If you look at a site like advrider and check out the long term ride reports, you'll notice a common pattern. Very few of the posters are 'rich' - almost none are lottery winners, sold their software company out to Microsoft, etc.

Most of the folks who go for long term (3+ months) rides are penny-pinchers who work hard, live cheaply, and stack away all their spare change so that after years of saving, they can finally afford to take that big trip.

A significant number are also newly retired, and either have significant lifetime savings or a healthy pension to finance their dream ride.

For maybe the last 12-15 years, I've been hoping to ride a loop around South America, but any time I get a decent amount of savings put aside, some circumstance or other wipes out my savings. Luckily I do have a pretty decent pension coming my way in about another 5 years at age 55, and unless I win the lottery, that'll be the only way I can afford that ride.

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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250

Thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences, I'm finding this thread pretty inspiring to be honest. What I like about it is that it seems there is no one right way, everyone has done it slightly differently, and ultimately where there's a will there's a way.

I've also got to be honest with myself, while I admire those who can live off extremely limited money while traveling, I like having the safety net that if I need to get my hands on money for any reason I can. So for that reason, am I going to quit my job and go traveling tomorrow? Probably not. But I am going to redouble my efforts to save so I can reach a place where I can do that.

I'm 33, currently no wife/kids other responsibilities to factor into my thinking. So unless my personal circumstances change, it might not be too unrealistic to think that by 40 I could manage it. Whether I actually do or not, it's a good goal to aim for, and a nice thing to dream about in the meantime!

Thats what everyone else can do as well but more importend then how to earn money is to know how not to waste it too quick by not using BMW or Apple products while there are Honda and Android etc. Its also way cheaper to travel in a third world country then to live in Europa for example: http://reisemotorrad.eu/?report=en_faq&design=nature

Anotherbiker as someone closer to your age than some of the others, here is my take on it. It's possible to have a bit of both world's. To keep the job and to travel a lot.

For example my previous workplace had a policy called 48/52, where they allowed you to take an additional 4 weeks of leave each year (8 weeks total) in exchange for receiving 4 weeks less pay each year.

Basically it was an agreement to let you have 4 weeks unpaid leave each year.

8 weeks leave per year can mean several big trips each year, even with family commitments.

Another option (and the one that I've taken) is to go down the expat path. Currently I get 12 weeks per year leave as an expat. But I also get to draw a salary for the remainder of the year. I use those 12 weeks to travel extensively and still have the security of a paycheck.

Not bad if you can find it!

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Come and see the world through the eyes of an Expat

For my wife and myself the dream was about 10 years in the making from the initial idea to actually starting our RTW on 18th June 2014 (we're currently in Panama). I quit work at Microsoft when I was 50 and my wife quit her job when she was 47.


The preparation, for us, was mostly financial. We paid off the mortgage when I was 43, we lived on my wife's salary, we didn't buy new cars in that 10 years (as many of my work colleagues would often do) and acquired no major new bits of "stuff" that can so often tie us down. We had/have no debt. We did invest in the house which has paid off for us as we now have a monthly rental income that allows us to travel comfortably. Everyone is different but we see very little fun in traveling being an endurance trying to save every last penny, especially if you are traveling long term as we are. Don't get me wrong, we have a budget but it's a budget that allows us some luxuries every now and then and we don't feel guilty if we eat in a restaurant. I think traveling on a really tight budget for a short period, months instead of years, is fine but I could imagine, for us, it could get pretty tiresome year after year. Not spending money on national parks, not learning to scuba dive, not swimming with whale sharks, not going whale watching and so many other things would have been missed if we were on too tight budget.


A major factor in monthly cost is how quickly you travel. When we stop for a few weeks and maybe rent a nice place for $300USD/month our daily average spend drops significantly compared to when we're moving all the time. In the USA and Canada we camped maybe 85% of the time, accommodation is just too expensive.


