I am with the go now, don't sell hour soul to the bank crowd. I was 28, came into some money. I was advised to put a down on a place and be sensible. I looked into the crystal ball, saw marriage, kids, house or I could go on a trip on a bike. Bought the bike, when the money ran out worked in Lima teaching English. When I was ready to leave I sold the bike, hitchhiked around the US. If I had not gone then, I would never gone ever. If you don't go now, you may not be able to go later. If you Mom needs you, you can always go home. Eric

This is the only reason I haven't got the loan already.. I don't want to be broke and in debt whilst trying to start fresh after a trip....

Hard to weigh up the now and the later isn't it... !!

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

I started my own company after I had been on the road for 12 months. I even had a small loan (for my apartment).
Luckily I didn't need a lot of money to start the company but it was still hard. It was impossible to get credit/loan for the company when I started because I couldn't document an income. Cashflow the first months was a problem and I had a dip after a year.
This is more then 10 years ago, and the company is still running strong!

The good thing about my new business idea is that I already have most of the tools and equipment to do so.

I've been buying them over the last two years and they've cost me about £7000. Mig/Tig welders, cutting equipment, tools, etc etc. The list goes on... I still need a lot of practice and experience with them... I'm really struggling to find the time to get stuck into some proper projects after doing a 50 hour week at work and then having a load of gardening, DIY and my own bike restorations at the weekend. I can't seem to get a break.

It's the reason why I don't have a lump sum to go travelling now. I thought I could do a mundane 9-6 for two years to pay for the equipment and a good trip afterwards.. But barely a year in, I'm going a bit nuts !!

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

That's good, then you need a workshop, "products", and paying clients.

I have no idea how this works in England, but isn't it far cheaper to let your company buy this stuff?
If I buy something (new) for my company I pay less then 40% compared to if I buy it private. (I don't pay VAT and I don't have to pay taxes on the money I invest in the company). If I buy something used it's still 40% cheaper.
Maybe it's possible to get at least some of the VAT/tax-money back?

Maybe all the contributers to this thread should get together and set up a therapy group because bit by bit we seem to be teasing out what's actually going on in your life. Just lie back on the couch Ted, relax, and tell us about your childhood ...

Some of what you've been saying does strike a chord with me as I had similar issues at a similar age. Different circumstances but similar choices to be made. I'd just split up with my wife, I was working in a downmarket job with only dead mens shoes promotion in front of me and a feeling that time was moving on. I had a ten year plan from my early 20's and I'd achieved none of the items on the list. Looking back it was the second worst time of my life. I seriously considered an extended trip, just to give me some time to think and just shake everything up. I got to the point of doing a lot of the prep work.

It wasn't one big thing that stopped me, rather lots of little things. One of them was that I started a business - a part time paying hobby to begin with which gradually took up more and more of my time and supplied more and more of my income. There was never a point at which I made a formal start - went to the bank with a cash flow projection, that kind of thing as I never saw it as a long term career move. I still don't and I've been doing it 30 yrs! It's only now I'm starting to feel the same kind of unease with it that I felt with the old job back then.

I get the impression that at the root of your "distress" are a number of things -

1. A feeling that you're worth more (and I don't mean money) and should be doing better than the current job.
2. That you've served life's apprenticeship and if you're going to do something significant now is the age to do it.
3. There's not much else going on in other areas to distract you from, or compensate for, the situation you're in.
4. You have some ideas on how to improve things but so far all you've done is spend money on your business idea but it's not brought much, or any, in.
5. (This is the pop psychology bit) A long trip would be like taking time out from it all. Maybe things would happen en route or I'd come back with a different mindset.Perhaps I could even wipe the slate clean and start again.

Going on the trip would be like taking control of your life again. You'd be in charge of your own destiny and making your own decisions. What worried me (and one of the factors that stopped me going) was that the problems you'd (I'd) face on the trip were different. They were essentially linear problems, with linear solutions - turn left or right?, do I have the correct paperwork for this border?, pizza or pasta tonight? The issues I wanted to resolve though were multifactorial and complex and subject to all sorts of internal pressures that I knew the bike trip wouldn't fix - the sort of baggage you take with you rather than leave behind at Dover. You're obviously different so your solution will be different but if you do decide to go down the trip route make sure you do it with your eyes open and know what you want from it.

I've often wondered whether all our paths through life are just a continual sequence of cocking things up and trying to find a fix. A fair bit of mine has been like that anyway.

Well, I was born at a very young age............................................... .................................................. ..........








