I was always jaelous about those bike travellers who feel comfortable with the basic camping life.

Who did mostly popup a tent, use a cooker, did enjoy a campfire at night.



I did love to follow ride2explorer, his travel blog who is unfortunately offline since a while. But you can order his movie: https://www.journeyman.tv/film/7775

Cheaper you cant travel, if you cook yourself and dont spend money at hostels. And it will be too more a trip to yourself, if you regulary stay lonely.

I did often the same (just wildcamp over weeks) - but by 4x4 I can enjoy more comfort, from a fridge, a lot of more food options to carry, a hot shower till a bed who is storm proof.

Surfy

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About Overlanding, Travelogues, Equipment
Trans-Africa over the west coast

I agree for short trips—I carry just a Jetboil, a mug, spoon and knife, and then packet soup, oatcakes and instant coffee with dried milk and sweetners. Oh, and white pepper and chilli flakes.

But for a 15 month trip, your cold food and nuts suggestion might be a challenge.

I don't disagree on weights, my 4-season two-man tent is 1.93kg and with footprint, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, minimal cooking stuff and food as above, it's probably realistically 6kg.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

There isn't any compelling reason to cook to begin; buying food is inexpensive and time saving. I have carried my set on last 7 week trip through some desolate scenery and maybe used it 2-3 times. In 3rd world countries where you can get a bed, dinner and breakfast for $15, it's not worth the effort. I would probably carry cooking set on the trip to Siberia, old summer road, roads of BAM, but then I would rather spend an extra hour riding then cooking.. just saying. It's not like you will be in wilderness for more than 1-2 week a time.

It depends on what you get; I think my setup on other bike is 7kg+. Heavier tent, cot, etc do add weight.

Cost is relevant to the country you are in. Australia is very expensive to eat out.
And accommodation is expensive.

In US of A food is still cheap. Pandemic closed some restaurants/fast food places and you don't get discounts... still reasonably cheap for basic needs. But the era of $40-60 hotels is over, it's more like $99+ for budget accommodations and after paying $53 for campsite I ain't paying for that again.. stealth camping all the way especially in western states. Still $5-6 will buy you a shower at truck stop gas station when needed.

Would have to find out what the rest of the world like when I get to bike stored in asia.

Hello

You have a lot of shippings for 15 months, container ship, RoRo or airplane?:
Montreal-UK
India-Thailand?
Thailand-Australia
Australia-S. America
S. America-N.America

You start and end in N-Amerika, do you live there?
Why going first to Alaska and then ship to Europe, you loose a lot of the summertime of the north, better just ship in the winter to the UK and start in spring there.

Dont' forget insurances and some money for emergencies.
CDP only for 12 month valid and then you need a second, but you only need it in the middle of your trip (Iran, Australia etc)

Every RTW has a different price tag for a different Person.

Wild camping costs $0.
Campsites around the world from $5-$30, not all countries know the concept of camping.
In cities you will need a roof over your head and a save place to park the bike, in cheap countries $10-$30 for a single room and in expensive countries $20-$30 for a bunk bed in a backpacker, couch surfing maybe?

Some advice I don't get:

Small bikes and extreme light baggage are good in the sand and single tracks, but on a "normal RTW" you have to search for that.
All the known great routes are getting paved, 10 years ago there where a lot of construction sites on the Ruta 40, is there any gravel left?

Good choise of bike for a RTW in 15 months.

Emergency shelters a great for day hikers in the mountains but on a 15 month motorcycle trip one has raingear and warm cloth to survive in wind and rain over 150 km/h windspeed, like riding on a motocycle in the rain...


There are a lot of places where there are no restaurants and some like a cup of coffee or tea and a warm meal.

If a good tent is 2kg or 3,5kg or even 5kg doesn't matter, take what works for you.
Weight of luggage is overrated, take what you need an learn to deal with it.

Don't forget, he goes on a 15 month RTW, not on a few days single track trip.

sushi

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Thanks for the response, going to go over some of the other posts in this thread.

In regards to the lighter bike, I was originally looking at something like a DR650 but ended up moving away from it because I dont want to put the work into doing all the aftermarket upgrades to get it ready. Also, I am pretty tall so I am valuing comfort over the size and weight savings. I will probably run into some issues when shipping in terms of cost, but I'd rather be comfortable on the road than save some cash.

For Australia I was going to start in the North and head to the east coast then go do the southern coastal highway and most likely shoot up through the center. Open to any advice to make the Australia trip as good as possible! Appreciate the cost estimates for hotels/fuel.

I left off Africa from the trip just because I feel that I would want to spend a lot of time there; I want to do this trip in 1.5-2 years and don't want to feel rushed. I already feel that I might not be able to see everything I want on my current itinerary! This will probably be a separate trip in the future.