We are not rich, far from it, but we are extremely fortunate that we both had full employment for at least 10 years leading up to our departure. We made choices in that 10 years which ultimately allowed us to embark on this new lifestyle. We didn't sell the house which we've seen so many other people do in order to realise their dream. For us that would have been a step too far. When thinking about the financial long term the house will provide us with capital when we sell it and downsize. We both invested in pensions during our 30+ years in employment so that will also help in the future, whatever that brings.


One interesting observation. When I quit work and told colleagues why most of them said "I wish I could do that". The reality is that financially most of them could but very few, if any, will take the plunge and cut themselves free of the corporate world and all the PERCEIVED benefits.


One thing we have learnt is that there are so many ways in which people prepare financially for their dream and everyone's circumstances are different. There is no silver bullet (OK, maybe winning the lottery counts). One thing I can guarantee is that only YOU can make it happen. If it's just a nice idea and not something you're focused on, regardless of how much money you have, it probably won't happen. We've met so many people along the way that say they would love to travel but when we ask them why they don't/can't what they come up with, to my mind, are excuses and not real reasons.


After just over 26 months on the road we continue to enjoy this lifestyle and envisage traveling for a number of years yet. Long term travel is not going to be for everyone, that's for sure. All I can do is recommend you give it a go and see what happens. Better than regretting not going later in life when it's maybe too late due to health issues.


Saludos
Steve and Janette
RTW Tiger 800XC
www.tiger800rtw.com

Brilliant!

There's also the "intermediate option" of moving abroad and working there ... We left the US more than 20 years ago, and consider ourselves permanent expats. We choose a base, work there several years and explore it and the surrounding countries on shorter trips, and then move on to a new continent. Did a couple of locations in Europe, currently in China, and moving to Australia next month - has the advantage that you can really explore a new place and culture, yet have cash in pocket while doing so ...

That's the question I have been pondering lately as well......how to do it? Having had a break in my professional employment many years back I had the opportunity to "just go!". I made plans to stay semi-retired for like 9 months. I proceeded to prepare for a trip from So Cal up the coast I don't know where. But, I knew I would just go and enjoy the scenery, people and the bike. I did it solo. I didn't have an issues mechanically with the bike so it was pretty easy. I mostly camped but that got old at times and I had some money saved up. I would motel it about every three days (or as much as I could stand myself). I had a great time and eventually decided to travel into Victoria Island and North of Vancouver. My family was worried about me but I had done many 3 day trips around California and Nevada up until then. If I was going to do this .....now was the time. When I hit the Olympic Peninsula I got a call from a friend I had contacted about a dive trip to Truk Lagoon. I really wanted to dive those ship wrecks and intended to go once I got back.......which was ...... I dunno. That was the beauty of it actually. I had never had that attitude or really that luxury to just wonder. No real plan or destination other than to travel and see what I have never seen first hand. I did go on that dive trip some months later. The job market wasn't great at that time .....so, off to the South Pacific!
I'm about 10 years from retiring (assuming I can actually retire) and my thoughts wonder to that time and how that freedom made me feel. I should mention that after that trip I took an even longer moto trip through the Midwest and Southwest. The route loops I made on that trip would confuse and probably irritate my younger self LOL. But that was the point. To see as much as I could and meet as many people as I could along the way. Staying in little back water towns and taking the roads less traveled as it were.
I look forward to reading the stories on HU.
At times some stories seem like the hassles to ship a bike and cross borders can be a pain. I guess that helps make it an adventure. Getting stranded out in a desert miles from the nearest facilities doesn't sound like fun either. It's tough to make that decision but I think I will at some point before my health leaves me and I cannot even ride a bike let alone lift it after a get off on some dusty trail.

Its really a difficult question and there is no real simple answer.

