Hello

Today I want to talk about a topic that kinda is stuck in my head and hard to answer.

I recently got my license and didn't start travelling with the motorcycle yet but I'm thinking about if a big trip around the world in a common backpacking kind of way or via motorcycle is the right choice for a solo traveller.

The point is that the main idea of exploring and roaming around on a motorcycle to get from A to B is kinda appealing to me and sounds very interesting but the most amazing parts of my backpacking trips in the past where always the same things...meeting amazing people and explore stuff with them together!

Every time I end up in an empty hostel or a place with no other traveller I feel kinda lonely really fast and can't enjoy it that much. With other people from all over the world around me it's a completely different story.

So for my big trip (hopefully 2019) I want to go by motorcycle from Germany to Mongolia and strap my backpack on the back of the bike. From there I simply switch over to backpacking throu China/SEA/Australia, shipping the bike back to europe.

But isn't it more convinient, cheaper and better to just backpack from the beginning?

What do you guys think about this?

PS: how do you add polls?

First off, I have never backpacked. Its been my experience that backpackesr are limited to using buses to go long distances, its hard to stop when you see a nifty town or spot, and the places where the buses stop is full of people trying to take advantage of travelers and your choice of hostels in limited by your lack of mobility. Backpacking is probably best when you want to go down jungle trails. IMO you are forced to be around other travelers a lot, you can't mingle with the locals as well.

Hello

Backpacking or riding your bike?
Both is travelling on the same Planet but two different worlds.
Sometimes in a city hostel both worlds meet, everytime I feel sorry for the backpackers and see the envy in their eyes.
It's more what do you want to see.
Bus is going from A to B and explore A and B (cities or place with bus stop).
Bike is exploring the places between A and B, also A and B depending on parking and accessability(nobody rides into mexico city just for a backpacker hostel).

If you like backpacking and need others to have fun, riding solo might be hard.
Sometimes you will not meet other travellers for days or weeks.
Best is go for a 3-4 month testride instead of starting a RTW.

If you want a bit of both worlds, go to Australia and buy a car.
Fill it up with nice backpackers and have fun.
Best go north to south since most try to sell a car in cairns.

Sushi

P.S.
You don't need a poll for that, you need answers an opinions to figure out what you want.

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My RTW:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrXt660ztenere

A great question but one that is really hard to answer. There may not be an answer LOL.

So many different countries have such different infrastructures and transport systems and cultures that different places have different requirements.

My thoughts (only relevant to my situation of course) is to break visiting the world into chunks and choose the transport accordingly. Here in Australia for example you could easily fly in, buy a cheap bike with more registration on it than how long you will stay, use it and then sell before you go back. You could easily spend 3 months travelling around Tasmania alone freecamping the whole time.

In Japan the trains are so good you would not need a bike. We hire a car on occasions.

The US again grab a bike.

If I were in your shoes (me again) living in Germany I would use my own bike and fully explore Europe, Russia, Mongolia etc over a few years.

Then move on to different places. There is soooooo much to see in each country that just trying to get RTW in a year to me is missing out on so much.

Whatever you do have fun. Life is short.

There is no right or wrong choice. Only a choice that works best for you. I travelled solo by motorbike through all of north and central America; Indonesia; Dominican Republic. I also bicycled solo through parts of Europe, North and Central America. I wouldn't have done it any other way and avoided the backpacker haunts like the plague ...but that's me, not you

Is backpacking cheaper? Depends on where you are. Aside from the cost of the motorcycle the expenses can be quite similar. You have access to the same backpacker lodging and eateries as the bus travellers.

Is backpacking more convenient? Depends on perspective but I would think not. With a motorcycle you never have to plan according to bus schedules but there is the added inconvenience of potential breakdowns.

Is either way "better"? That one is entirely up to you to answer for yourself.

You have two years until your big trip. So just head out for week long, or longer, trips over the next couple of years and see if you like it. With the motorcycle you can reach the same backpacker hangouts as you would with the bus but you would pretty much be on your own during your rides from A to B. Even if you ride with someone else, you'll only be communicating during stops. So if you find, after your test trips over the next two years, that you have a need to be around other foreigners even as you go between destinations then maybe the motorcycle isn't for you.