In regards to the post above, I live in the US and am going to do a ride to Alaska as a check ride (grew up there so I want to visit some friends) and then will head east since I haven't see much of that part of the country. In terms of timing getting to Europe in the spring/summer, I will have to work that out. Itinerary is definitely fluid.

There is a lot of shipping involved for this trip, based on my research it seems that the best option is flying the bike if you can as there are less hidden costs and you can get there quicker. I am willing to change the mode of transport as I get closer to each decision point. I also am willing to cut out the shipping from India to Thailand, it's just it seems it is hard/expensive to travel through some of the countries in between.

In terms of cost, the 45k is the number I want to try and stick to but I will have plenty of left over for emergencies and higher than anticipated costs. I want to try for as small a budget as I am comfortable with as a personal challenge.

Thanks for all the advice!

.. speaking of coffee and tea you can get an inexpensive €.5-2 cup of expresso/cappuchino in europe, turkish/greek coffee I greece and free tea at any purchase at any gas station in turkey, or any food purchase in muslim countries. There's no reason to carry something half world you won't need until you get to australia.. can be purchased there. As for time 7 days, 7 weeks, 7 month it's all the same if you don't use something for weeks you don't need it, IMO. And weight is relevant for the state of your bike and when you need to pick it up. There were times in central asia when I started day by looking for welder, 4 days in a row sometimes.

@OP look into guesthouses iOverlander has some info and some listed in booking.com and in google; they're common in eastern europe and asia.. other parts of the world too. Talk to locals when you are going through village and see people selling food (tomatoes, potatoes, etc) they can be talked into cooking it for you. When my frame cracked and local "master" and I worked on the bike for a couple days I stayed in his house and he fed me.. all together was pretty cheap. And places selling food in remote villages where there's no guesthouses can let you stay overnight when customers gone; at least you would have roof over your head. You might end up listening to donkeys all night but that's another story. Make sure your Google translate works well; if you don't have service prepare some key phrases in advance good luck.

Hello

I might be lost in translation, but usually motorbikes are built for two persons, so taking a cooker and desent tent will not crack the frame.

If you can't lift the bike because of the cooker and tent, take it off and lift the bike.
Piece of advice, don't drop the bike to often.

But in the end, everybody has to find their own way of traveling.

sushi

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

Agree it's likely lost in translation; perhaps we have different adventure in mind?

Traveling alone along Silk road I had seen roads which haven't been paved since 1976 or I was told so by locals. And you know it's gonna be good when cars leave the road and run through the fields The shop which was welding my bike told me they had a german with honda 2 week prior replacing rear shock with one from Lada; I'd love to see that.

As for unloading bike it depends on how it's gone down and where; and things are different at 12-14000' altitude much harder when you are out of oxygen. And it's unrealistic to get something out of if bike is laying down on it. As for not dropping bike good advice LoL.. especially in mud, deep sand, loose rock, fech-fech or in the middle of river x-ings, just because a bridge got washed out.

Hello

Piece of advice, for difficulte rivercrossings, take of the baggague and walk it over.

I don't know what you understand of an adventure RTW with a motorbike?

As I said before:
"Small bikes and extreme light baggage are good in the sand and single tracks, but on a "normal RTW" you have to search for that.
All the known great routes are getting paved, 10 years ago there where a lot of construction sites on the Ruta 40, is there any gravel left?"

I did only a "normal RTW", nothing extreme but still an aventure to me:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MrXt660ztenere
Exept a day trip in the sand in Archers N.P., all with cooker and tent. (Videos 2011-2013)


sushi

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

Hey I was just doing research the other day on getting from Thailand to India (crossing Myanmar). The guys from the youtube channel "North and Left a Bit" used a guide service osugamyanmartravel.com. It was like $400 for 5 days as long as you go in a group and hotel is included. Seems like it could be cheaper and less hassle than air freight from India to Thailand (more fun too).

Pretty sure Myanmar borders are closed for travelers. That would be big news if something had changed on that regard, but I highly doubt it.
So as things currently stand: It's not happening.

Their trip was done in 2018.....a lot has changed since then! Myanmar borders are closed

My thoughts on the original enquiry, which was about lodging I believe.
Lodging is different throughout the world, I’m sure you know:
It’s possible to find lots of free camping in the US - we struggled to find hotels, down the east side, lately below $90.
We stayed in a brand new 4* hotel in Albania for £20, including dinner - the next night we paid more to stay on a Dutch owned campsite.
Etc etc etc…..

I think you will find your own rhythm and travelling style after a few months.
Personally I don’t breakdown and calculate finances because there’s too many variables.

My advice is too just go with the flow - peaks and troughs, whether that’s financial, mental or physical.