Hi everybody,

I'm a bored 21 year old Computer Science student/geek utterly sick of his 21 inch monitor and wanting to see a world without pixels! I'm seeking a travel partner for the above expedition as I've been, yep you guessed it, let down (luckily with 6 months to go). I know this is a bike site but it still seemed like the most appropriate place to post

The plan is to go through Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, then up through Scandinavia through Copenhagen, Oslo and Tromso (as well as numerous other places... this list is going to be long enough!), all the way to Nordkapp. From here it's east to cross the border into Russia over to Murmansk, then south through St Petersburg, Novgorod and Moscow... Nizhny Novgorod, Ufa, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Baikal (a definate highlight of an already stupidly amazing trip ), Khabavorsk and then Vladovostok... And then er, back again, this time taking a more southerly route from Ufa, bypassing Moscow, crossing the border back into Estonia/Latvia, and back through Europe. The plan was to leave mid-way through June, returning to my parent's house in Brittany by mid-late September, and then onward from there back to the UK.

I've been planning this trip for close to 3 years now, as it's always been a dream of mine to see Russia especially, although Scandinavia and Eastern Europe have always looked like equally fascinating places to visit! Obviously visas etc will have to be sorted out, all the invitations required for a 90 day business visa will be sorted out by RealRussia.co.uk in case you're wondering, and I've been in correspondence with them for some time now to ensure no last minute slip-ups!

Apologies about the itinerary spam, I hope some people have read this far

Also apologies if the other details are a bit thin at the moment, to tell you the truth I'm actually really, really pissed off at the moment as the news of the let-down has only just begun to sink in.

Please, fire away with questions as I'm wanting to beef up this post with more information, only I can't think straight enough to really think of much at this moment in time.

Cheers pals, hopefully speak to some of you soon

And i'm half way through reading my own post and I realized a slightly glaring omission:

The car! It's a P registered Land Rover Discovery (300tdi), I have a basic knowledge of mechanics and will obviously take a sizable amount of spare parts (i've got a list in my mind of what to take, and have referred to a few books including Chasing Rainbows by Peter and Eileen Circhton who actually circumnavigated the world twice in a Disco). The camping arrangement is going to be 'cozy', an expedition roof rack and accompanying roof tent will be the accommodation, but obviously we will take traditional tents as well just in case... In case of what? Well er, I'm just thinking ahead

The food will probably be mondo-enduro style as keeping costs down would be nice (and maybe lose some weight into the bargain ?) but i'm sure we'll be able to afford the odd luxurious meal by the roadside...

I have a full driving licence, if you have a licence it would be a definate bonus but it's not a requirement as such. Basically we'll have to complete 200 miles a day which seems perfectly obtainable to me, obviously in western europe we'll be covering more than that, and on the gravelled road of the trans-siberian highway (the dreaded gap!) we'll be doing significantly less.
I've calculated the diesel cost to be anywhere between 1000-2000 quid (18000 miles at about 50p/l average... ish... vaguely)

So uhm, i'm sure i've forgotten something else....

A russian speaker would be rather nice I do have lots of phrase books though....

[This message has been edited by MickH (edited 04 January 2006).]

Hello, Mick, last year I was in Australia for 4 months and I met a Russian down south, if you want some information abouth Russia, just send him an E- mail and I am sure he will help you, his E- adres is: sinus (((a-t)) sinus.vl (dot)ru and he has his own website: www.sinus.vl.ru if you contact him, just tel him that you have this information from that Belgian with the BMW who crossed the Nullarbor with him.
So Long.
Chris

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email addy obfuscated by Grant to cut spam - don't give the spambots easy targets!

[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 10 January 2006).]

Hi Mick

Take your direct access, sell the tank, buy a bike and you'll get plenty of bites. You'll also: 1. Have lots of change, 2. Have much reduced fuel costs and 3. Have at least twice the fun!

Regards, Mick

I'd have to say I agree with that, but I'm guessing you must be sitting on a trust fund to be able to afford that trip! Landies dont give the best mpg at the best of times......

I didn't have any bike experience when I decided to do a big overland trip, but am glad I went for it anyway. If you do the direct access it should be clear whether you want to go on a bike or car, I was totally hooked after day 1!

That said if you do go keep an eye out for a Brit plate and a Lucky Strike paint job heading West from Lake Baikal to Blighty around June/July

best of luck