Extreme? Touring. Anyone done it?

Canis Lupus

I'm being made redundant around the end of Q1 2011. Now, whilst this is normally a bad thing for people I've worked for years for my company and their severance terms make me giddy they're so good.

I could A: Be sensible and invest the money

ooor

B: Splurge it all and go travel :pac::pac::pac:

I thought initially I'd do the norm and grab a backpack and join the bajillions travelling Thailand or South America but I've a mate who is currently jeeping it around Africa with 2 friends and he bumped into a couple who are cycling the world for 3 years and have spent x amount of months so far in Africa LINKY TO THEIR SITE.

My first reaction was: They're absolutely mental but it's kinda caught my imagination and their site has linked me to many many other sites/resources where couples and singles are biking in places I wouldn't have thought possible to traverse in anything but a moon buggy.

And so, whilst in very very early stages I'm thinking I might go for it and I was wondering if anyone on boards has done anything like this, even 'normal' touring in developed countries etc. Any advice/words of wisdom would be great!

Cheers.

CL

or maybe I'm just looking for someone to tell me I'm being silly and not to do it

Jawgap

In a word?

Blorg......

Chips Lovell

Last seen somewhere in the Middle East:

Canis Lupus

Oh wow! lol. Awesome stuff. Parts of the ME and Northern Africa are out of the question for me because I've an Israeli stamp on my passport Does he have a blog going?

columbus_66

Which one is Blorg?

mloc123

What is Blorg up to, has he gone travelling long term? I'm not sure if its public knowledge or not...

Jawgap

columbus_66 wrote: »

Which one is Blorg?

the least North African looking one......:)

Canis Lupus

Did he forget his razor or has he always had that beard

Chips Lovell

The blog from his first trip, Dublin to Istanbul is here. He's currently going from Turkey to India, via Israel it would seem from some of his more recent posts.

Another one worth reading is by my clubmate Dave McLoughlin, who went from Dublin to Timbuktu.

bcmf

I think he just went for a spin at lunchtime one day and ...well....forgot to stop.

Chips Lovell

bcmf wrote: »

I think he just went for a spin at lunchtime one day and ...well....forgot to stop.

He went out for the papers, said he'd be back by noon...

Jawgap

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Did he forget his razor or has he always had that beard

Who? Yer man with the keffiyeh?:) Maybe Blorg can ask him......

re the passport thing - I would've thought any kind of travel in the Middle East on an Irish passport would be a bit dodgy - you either run the risk of being shot as a Mossad agent or a Russian spy. The Israeli stamp probably identifies you as genuinely Irish - I doubt the Mossad would get their Irish passports stamped with this:)

Canis Lupus

Jawgap wrote: »

Who? Yer man with the keffiyeh?:) Maybe Blorg can ask him......

re the passport thing - I would've thought any kind of travel in the Middle East on an Irish passport would be a bit dodgy - you either run the risk of being shot as a Mossad agent or a Russian spy. The Israeli stamp probably identifies you as genuinely Irish - I doubt the Mossad would get their Irish passports stamped with this:)

Whilst that's true a few countries ban entry when passports have Israeli visa stamps on them but sure if I cycle fast I might be able to avoid customs in places.

There's lots to read and research as well as weather patterns. Who wants to cycle anywhere in a rainy season so who knows where I'll end up.

Oddly hadn't really considered moving down through Europe but good roads and civilisation might be a nice way of starting the whole thing off.

Harrybelafonte

Could you cover both bases? i.e. take a large chunk of your money and invest it now while the whole system is at its knees, spend the next few years travelling and indulging that desire, then come home to recovered markets and start all over again or simply go back to the previous life?

Canis Lupus

It would be nice to be practical with the money but I'm only young once (29 is still young right?) I'm recently single and have nothing holding me back from doing something daft. I live in London and I'm reasonably happy that I can get back into the same type of work once I get back.

El Tonto reading your clubmates trip now. Really nice blog.

neris

why not do somthing long distance within the EU like dublin to estonia or dublin to athens. Dont have passport worries, not alot of currency exchange, good chance of finding someone with decent english if things go wrong

Canis Lupus

neris wrote: »

why not do somthing long distance within the EU like dublin to estonia or dublin to athens. Dont have passport worries, not alot of currency exchange, good chance of finding someone with decent english if things go wrong

I'm not terribly fascinated by Europe. I sort of view European countries as somewhere to visit with a cheap Ryanair flight and moreover.... I guess I want that element of risk otherwise I'd just go 'normal' backpacking.

Tonyandthewhale

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I'm not terribly fascinated by Europe. I sort of view European countries as somewhere to visit with a cheap Ryanair flight and moreover.... I guess I want that element of risk otherwise I'd just go 'normal' backpacking.

If you haven't done any touring before it's probably best to start in Europe, just to ease yourself in like. That doesn't mean you have to stop when you get to the edge of Europe though, no reason why Dublin to Estonia couldn't have you ending up in Vladisvostok. Also, Europe looks a lot different from a bicycle saddle than it does on a ryan-air holiday.

Also, just so you know, I'm insanely jealous of you.

bcmf

Canis Lupus wrote: »

I'm not terribly fascinated by Europe. I sort of view European countries as somewhere to visit with a cheap Ryanair flight and moreover.... I guess I want that element of risk otherwise I'd just go 'normal' backpacking.

