Evening everyone!

I have always had the itch to motorbike around the world. I thought it was a pipe dream, but, well, now I've realised I finally have the money and time to make it happen. I'm in the process of getting my motorbike license, and I'm going to buy a DRZ400, spend a few months riding it around the UK to get used to it, and then set off.

My only question is... where? The place that is calling to me is Central Asia (like Kyrgyzstan) and Mongolia. But I'm wondering if that is a bit too ambitious for a first solo trip?

I'm somewhat tempted to just do a bit of it - Explore, say, georgia or maybe Turkmenistan, and put off Mongolia for the future. But then, when I do go to Mongolia, I will be re-doing part of the tour. So, where else can I go? Perhaps explore Kosovo and the surrounding states? or Eastern Europe, Latvia, Estonia and Lituania? Scandi countries would be cool, but perhaps too expensive? Perhaps Morocco? Although I prefer the cold(er) weather.

I like mountains, and want to go 'off the beaten track a little (though avoid hard core off-roading). What I want most out of the trip is a sense of struggle (but not so much that I don't make it home). Like I expect a lot of people here are, I'm a restless soul. I don't do well with relaxing, or 'having fun', I need adversity and struggle. Italy has beautiful riding roads, but I don't feel like I would get that struggle on the Amalfi coast.

So, hello, thank you for having me as part of this community, and hit me with your suggestions of fun little adventure trips in and around Europe!

You didn't say how long a ride you're looking for. Nor did you say what time of year, or anything about budgetary considerations. That makes it difficult to even begin answering.

Hi and welcome. A great first post full of the sort of enthusiasm I'm sure I used to have

Your schedule sounds as though you'll be all set up and ready to go in mid winter. Many of the Euro options are pretty miserable at that time of year - cold (not so much of a problem), dark, wet or snow covered and, often, shut. There's plenty of bike related 'mini adventures' available in winter - rallies etc - that certainly fit the 'adversity and struggle' requirement (google Elefantentreffen for the biggest one) but heading south into north Africa would be my suggestion. Check out Chris Scott's Sahara website and see if you get any inspiration there (https://sahara-overland.com). If you've not been before there's plenty of culture shock, mountains etc in both Morocco and further south.

ps. Don't knock riding the Amalfi coast (in summer anyway). The number of 'fly n drive' tourists trying to do it with a bottle of wine in one hand and a pair of binoculars in the other make it as white knuckle a trip as I've done in some time

Thank you for the reply!

You're right, I'm quite vague on budget, length and timing because those are to be deciced - I'm lucky that I have a flexible job and could take up to a month, maybe more, off whenever I feel like it, more or less. I will set a sensible time limit for where really appeals to me I suppose. How long would you suggest as a first trip? 2-3 weeks would probably be best, but if the trip requires more, then it requires more!

I have enough savings, but obviously don't want to spend every penny I have. In theory, it would be etirely possible for me to buy a new BMW R1200 on finance, but it wouldn't be a sensible use of my (future) money. I'm going on a "bang for buck / value decision making basis, rather than sticking to an arbitary budget (although I might work out a precise budget to stick to after I have decided where I want to go, to make sure costs don't spriral).

I'm planning to use the DRZ as my primary (only) form of transport after the trip anyway so I'm not even counting that as a travel expense (I know this is slighyly insane. I'm sure there will be many wet, cold journeys when I curse my wunderlust, but I have wanted a motorbike for years, I don't do many miles on a daily basis, and can kill two birds with one stone by doing this).

Realistically, it will be winter before I can go on a big trip, but I don't mind waiting until Spring/summer. Again, I'm flexible for times, so it depends when is the best place to go to wherever I like the look of. In the meantime I can do some short trips like the Scotland 500 as a dry run (or not, knowing the weather here). They will keep me out of trouble while I plan something proper!

