Genuinely interested in peoples thoughts on this.

2020 has been something of a Lemony Snicket novel with a series of unfortunate events leading to a major life change. A total knee replacement resulted in nerve damage that may take years to sort out. This means I cant ride my MC very far without pain and will most probably retiring early this year at 55.

But, the silver lining is, that once Covid is dead and we can travel again, I should be able to travel full time for a long time. So planning on taking my daughters aged 10 and 14 out of school, grabbing the wife and heading off. We had been planning something similar pre covid for about three years time but that involved a campervan / 4WD camper or similar. However, the knee is not conducive to cramped vans at present so that is off the list. I reluctantly just sold our camper that I had spent 18 months preparing

So my thoughts are, in no particular order, is to start off in Asia and spend a couple of months in each country, using monthly airbnb’s so the girls can do some school work and use trains / ferries etc for transport.

Maybe start off flying into Bali for a couple of days, then over to Java and staying in Surabaya and Jakarta. Then off to Malaysia - Thailand - Vietnam and anywhere else that takes the fancy. I cant see any real point in having a vehicle during this leg so am happy without one. I have done a heap of research and spreadsheets on this leg and using Airbnb’s we are averaging spending less than $1000AUD on accommodation in most of these countries per month, which is well within the accom budget.

The next leg gets a bit more complicated. We could travel by train through China into Inner Eurasia transiting across to the Stan’s and then eventually Europe. Where I start to get a bit stuck, having never visited these regions, is whether a vehicle makes more sense in Europe and the Stan’s as we still want to use AirBnb’s on our monthly/bimonthly routine.

I may be able to purchase a vehicle in Germany as we have friends there. However, an alternative would be to head to Japan after SE Asia for 3 to 6 months and buy a vehicle while I am there. Buying a new car in Japan does not require a safety registration check for three years so there is no requirement to have it in country till then (this could also be shipped back to Aust after the trip as a personal import - I think)

This would then open up Sth Korea for a few months, then ferry to Vladivostok if its running again, and transit across Russia by vehicle into Europe. The ten day transit visa worries me a little bit though. Perhaps just being a pussy.

Having a vehicle in Europe would probably save $$ and be more convenient than trains. Does the car reduce the experience of the trip for the driver? Do you see more from a train? Is Russia less hassle, and more enjoyable, on a train than a car. Not talking ‘road a bones’ here but the towns and cities along the main transit route Thoughts?

The other option is to just decide once the SE Asia leg is over and use Skyscanner to find the cheapest fair to wherever and just go with it. Pre Covid I played around with this a bit and was amazed at just how cheap you can get flights from place to place.

I am not interested in Africa though the America’s would be interesting down the line. By that time I may be able to ride again - perhaps the Honda ADV-X 750 might work.

So no actual specific questions, other than the Car in Europe one, but interested in views from anyone who has an interest/experience in this sort of trip. I have looked at other forums however anything with family travel seems to focus on a week in a city and not the day to day stuff.



Homer