Please please dont view Europe by Ryanair standards. I have been to a good few places and always end up touring through France (albeit by car and tent)
You could easily take a summer to see just France alone. Once off the main roads it is a fantastic and diverse country. I have also spent numerous seperate
weeks travesing Italy and again fantastically diverse. And that is just 2 countries. Spain? Germany? The Northern countries?
Yes the Far East is grea but sometimes what is on your doorstep can be just as good.

Canis Lupus

lol I'm aware of being labelled a bit of a noob thinking 'Sure I'll buy this bike, some bags and sure isn't the rest just spinning your legs for a few hours a day'.

I've lots n lots of prep (of that I'm becoming increasingy aware) but I don't want to blow money going East that could be better spent getting me to a country where I could die screaming in the jaws of a crocodile.

If I hate it I'll sort something out with the bike, buy a rucksack and continue onwards the normal way. Fool proof plan

EDIT: @BCMF I guess I'm looking for a 'proper' adventure for now. Once I invest in the bike and gear then Europe and the rest of the world can be my destination whenever I want.

ciotog

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Oh wow! lol. Awesome stuff. Parts of the ME and Northern Africa are out of the question for me because I've an Israeli stamp on my passport Does he have a blog going?

It's straightforward to get a replacement passport - bye, bye Israeli stamp and you get to keep the passport for the memories. In some cases, if you do a lot of travel, you can have a second one. There are some parts of the Middle East that have mind blowing historical sites that could well make for a memorable tour.

blorg

If you haven't toured before starting in Europe is a good idea as suggested. You get a feel for what you need. I have toured before but after being made redundant myself I went on a longer tour as far as Istanbul, intending to stop there, but decided to continue east. I hope to update my blog in the next few weeks although to be honest I have very little time to myself, I am kept continually occupied!

Starting at home and with Europe and heading east you can slowly acclimatise to the changes which for me at least works well... Your first night you end up in the middle of nowhere in the dark might be a bit unsettling but you soon get used to it.

Get rid of the Israeli stamp, it can cause problems. Limiting your options because of that makes no sense and even on the road despite initial plans you never know where you might end up. Just get a new passport, it is hardly expensive in the scheme of things and you have plenty of time to do it.

Highly recommend it, you are young enough and in my opinion won't regret it. Once you get out of Europe it gets very cheap indeed, and remember you can go home whenever you want.

ChainWhip

Myself and two mates are just back from a 7-week spin across the U.S. - www.cycleofamerica2010.com (although the site might be down at the moment - damn bugs)

We went from Seattle to Washington D.C. which was pushing 6,000 kms in 49 days. We did it to raise funds for the Irish Cancer Society and Livestrong.

Because we did it with a support van, and with our accommodation pre-arranged, our trip would be very different from what you're thinking of.

But if I was to convey one thing to you it would be to DEFINITELY do it if you now have the chance, and if it's viable in the short- and long-term.

The people you'll meet, the experiences you'll encounter and the memories you'll come back with (if you do come back) will more than make up for losing out on any interest you'd get from investing the money!

Read some books (Mark Beaumont etc) and blogs (crazyguyonabike is great for ideas) and make up something that best suits you.

Any questions you need help with just shout.

ROK ON

I have noticed on a lot of travel sites (whether touring or backpacking) that there is a terrible snobery toward doing your thing in a developed country. It seems that to be "authentic" one must tour, tramp, backpack in a 2nd or 3rd world country. I understand why people go to these countries, but I would not allow this to dissuade one from touring in a developed country.

I would love to bike across the backroads of USA (fully supported of course). If you ever want ideas for routes the photo diaries on the Rapha website are a nice source of inspiration.

kumate_champ07

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Oh wow! lol. Awesome stuff. Parts of the ME and Northern Africa are out of the question for me because I've an Israeli stamp on my passport Does he have a blog going?

that's simple, new passport costs 85euro, that's if it gets lost or stolen..

petethedrummer

These might give you a bit of inspiration:
http://thebikeshow.net/alastair_humphreys_part1/
http://thebikeshow.net/1-september-2008-around-the-world-the-hard-way-part-two/

He cycled round the world with very little money. He got to the Middle East around the time of the Afghanistan war and just decided on a whim to head through Africa instead.

Bambaata

Ive two friends heading through Turkey right now on their way to Iran. What i'd give to be with them!!! They've some blog stuff here about their travles thus far - http://www.endurecyclechallenge.com/

dr ro

i've 2 kids and a big fat mortgage. Maybe, if you're lucky, when you get back, you could tie yourself down too. Till then...

jeffwode

This cycling diary is worth a read.

http://bicyclistic.com/index.php/cycling/

CramCycle

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Oh wow! lol. Awesome stuff. Parts of the ME and Northern Africa are out of the question for me because I've an Israeli stamp on my passport Does he have a blog going?

From friends who work in MNCs with bases in countries that may have "issues", they are all told to get a second passport, so that they can show the right stamps in the right areas. Fairly sure your not meant to but it's an option worth considering but there would be a bit more pre planning involved if you were covering a few different countries ie what to show where, not getting mixed up etc.

Lumen

CramCycle wrote: »

From friends who work in MNCs with bases in countries that may have "issues", they are all told to get a second passport, so that they can show the right stamps in the right areas. Fairly sure your not meant to but it's an option worth considering but there would be a bit more pre planning involved if you were covering a few different countries ie what to show where, not getting mixed up etc.

This one of yours?

Canis Lupus

Thanks for all the links. I'm still being amazed by all the people doing this sorta thing and the blogs are great reads as well. I wasted lots of time yesterday going through Blorgs blog and I'm still not finished but hey, I'm being made redundant so why do I need to care about work ethic anymore :P