To give you more ideas to go off, here are my bucketlist trips:
1) UK to Mongolia, via Georgia/Central Asia
2) Vietnam and Thailand (possibly as a continuation of number 1. Possibly continuing on to Australia to visit friends there)
3) The Hymalayas (possibly as a continuaion of number 2)
4) South America, especially Patagonia, Chile, and the mountainy bits.
5) Alaska (possibly as a tenuous continuation of 4).

All of these are big, expensive trips, which involve shipping bikes at least part way (or buying abroad). I need something small and manageable to wet my teeth on. But, well, I imagine it's hard to get "real" adventure in Europe in the same way you encounter it in the Mongolian Stepe or the Chilean Salt Flats... Or, that could be a very orientalist western-centric view of the world, and maybe Mongolia is just as boring as the West Midlands...

Cheers!

Thank you for the suggestions! Actually, perhaps Morocco IS a good idea - like you say, it would be doable in winter, and I've been meaning to take a work trip there for a while anyway... Will definitely look through that website.

The elephant rally looks crazy. Part of me is really tempted to do the Alps in winter (I love snow and mountains) but I also think motorbikes and ice is tempting fate a bit, no??

Reading your initial post; I was exactly in your place in terms of route / vehicle ideas about 15 years ago. After looking at my first bike, I was certain that a 4x4 was the way for me, so had to work on a car license.

After 3 years of planning and saving, I went for it; left for Central Asia on a trip I imagined would last 12-18 months. After Central Asia, I went down into Iran, then Pakistan. Somewhere here, after about 8 months, the trip ceased to be a trip and just became my life; I fell in love with Pakistan, spent some time in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, another winter in Iran, then stopped in Pakistan for a third time to do a spot of volunteer work and finally accomplished my greatest ambition - to cross Afghanistan. 2.5 years in I still didn't fancy returning, and spent the next 2 years in the Former USSR and Mongolia, finally returning to the UK after more than 4.5 years away.

So my advice, go for it. Go as big as you can. The older you get, the fewer opportunities you get to be in such a great position.

Now, reading your follow up, maybe you don't have such limitless time (as I no longer do), but don't let that stop you. You just need to plan more carefully and accept that you're always working to a date when you must return to mundanity. You can try to stitch smaller trips together. In 2017 I drove to Magadan, put my car in storage then drove back in the depth of winter 2018. If you are working something like rotations, you can plan where you will leave your bike each time (not always easy to do) and stitch together a much longer trip, as long as you can afford the flights in and out each time.

Good luck with your planning,

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

To start suggesting routes, I would say go to Mongolia. That country really stands out for its way of life which is unlike any other, and sadly rapidly disappearing. If you do Mongolia properly, which in my opinion is to stay off-road, you're really getting the most out of the absolute freedom of having your own vehicle, and will really meet the locals who still live the same way.

You can then either double back towards Europe via the Caucasus to take in as much of Central Asia as you can, or go on to SE Asia (an area I have no experience of, but know is more difficult to travel in with a vehicle than western / central / South Asia) and then on to the Americas in future stages.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

I went the oppsite way! I was dreaming of travelling the world in a 4x4 camper van. Well, that turned out too expensive and complicated, but as a minmalist mode of travel, motorbike seems fairly straight forward.

Well, in September 2022, my fixed term work contract ends and I have probably a 9-12 month gap in employment before my next contract starts. Spending said year driving across the world sounds better than packing bags in supermarkets...

How many weeks / months would you budget to do a round trip, from the UK to Mongolia and back again? Like I say, this trip is number 1 on my bucketlist and I absolutely will do it one day, The questions is, is it going to be my FIRST trip?

If you've never done a motorbike trip then you have a lot to learn about what you will like/not like, what you need with you/can do without, what spares and luggage, how many miles per day you feel comfortable with, and so on.

For your very first trip I would suggest a shakedown week not too far from home, so perhaps the Outer Hebrides and Orkney. Should be nice and cold from October until April: http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...scotland-77073

Or perhaps Brittany or Ireland.

Then a longer pre-big-trip so perhaps two or three weeks in Portugal or Morocco.