Being financially secure into retirement is very important given our life expectancy is well into the eighties now. What my partner and I decided is that we would build our super up and pay off the house so we can retire early with a transition to retirement from age 55. We have a food van that we do every second weekend to bring in some extra $$

By 60 we should be retired from full time work and will keep doing our food van in the holidays to bring in some more $$.

We will then rent the house out for six months and head OS which will help pay for our trips.

In the meantime we keep an eye out for cheap airfares and head OS for a few weeks every year to somewhere different. Our soft panniers are our travel luggage and we hire a bike for a week or so when we are OS. It scratches the itch.

Barring a serious illness like cancer I would hope a good 15yrs of active travel together seeing the rest of the world.

Just my 2c and of course not everyones cup of tea.

cheers and have fun

There is a comprehensive thread about this here.



http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...-lifestyle-458

"Home is made for coming from, and dreams of going too. Which with any luck will never come true." Wandering Star.

The world is large, wonderful, full of interesting people, places, smells, food, and experiences. Who could ever get bored? I'm still 18 years old, and have been for 45 years. And still act my age. I'll worry about my old age when I hit it. You only have one life this time around, next time it will be different.

I could tell you how great it is, but then everyone would want to do it. and that's not a good idea. Let sleeping dog lye, lie, lay whatever.
Find yourself, find a life, live it. Do the occasional project for the money, then move along before they ask for it back.

Off to South America in a few weeks, just for a short time, then planning my next RTW for a couple of years. Hoping to meet up with loads of friends I haven't met yet. I'ts a grand life if you let it be.

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The Gypsy
Second star on the right.
Then straight on till morning.

An excellent summary that deserves to be re-posted and perhaps should be written as a footnote or even a foreword in every publication that promotes long term travel. Well said backofbeyond

Absolutely!

We've met a few on the road that were "traveled-out" but wouldn't stop because they told people they would go "forever" or ...

Very, very quick for us: We're 33 and 34, started our first big trip by combining our paid holidays from year X + Y, so we went for 3 months to Australia (nov-dec-jan) and actually got married there as an added bonus. Of course this meant two years working without a single day off, unless overtime. Never regretted it.

Then the year after that we did another 3 months, then the year after that another 6 months, then a full year on the road, then we left to go and live on an island and now after two years of living in paradise, we got "bored" again of the working routine and will leave again for I don't know how long before settling down again I don't know where for God knows how long.

How we do it?
Come to the HUBB UK (we'll also try to make it to Ireland) as we plan on having a talk about money and some options of how to travel and some insights on how we did it. And I am not a free-spirit in the sense of money, as unfortunately by only concern for going again is what to do after the next trip and how to make money again after that trip, but then I just know that the trip will be worth it, as it has always been.

So my advice: if you're not sure on how to, build it up slowly. From 0 to long time is not always the best option, as gradually by travelling more and more, you will find your style and way of travelling. There is no right or wrong way, there's YOUR way that you enjoy, can do, and are happy with.

Now, it's sunday, back to the for an hour, 24ºC on the 27th November.

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Western culture is exceptionally powerful in brainwashing people into thinking their happiness is not their own, but rather something that is only achieved externally (to be happy, you need money/security/a partner/a house etc). The constant, incessant, overpowering message that our model of socio-economics is the only acceptable way of life left me frustrated for a very, very long time! After my 18-month solo ride across South America I came back home to face the matrix, and it was pure misery. Going back to a 9-5, worrying about taxes and pensions and savings, adhering to schedules, regulations, staff manuals, strict hours and 30-minute lunch breaks; shopping; listening to work colleagues gossiping and talking about sports and crap they've seen on TV; only having a certain amount of 'free' time after work and during the weekends... F*ck no, I thought to myself, we're human beings, we're born free and we can live freely, and if I want to travel the world on a motorcycle and roll in the grass and sit around bonfires listening to the craziest stories, and cross deserts and meet shepherds and poets and hobos, and drink and talk shit and keep on rolling under the stars - then that's what I'll bloody well do.

So I did.