What I need to do is stop whining and do something about it. That something is going to have to be DRASTIC though. Bridges will be burned, tears will be shed and things are going to get scary. Like I said earlier in a post, I've lost my momentum with hanging around and making very little progress in life...



We are masters of our own destiny. It's all too easy to sit back and blame A, B and C... Not enough cash, not enough this, not enough that.

I might just have to roll the dice of fate...

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

Just sat and read the whole lot phew pretty deep stuff Ted!

As I am slightly older and more experienced in "life years" I feel able to comment............having done some of what you mention.
My thoughts have been pretty much expressed by others already but here it is anyway.

If you REALLY ARE serious about starting a business do that first. !!!
You must get things in the right order and get that business up and running ! It's very very important !!!

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Any way enjoy your trip dood !

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

Well, I'm always glad when you start a thread as we're pretty much the same when I read your thoughts. I'm 32, bored as hell at work, started my own thing 10 years ago as a sidekick and made some money out of it. So working a full time job and combined this with a side income has been good for us the last two years.

We've been on a few multiple month trips, but it still eats me away. I come back to work just to find nothing has changed except the cleaning lady cleaned my desk... And the same boring job is waiting for me with the same people that I dislike and have no respect whatsoever that I want to see the world. Because in their time "it was not done". Aaaaaaargh!

So we are also in the same situation, except that I don't need to borrow money. We've sold everything, including the bike (:confused1 and we'll go for another round of traveling from June on (incl the HUBB) but in a 4WD this time.
Why? Because first of all we can sleep inside the car, it has some advantages over the bike and we haven't done it before in a car. Always the bikes! Second and more important actually is that I 'needed' this kind of car for our future plans and business.

After the trip, we will emigrate to Tenerife and start our own business there. Is this a financial sensible thing to do? Hell no. But this is what we want, this has grown out of traveling the world that we can do with less money and stuff if we're happy every day with our life. We're not happy every day in Belgium in our pointless, boring and frustrating jobs. At least (and this sounds maybe strange) you have work. I come everyday to my work only to find myself sitting at my desk with my laptop doing nothing just waiting that I can go home. Believe me, I've never been more unhappy and frustrated in my life than right now. And you know what? I get paid a lot more than I used to before, when I actually had to work. The world is a strange place...

I consider myself lucky compared to you; as I found the joy of traveling after I started making some money and being able to save up. I've never traveled like most just after school/uni. Went straight to work but after a few years we decided to get married, she wanted a beach, I wanted to visit Australia so we went for 10 weeks, got married on Fraser Island and the addiction began... Damn Ozzies!

We never ever borrowed money for traveling, and I remember the discussions I had with my wife on one of your previous threads about more or less the same. We would never do it, as we both prefer to burn the money we have than to return with debt. But it's just a point of view and no advice whatsoever, who am I to give advice...

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Find us on Facebook or have a look at our website on wanderingsouls.be.

I have read, re-read and digested all of the fantastic advice and experiences from this thread...

I have decided that borrowing money is merely painting over the cracks of life instead if fixing the foundations. Debt is a shackle. It limits freedom of movement and that's exactly what I don't want.

I think borrowing money puts you outside of reality.. It makes you believe you can afford things that you can not.

I shall travel within my means.

Adapt, innovate and improvise....

Thanks all

Ted

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

And with your experience and means, you can make it to Magadan on your 5k budget. We spend 6000€ for two people and two bikes to go from BE to UK and then to Mongolia and Central Asia on 4 months. So you should be fine to do it on let's say 6 months and 5000GBP alone.

And wise decision, honestly.
Spending money you don't have makes you poorer, not richer...

__________________
Find us on Facebook or have a look at our website on wanderingsouls.be.

Wow there's a thing! I would have bet ............well.......... bet 10K you would have taken the money and gone.

For what its worth there is no " right decision" but I reckon you made the best decision. And don't forget as well as "within my means travel" you have the excitement of starting a new venture, that might truly be life changing anyway.........

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

Although I don't really agree with the approach, could try crowd-funding to make up some of the funds....

There's an RTW Ive been following atm which has done that

I am all in favour of Crowd Funding to support disaster relief, charity and good causes etc.

But to ask for donations to pay for my jolly's around the world, in my eyes, is more like begging !

Half the joy of travelling is knowing that you earned it.

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

Of course it's up to you but for thought provocation. It's impossible to calculate an interest rate or consider value until you know for certain the date you will begin earning money to pay the loan payments. Because in the interm you are paying your payments with borrowed money so that would be added to your cost of borrowing. Do a rough calculation and I'll bet it'll make your hair stand in end the true cost of that loan in the end.
Cheers!