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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)

Sounds like this is shaping up nicely then... 1 week trip around Scotland, followed by 3 weeks in Morocco, then a biggie to Mongolia

Tim Cullis is right on target. Take a short trip to begin with--four days, maybe five, plus a couple of rest/sightseeing/socializing days. It wouldn't hurt if this trip included some inclement weather--it's not as easy as you seem to think. Stop and assess. Then look for something to absorb a couple of weeks for your next trial.

While you talk about having no time limits and no particular budget, you're really looking for a couple of short, budget journeys to get used to motorbike travel. You have just little bits of time, and not that much money.

Suggestions involving winter rallies or Developing World travels are, to put it mildly, wildly over-ambitious. You need to develop some skills, learn your own likes and dislikes, and to get real about personal finances. Until then, all these suggestions are material for daydreaming, not actual planning. As long as you're clear on the distinction, that's probably fine.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

At the moment, that's exactly what I'm after - fun ideas of where to go for short trips while I learn the skill of adventure biking! With the aim of working up to that big trip.

Riding aside, I'm more concerned about the camping aspect... but wild camping here in Scotland is legal (more or less) so that gives me tons of excuse to practice...

Definitely liking the idea of Morocco though, especially as I'm currently in Madrid anyway... Whether that counts for anything remans to be seen because I might have to buy the bike in the UK (cannot import DRZs any more, correct?) which would mean riding it down anyway... but then I get to do the pyrenees too so, vale, no pasa nada!

This all depends a lot on what sort of a person you are, and how you approach travel, if you are primarily interested in the countries you pass through and the people / history / culture, or if you are a biker who just wants a more colourful backdrop to their road trip. The latter type of person needs far less time in a place, I would imagine.

On a bike you don't want to be in Russia (the parts you would logically pass through to get to Mongolia) earlier than late April, or any later than the end of September (on the way to / from Mongolia). Mongolian weather is even more fickle. So, realistically I would aim for about an 8 month trip, aiming for the high summer in Mongolia and returning through late summer and autumn in Central Asia when it has cooled off a little. If you leave the Caucasus and take the route along the Black Sea Coast of Turkey you'll miss the harsh winter weather of eastern Turkey, though will want to be out of Central Europe before late November I think.

If you have lots of short holidays (e.g. month-long off-rotations) then it makes sense to do some easy exploratory trips in Europe or to Morocco. I'm not a biker but I imagine it's wise to get some confidence in countries with more predictable and orderly traffic. Packing the right stuff for a trip is a real art and for sure on your first attempt you'll have too much stuff, and find things that you wish you had brought. You can always dump stuff and buy more stuff out on the road. Even in Mongolia there are decent camping shops (in the capital).

If you have one big glut of time though I would not faff about with trips to easy or nearby places, which you can do whenever you have a few weeks free in the future. Make the most of a long stretch of free time and get out there. Just make sure your bike is in top condition, has some sturdy luggage system, your passport has plenty of validity and blank pages, your affairs at home are sorted out, and go!

I packed up my truck and left on that 4.5 year trip having never driven it more than an hour or so away from my home. Yes, I took too much stuff, yes there were things (springs, radiator) that I should have replaced before leaving, but they were very minor niggles in the bigger picture.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

So you’ve got 3 years, during which time you can take holidays of around 3 weeks, then you’re free for 9-12 months from September 2022 - is that right?
My suggestions for what they’re worth.
Get the ferry to Spain this September and spend 3 weeks travelling around taking in the Picos, Pyrenees, Cuenca Mountains, Rhonda and extramadura - camping all the way.
Next summer ride down through the Balkans to Greece and back - can be done in 3/4 weeks in comfort - camp in the expensive countries and hotel in the cheap ones.
2021 a trip to Morocco - as Tim Cullis says it’s a cold country with a hot sun so don’t go in winter, even in april it’s very very cold at night and it’s snowing in the high Atlas - it was the year we were there. Do lots of research so you have a great trip. It can be done in 2 weeks but 4 would be a perfect preparation.
September 2022 ship your bike to South America and ride around for 9-12 months.

Whatever you decide don’t forget to post up your ride report.