The biggest benefit of the motorcycle, or any other private vehicle, is that you have an immense flexibility which you simply don't get when travelling by bus. Also, there's nothing preventing you from parking the motorcycle for a few days and heading on bus trips with other visiting foreigners.

Good luck

Very different way of travelling with very different experiences, I love both travel and motorcycling espcially combining the two but would almost rather stay at home than backpack which I have only done once.

Well I think I already found the "optimal" way for myself. Combining the two of it.

I've never been to central asia, Russia or Mongolia but I think those countries might be difficult to backpack in. I mean in Russia the distances are so big, that you probably skip half of the country to get from one backpacker destination to another. Same with mongolia, it seems like there's basically no public transport beside the cities so backpacking there is really just a city trip with some horse riding "adventures" and a guide. Not what sounds appealing to me.

On the other side...motorcycling in the tropical heat of southeast asia with the gear and all that is NOT what sounds like fun to me. I think this is also the reason why everyone says that india is a great country to explore but many hate driving a motorcycle there.
I will dftly do some weekend and 2-3 week trips in the next years in europe. I have scandinavia and westeurope (spain/portugal) in mind. For the big trip I might do it like I travelled Vietnam on a scooter in 2013. Get some straps and put my backpack with all my cloth and bathroom stuff in a waterproof sack and strap it to the backseat. Get some camping gear and put it in the panniers and sell the bike in Mongolia or ship it back home, there are companies that do that for ~1000€. From here i travel east Asia (Japan, Southkorea, China) then Southeastasia all the way up to Nepal.

If I still have time I will continue to Australia/NZ. I am not very interested in Africa at the Moment and America is something I wanna do another time, right now Asia and especially China is most interesting to me because I want to learn the language. In 2016 I fell in love with Taiwan, especially Taipeh, most convinient metro system I ever experienced and so close to nature aswell...amazing.

The problem is...the time I travelled Vietnam down on the scooter I really had problems finding other travellers. I've met ALOT of locals tho but they have their life there you know...they don't go on trips with you or show you around most of the time because they have their stuff...responsibilities, work etc.

I kinda missed the company of other travellers...especially when I arrived in Ho-Chi-Minh and instantly found a Group of 4 who went to the Deltas with me in the hostels. They also where very envy of me (even tho this trip in Vientma is super common and there are "easy riders" everywhere xD) but I kinda felt like they had the better deal.

I will see in the upcoming years!

Hello

I would propose to do a testride next year for 3-4 weeks to russia.
Not deep max. till Moskau, maybe a bit of Ukraine.
Just to get the feeling of bordercrossing, visa and few travellers and language problems (littel to no english).
IF you have liked that trip, go on planning a trip to mongolia.
Southeast Asia will be very difficult with your own bike, so best would be as you did in vietnam, organise a lokal bike.

The only way to find out is ride the bike, don't think to much.
I dreamed of boats for a long time until I got on a boat, since then I know that's not my thing.

Sushi

__________________
My RTW:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrXt660ztenere

Having significant experience in both styles of travel over the past 6.5 years of my trip I love both equally. A motorcycle gives more freedom locally but a backpack has greater simplicity and the ability to go anywhere in the world at a moment's notice. I've been with my backpack most of the time the past 3+ years and will probably switch back to a motorcycle at some point when the whim takes me to do so.

The cost is often about the same, just depends on if you spend the money on your own vehicle or someone else's vehicle.

They are both convenient in different ways. A backpack is more of a minimalist lifestyle and that is incredibly convenient and freeing. A motorcycle means you can wander more freely in your current location.

Most backpackers tend to stick to the easy path with tourist services, lots of people who speak English, etc. A motorcycle forces one to visit less traveled locations. No reason a backpacker can't do the same but it takes more initiative on your part.

Lots of motorcycle travelers meet on the road and travel together, just like backpackers. Yet either way, sometimes there are lonely moments. Those lonely moments are a joy of the journey!

Neither one is better. Simply different.

Either way, sounds like an amazing trip. Have fun out there!

David

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Traveling The World Since: 2011
Blog: The Seductive Life (General Travel)