricking it mate :) 1 month til we go from Belfast to Sydney (hopefully!). Resigning from job, getting bikes serviced and prepped, still to setup website, still a couple of visas to get, house not let, etc. This is our first big overland trip with Europe being the biggest jaunt for me so far still not sure what to expect. Its getting very real now:helpsmilie:

"What if" is banned in our house now...:nono:

N

I'd say you would be crazy if you didn't have all those thoughts and feelings racing through your mind.

Having that said, you're probably well prepared and sorted out. I'm sure you'll have a great trip and you'll look back and say: "...yup, it was all worth it"

All the best and enjoy the heck out of your trip :thumbup1:.

P.S.: Don't forget to post up dates of your whereabouts :clap:

I usually feel so totally strung out and exhausted from staying up all night trying to take care of last minute details that I've no energy left for fretting about the big picture.....except that I've noticed there seems to be an endless supply of women who declare their interest and availability only when I'm on the verge of leaving for an extended period. But when I return and am available myself (e.g., four weeks from today), I'm always facing major relationship drought. Why is that?

That's a very good idea !! I wish I could banish it from my mind !! lol

Blog is already live bud !! Touring Ted :thumbup1:

Mark, you are so right about the women... Every ex, love interest and lady with a glint in her eye now wants to go for a drink and hear about my trip... The years you're saving and planning, it's not so easy !

Very anoying to say the least.. I just havn't got the time at the moment to keep them all happy LOL !:thumbdown: (I wish)

That's exactly how I felt. The closer it got the more worried and nervous I got. But deep down you know it's right and just keep focused on the big day.

I left on my trip 8 days ago and so far it has been just awesome. I'm sure yours will be too.

I know you've been planning for sometime so it might work put slightly different for you Ted, but for us the closer we got to d-day the less time there was to worry about things so these thoughts got pushed to the back of the mind, only to hit us like a train on the night before we left. I felt physically sick, the first time in my life I have ever felt nerves other than in my head.

First day of the trip was a disaster, my bike wouldn't start when we went to ride off for the ferry, the battery had died, making our leisurely ride to Dover a mad dash with no time to fuel up. Couldn't eat most of that day and by the time we had the tent set up we both just crashed out before 9pm absolutely exhausted, slept for close to 14 hours and when we woke up everything made sense again and the reality of what we were doing and the fact we weren't going to work again for a long time was amazing.

So hang in there, it'll probably get worse before it gets better, but its totally worth it, hopefully see you in Egypt or Sudan.

Ride Safe

Matt & Kim

Am I alone ???????? :rolleyes2: How do you feel before you set off on a great trip ??[/quote]

No mate not alone, i used to feel all the emotons your going through when i was away sailing. Its the leap into the unknown the unexpected, all the emotions are the begining of the GREAT TRIP and i believe i would feel in a way cheated without them as strange as it may sound. I hope you have a great time, will be checking out your blog.
:thumbup1:

you must think....there´s only one life....this is unique....enjoy it....

Go for it, Ted!
 

:thumbup:

Good stuff folks !! My mental disorders are shared by us all it seems :D

I have to say, I slept much better last night after getting the letter from Barclays "You bank guarnantee has been processed and sent to the RAC".. I was bricking that part.

Thanks for the input guys !! :thumbup1:

Haven't done a big trip yet, but my little trip was big to me.

I'd just bought my KLR, my first ever motorcycle, and had 800 miles of lifetime motorcycling under my belt. I was working driving a truck around the US, had plenty of room on board and time to ride in various places, and thought heck, the bike's coming along. Problem was I was in North Carolina and the truck was in Iowa. Only one thing to do right? Ride to Iowa!

I had a week to get there, planned on taking four days, and not taking a single interstate the whole way up. 1200 miles of my inexperienced butt wobbling along twisty scenic back roads on a loaded-down topheavy bike, it would be great. And it was.

But when I left...I'd never ridden a loaded bike before, had barely ridden an empty one, and it was one of the greatest days of my life. I barely slept the night before, and it took half the day for the butterflies to settle down.

All loaded up and ready to go-
http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t...lDonald/1A.jpg

Not the only one with those kinds of doubts! I've been mostly fearless in my many travels around the USA, but every now and then the full scope of the 3+ year trip I'm planning to start next May hits me. Its a daunting prospect: I'm taking my entire life so far and throwing it out the window in order go on this trip. I used to plan out every detail of my life years ahead of time. Now I don't even know where I will be a year from now. Yet at the same time my obsession with this trip is almost a neurosis. The excitement at times can barely be contained. It has become a quest and a dream in the way nothing else I have even imagined.

Your not alone.

I am headed to south america in a couple of weeks riding from Saskatchewan Canada. The trip has been in the making since I bought my wee strom 2 seasons ago. I will be gone for 4 months and have to leave my bike in mexico or usa upon return until spring and then continue home. It is no 1,2,or3 year ride and all my stuff will be left to my wife to do. At this point that is my concern. Once on the road there is only tomorrow for a few months.:scooter:
Bill

We left our house Sept 08 and have had a very "not as planned" trip so far. Despite not actually leaving Europe yet the fears seem to set in as soon as we stay still for too long. Once up and cruising on the open road the smile comes back, the cobwebs clear and we're at peace with everything again! :D

Murphy's law. :)

m'harfy's law ! :innocent:

Right now I feel insanely envious about you leaving on your trip, but were it mine I'd feel, as others have said, I'd feel stressed & fraught.

