Sanity check for long term travel

[rbslime]

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to sanity check something before I start selling off everything in preparation for my trip. I want to make sure my assumptions are correct after lots and lots of reading and possibly picking up some out dated info somewhere.

I'm planning a trip from Melbourne to London via South East Asia, Southern and Central Asia over a period of 18 months to 2 years. I've budgeted for this long but I'm assuming once I get out there I may want to go faster or slower in different areas. Because of this I've held off trying to acquire visas or anything that requires payment before departing in case I'm not comfortable with the pace, or if some local situations arise which prevent me from passing through.

If I'm 3 months out from leaving Melbourne (5 months from leaving Australia), is this a dumb position to be in?

Any documentation with time limits (carnet/IDP) will be requested with about 6 weeks to go (or posted to a friend that can get it to me on the way). I know I have to contact a Chinese guide a good 6 months in advance and also have exact dates to enter Russia, but once I get an idea of my pace I'll organise these from the road. Shipping for the bike can be done with little notice so there should be no problems there.

I have the HUGE advantage of being a dual national (Australia/UK). My assumption here is that I can still cross borders on one while the other is off getting its visas from home. Or travelling on the one that offers visa-free travel in particular areas. I've only just got the UK passport after a long period of procrastinating so this is all new territory for me. Is my thinking correct?

Thanks everyone, this forum has been an amazing source of info for me for the past year. I've spent a fair chunk of my working hours here