I've learned a whole bunch of new things. For example, worrying about jobs. Can I quit my job, will I find another job, should I find a better-paying job? F*ck that. I have a huge problem sticking to other people's schedules and hours, so instead of looking for the least insufferable job, I have created a job for myself. I created a digital business; I absolutely love what I do, and I do it on my own terms. Sometimes, I work 17 hours a day. Sometimes, I'm off for a week. But 95% of the time, I don't even feel that I'm working because I sincerely enjoy what I do. And, I am not tied to any particular location - I can work from anywhere in the world. I am not tied to anyone's schedule and expectations but my own. I am not accountable or responsible to anyone but myself.

It's a risk, sure. But I value my freedom more than a pension, and I am willing to take this risk because I want to live. Now. I'm also much happier in knowing I will be taking care of myself when I'm older, no thanks to any particular government or social security system; I'll simply save my own money.

Some things have become a real pain in the ass. Getting visas into certain countries is difficult as I don't own property and don't have a 'proper job' or 'family ties' to any particular country. I don't have an address which drives some people and systems nuts. I don't have a phone number, so PayPal won't confirm my account. I am a bureaucrat's worst nightmare. Still, I prefer these minor inconveniences to modern wage slavery.

Traveling can become a routine, true. In fact, it did, at some point. I was frustrated again; if 'I' am not defined as a world traveler, then who the f*ck am I? Still, traveling just for the sake of traveling had become pointless.

Then I realized that the world does not owe me anything. We constantly want to be entertained, impressed, thrilled. So we choose adventure riding, because it is entertaining, inspiring, thrilling. But after six months, a year, three years on the road, another mountain is the same as the previous one, a gold miner from the Amazon is the same as the guy in a rice field in Vietnam, a border crossing is just a tedious discomfort. And that's when it dawned on me that the mountain, the gold miner, the border officer do not owe me anything. They do not exist so they would impress or thrill me. They just are. It's me who owes the world. I should be creating something of value, I should be the one who inspires or thrills or excites others, so it can all be multiplied and shared. So I started interviewing the locals wherever I went, and it turned out that the gold miners, the men in the rice fields, and the goatherds in the mountains all had the most fascinating stories to tell. I listen to those stories and write them down. Other people read them and smile, or feel terrified, or sad, or amazed, or inspired. Even if it's just for a few minutes. Connections happen all across the globe.

Lots of long term travelers get into storytelling, photography, art. Some volunteer, teach, guide. Some, get temporary jobs or simply help people on the way. When you get over the initial thrill and excitement of being free to roam the world you start thinking what you can offer to the world in return.

Because our culture lulls us into believing that the outside world is responsible for our happiness, people demand manuals. How do I travel the world without money? How can I afford this or that lifestyle? Where is a step-by-step guide to financial or other independence? Go and create your own. Go and find out for yourself. Go and discover. It's up to you to live your life to the fullest. If, for you, that means traveling the world on your motorcycle, go and do it. The world does not owe you to spoon-feed you exact steps all the way, it can provide ideas, suggestions, inspiration - but it's your task to make it happen. If you want something passionately enough you'll go and get it.

Five years ago, if somebody had told me I'll be traveling around the world by bike and running my own business I would have laughed (bitterly). I simply would not have been able to imagine it. Coming from an ex-Soviet country I was told to be humble when dreaming, work hard, and be grateful for the food on the table and roof overhead. So that's what my life looked like: I did not dare to dream big, I worked hard, lived paycheck to paycheck and often felt guilty for my depression and restlessness (people starve in Africa, how can you be so ungrateful). What I believed in manifested in my life. What I thought of myself and the world was mirrored in reality.

Today, I think we humans are limitless beings. We can create the most amazing things imaginable. We continue to learn and grow towards the sun, always, and the only limitations are our own.

Have faith in chance, and trust the unknown. The universe loves courageous fools!

VERY well said...

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