When it was our turn to ship out, I had an overwhelming sense of the unreal: I could not actually believe we were doing it: it had been an idea, a concept for so long that went it became real I couldn't grasp it!!

To be honest, it took about 2 weeks there after to sink in!

For us it feels unreal. Perhaps because we are so busy at the moment it has not sunk in yet. 2 weeks to go!

how do you feel
 

hi guys
I have read all he post and the same answers appear as I have experienced before and after the trip. night before people ask how are you feeling terrified! during the trip fantastic after the trip the girl which was very interested how as no interest in you and then there was the, was worth it question and every time
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS

FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT ANYWAY

I can sympathise!

I am 3 months away from the off and I am starting to get nervous and very indecisive :taz:

With 3 months to sort out all these things, it should seem miles away; but decision making, god knows how many times i have changed my mind over which panniers to take [hard or soft]. Already packed and unpacked my bags 3 times (only because I have too much, I think the charity shop will benefit though)

Bike isn't here or ready yet :rolleyes2:

But I'm getting to a point where I will just go with the flow and sort things out along the way. Important things will get done, I am having the month off before I depart to deal with that. Hopefully, I will be as lucky as you guys with regards to the girls :blushing:

The scarey bit is when I get home. No where to live, will I get another job, the questions are endless ......................... and clearly not worth worrying about!!

However, this is an adventure of a lifetime for me, and with an adventure comes the unknown, excitement, anxiety and a whole load of other challenging stuff

For the time being, and waiting for those sleepless nights, life goes on

To those just departing :clap:

Pretty calm, really...

Which either means we're totally organised, or too dumb to know any better!

6 weeks to go before a 6 month tour of the the Americas...

Thank christ for that... I was beginning to think I was the only one!
Departure day was a big day, but no big deal. Everything was ready and we left.

Getting back was different though...depressing, even though we were meeting up with loved ones.

John

Well I leave in one week !!

Bike is packed up, everything is in place and sorted... I'm just twiddling my thumbs now !

I'm not one bit concerned about the trip now but the only thing im REALLY REALLY not looking forward to is riding from my home on the Wirral to south London on bank holiday monday !!

Gonna take me 6 hours of miserable UK traffic and no doubt wet drizzley weather..

If you want an outrider, let me know!

Cheers for the offer mate !!

I don't really have any idea on the details of me riding out... I don't even know what day im leaving. Maybe at 2am to avoid all traffic etc.

Still interested ??? HAHHA

Erm..

I'm busy that day actually :whistling:

Nah, keep us posted on your departure

Did my trip in 2008, was totally crapping myself and thinking up all sorts of excuses to back out at the last minute. It's not just worrying about the actual trip - will the bike be ok? will the money last? will I be robbed at gunpoint? but the things at home - will the cats be looked after? will the flat get a tenant soon please? will work pay me the holiday pay and overtime I'm owed? :(

As the last few days approached, (in between Christmas and New Year), last minute niggles like the crap health insurance to be sorted, cancelling utilities, mobile phone contracts, packing and repacking the bike, and most stressful - saying goodbye to my 2 elderly cats - I looked forward to the first night on the boat, as it would be the first time in weeks or months that I could sit on my backside with nothing to do but relax, and drink .beer

A mate gave us a lift to Portsmouth with the bikes in his van. Riding from the van to the boat was the first time I'd ridden with that amount of luggage, and boy was my bike badly set up! Front end wobble only cured several weeks later after knocking the front forks thru and shedding some load. I was crapping myself for weeks every time I set off! :blushing:

So no, you're not alone.
Have a fab time.
You know you'll do it all over again, anyway!! :rofl:

Not just me then?
 

Ha. I've been stressed to the point of getting blurred vision and feeling ill. Mainly because 2 weeks from setting off to South America for an 8 month ride, after lots of research, i find i can't get my motorcycle license in California as planned (I'm Australian). There it's a weekend course and a ticket to ride within a week or so.

In Australia it's a weekend course, Learner's Permit for 3 months and then another test to get your License (a 12 month Provisional one at that).

So now i've found out that i can't get one in LA, despite 4 riding schools there telling me it will be no problem, I've booked in for a riding course and to get me Learner's Permit this weekend in Australia (a week before i leave!) and it looks like i can ride with a Driver's License (+International Driving Permit) in Mexico, Peru (and I'm guessing Bolivia) but in Argentina, Chile and Columbia i will need a Motorcycle License to be covered by my travel insurance and third party insurance that i buy at the borders.

So after telling my buddy 3 times this week that i'm going/not going/going again and so on, I am so over the stress of it that i've decided (despite being someone who has to tick every box) to just go, buy a bike in LA, dash to the Mexican border and hope for the best.

I'm open to comment, or a kick in the backside if that's in order, but to get this close to an 8 month tour of South America only to get held back by BS redtape that really shouldn't be there between 2 countries such as America and Australia.... argh! I'm even considering a $2000 flight back to Australia for a week in December just to sit a test to get my full license!

My main concerns are hitting someone or something and the compulsory third party insurance i buy at each countries borders not holding up to cover someone or something i might hit, and the other is not being covered myself for medical with my travel insurance in an accident. I've heard on here that bribe or a date with Photoshop opens doors, but... ????....

Other than the longwinded concerns above i think i can feel the tiny inklings of excitement creeping in...

Any thoughts?