Yep, he's a greedy fella. I get the gut feeling that i'm not ready to settle down. Ride on. Or should that be snowboard until I can ride again, let's hope for a long european summer!

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

I've been a lurker/member of HUBB for a while. The biggest issue I had was lack of interaction. I come from ADVrider but hold no prejudice either way, nor do I fit any of the stereotypes...hell I live in a yurt and I'm rebuilding my R80g/s in an unheated shed in the woods. Over there, you can post a question and in about 2-3 hours have an answer with an invitation to help. Not saying Hubb members are any different, just there is not enough of them right now, they are far spread out, and spend more time riding than clicking. When they are clicking, it's usually at a pay per use internet cafe, so don't have the time to offer a solution. Needless to say, I give the HUBB my money and time because I think it's a great resource. I know A little bit of stuff, so give my knowledge when asked, willingly and freely.

Grant an I had a back and forth behind the scenes recently and I have a lot of respect for what he has done with HU. I set up a community up in Maine, kicked him some money and became a contributing member as well. Hell for the cost of a few quarts of oil it's worth it to support this site and I encourage anyone who actually uses it regularly to do so as well, even if it's a couple bucks

I'm one of those "new noobs".

I have travelled a lot before, camped a lot and so on. Hell I have even bouldered when I was younger.

Anyway, I am currently contemplating going for a long trip, probably in a threewheeler pseudo car.

The reason for me contemplating it now has very little to do with the grand economical situation, but more to do with my own, personal, situation.

I guess I could strap on a backpack and go that route, but my foot won't have it. Besides, I want my own vehicle and the freedom that brings with it.
I like camping and I often row somewhere with my Adirondack Guide Boat and find somewhere to camp on the coast. I enjoy that very much, but as rowing is pretty slow compared to something with an engine, I figure it was time to seriously ponder something more wide reaching.

I am a (Danish) journalist -although most of my work these days are in audio production - and I have begun writing a book. I figure that I might as well write "my book" on the road, as I have no kids.

I have been a bit of a lurker from time to time on this forum, but when Morgan announced their threewheeler, the possibility of going somewhere with a relatively simple vehicle without having to stand on pegs for hours on end, it was time I began to seriously consider to get going.

Plan-wise, I have my "career" on hold and do as little as possible in that regard, while concentrating on my book, rowing and so forth.

I figure that although I can't do much pro audio production on the road, at least I can write, do a bit of journalism, and if I'm lucky do some small pieces for the radio while underway to supplement the travel fund.

I don't think anyone would want to steal your Enfield Dave......

yeah, Grant is slipping letting the likes of you n me on here.......
How ya been ? got over Thailand yet or hankering for more?

M

PS The reason the HUBB is showing such a boost is the other main site for us here in USA ( ADV) has gone all weird and they keep changing the rules..... just a thought.

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Marty hi, I am afraid down here they steal anything and everything, the other day my parents front gate 'went' missing, local radio announced 2 'cat' converters were cut from cars in a local carpark, they'd even steal the wheels off a miscarriage!

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

"Noob" [and it's implied connotations] is one of those words that make me cringe .
Thankfully it is not used much on this website .

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Perhaps - I'm on the brink of being made redundant.... The long overland biking trip idea seems to get closer every day.....

Winter also has an impact on the number of people online & the vision of being somewhere beyond the UK is very appealing

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Elaine

Striving to live the ordinary life in a non ordinary way

I also think that overlanding has a lot to do with people wanting to get away from the rat-race or daily grind of work and not having enough annual leave to do so. I think also that as the population ages and people are more likely to have families later in life that there is an increasing need for a sabbatical year (sometimes more sometimes less). Some sort of selfish ego centrical (call it a gnawing rat in your belly if you will) need to do something for oneself. Scratching the surface more and it may uncover an discontentment in current work-life balance or just personal life & leisure activities.

I might be tempted to make a poll out of this and see what ist the age bracket(s) is of people leaving for their first overlanding trip.

Re ADV rider, I personally think there are too many topics and too many people, IMHO it suffers from its own popularity. But this isn't a thread about ADV.

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Another thing contributing to the increase might be people registering to hawk us their shoddy goods, discounted oil and locksmithing advice? These get banned pretty quick and it might be that I am only noticing them recently but they've always been registering......

I'm a Newbie on this site , and since I joined, the information sharing and advice has been very helpful. I think HU is a great website and pleased that they let me join. Keep up the good work HU!

Speaking of which, most of the advice and guidance I received has been from other Newbies.....Go figure! I guess they're the ones holding down the fort and also doing the riding while the "veteran Hubbers" are riding their keyboards . Maybe you guys should go feed those rats again! (Great analagy by the way )

Well, can't say I blame you, It's cold and wet and uncomfortable out there for you "old-timers".....hehe!

Ok, make sure you keep the 'old boys club' alive now
Wannabe Anewbie

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Jo’burg to Cairo (And a bit further): KLR 650
Southern Africa (And still going strong): XT660Z Yamaha

to the HUBB.

Like your first post and I also like you're point about getting more help from other new members (newbie's or noobs) rather than the veterans.

I unfortunatly tend also to agree with you and I think that given the people on the HUBB and those that are part of HU communities there isn't as much sharing of information as I would like and expect. I know a few riders that have been round the world and they would have a lot to give in terms of info and advice, but alas they don't want to for whatever reason spend their time posting replies to newbies... I guess it comes down to will of the individual. I personally have gotten a lot from the HUBB over the short 3 years I've been a member and I think it's normal to give a little back (or at least I'd like to think so...)

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

That's an inherent problem with any internet forum on any topic. The replies will often come from the people who have more time on their hands or greater sense of self importance rather than those members with the most experience or best knowledge.

I like to chip in my two cents because I have a massively dull job with computer access! Plus I like to be helpful if poss, but a lot of my advice is probably well off the mark because it's based on my own experience - so is self-taught and haphazard. Luckily an incorrect reply is in some ways more likely to elucidate a correct response than the initial question....

As Baz Lurhman said :
"Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth..."

It is probably a measure of this sites success that so many questions get asked. I have sadly though read some of the posts and replies about "oh not this old chestnut again or this question has been done to death" and so not as many answers as perhaps people would like. It is difficult to search for things on this site ( like I said a measure of how big this has become, all credit to Grant) and the easiest thing to do is type in a question regardless of how many times it has been asked before.

I have no idea of how difficult it would be to sub categorise all the sections such as seperate sections under equipment for sleeping bags and another for stoves etc. I guess if it was easy Grant would have done it by now?

Anyway a big welcome to all the noobs (no offence intended)
GM

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www.frothandflames.com
2012 Kawasaki W800
1997 NX 650 Dominator

I learnt this the other day: Type this into Google "site:www.horizonsunlimited.com spain morocco" without speech marks if, for example, you want to find stuff written that includes the words Morocco and Spain in this website...

I'm sure Grant and Susan are looking to improve the search function, but in the interim let Google take the strain.
cheers
C

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Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

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

This is a good tip. I use it all the time.

Infact you can do it for any domain and you don't need the "www". Would be good if a few more people did this kind of search before posting another thread on the same topic. Hint Hint, Nudge Nudge

for example:

"China Tibet site:.horizonsunlimited.com"


Actually it wouldn't be too hard to implement this in the HUBB. I have a few Ideas if any one is interested... Grant, Susan??

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net