I thought motorcycle travellers and posters on the HUBB were supposed to be a tolerant bunch?

Ever since the Long Way Round came out bikers who have done the solo trip without cameras / back-up teams /life consultants etc have started looking down on anyone who does it differently. I personally prefer to travel solo and have spent the last two years of my life having the most fantastic experience riding by myself. But I also know other people prefer to do it differently, either with other riders / 4WDS or maybe even camera crews.

I went through a period of several months in southern Africa where at every camp ground I would meet commercial overland trucks, carrying groups of passengers. They did bugger all towards appreciating the local culture and at the time I looked down on them and thought of myself as a superior traveller. It was only afterwards that I realised what a dickhead I was becoming, because the whole point about travel is to make you happy, not to impress others.

So who really cares if someone elses form of travel is different to yours - it doesn't make it any more or less valid than your own trip. Sure, doing a solo trip is significantly more demanding and in my view ultimately more rewarding. But that doesn't make Ewen & Charlie's trip or Mike's plans any less valid.

And if Mike wants to make a buck out of it, good luck to him. How many people on the road have you seen with some minor forms of sponsorship, whether it be free kit or consultancy fees from publishing articles etc. If I could afford to fund a lifestyle of permenant travel on a motorbike, I would be tempted to do it too.....

Lets just all remember why we travel in the first place and keep things tolerant.