Dreaming of a motorcycle trip to distant climes? This section will help you to plan your trip, whether it's to the next state, country or all the way around the world! Start here!
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive video guide for planning your motorcycle adventure. Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
You could just get on a plane with your credit card and passport and buy or rent everything you need when you get there. That includes the bike, riding gear, etc. etc.
Gear Up! is a 2-DVD set, 6 hours! Which bike is right for me? How do I prepare the bike? What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers! "will save you a fortune!"See the trailer here!
So you've done it - got inspired, planned your trip, packed your stuff and you're on the road! This section is about staying healthy, happy and secure on your motorcycle adventure. And crossing borders, war zones or oceans!
On the Road! is 5.5 hours of the tips and advice you need to cross borders, break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Tire Changing!Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
With an HU blog, you'll get a lot more readers than in some obscure corner of the web, it's all set to go, no setup required, and it's free! Start your Travel Story Blog right now!
800+ HU Communities in over 115 countries! People who want to meet travellers - yes that's YOU - and can provide local assistance, and may be your new best friends!
Make a DifferenceTips on fundraising or donating time and energy to a cause.
After the big trip - Was the trip the best - or worst - thing you ever did?
Resources and Links
Horizons Unlimited Presents!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
"It has me all fired up to go out on my own adventure!" See the trailer here!
Meet people who don't think you're crazy for wanting to ride your bike to South America or across Asia! They will encourage you, share their experiences and advice on how to do it!
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T-shirts, Calendars, Stickers
T-shirts Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Calendars Featuring the 13 winning photos from the Horizons Unlimited annual motorcycle travel photo contest!
World Map Sticker for PanniersShow your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Travel BooksMotorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
Videos - Watch and Learn!
Horizons Unlimited presents!
Achievable Dream The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
"The series is 'free' because the tips and advice will save much more than you spend on buying the DVD's."
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If you sell motorcycles or motorcycle accessories, riding gear, camping equipment and clothing, transport motorcycles, organize motorcycle tours, or have motorcycles to rent, you should be advertising with us!
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30 km from Chetumal is the Laguna de Bacalar, which is actually a huge lake. We spent a lovely day here on the dock and swimming in the crystal clear blue water. It is a great place to make a pit stop on your way to Cancun or Playa del Carmen.
We hemmed and hawed about whether the hassles to get there were worth the trip. In the end Daniel won out since he has never been to the Caribbean before. We chose to make for Ambergris Caye and Tio Pil’s on the beach. Getting there is a bit like trains, planes, and automobiles. Finally after a 90 min ferry crossing we arrived if a bit late.
This is a very laid back place. People walk around without shoes and drive golf carts in town. This is a fab spot for enjoying rum punch and a lot of hammock time.
The big event of the island week is the “Chicken drop” on Thursday night. You buy a numbered square on the board of 100 squares for 1 Bz= .50$US and you wait for the chicken to “drop”.
We joined the local and rented a golf cart for the afternoon to explore as far north and south as we could go. The road is paved for about 1 km in each direction then its off roading in a golf cart. It had rained heavily the day before so there was some adventure for sure. The big highlight for us was a day sailing to the even more laid back island of Caye Caulker with stops to snorkel the reef and at shark ray alley.
We drove north up the coast to Playa del Carmen for some relaxation on the Beach. The sand is white and the ocean is azure blue. We frequented our favorite place El Fogan for amazing tacos. Daniel's cousin and her husband are living on Isla Mujeres so they met us for lunch in Cancun.
Our Mexico City BMW club friend Fred was in the ironman Cozumel so we took the ferry over to cheer him on and got wrapped up in the excitement and energy of the event.
The new Xplor park is a great way to spend a day. They have off road vehicles, 14 zip lines, and swimming and rafting in rivers running in underground caves. They also have beaches and hammocks to rest up on. Video pending
Leaving Playa we headed back towards Tulum and then on to the cute litte village of Piste in the central Yucatan. People are super friendly here. Looking at their signs you can see their sense of humor. We had some great meals at a small restaurant near the main square.
The main attraction here is the nearby ruins of the mayan city of Chichen Itza. This is on e of the most visited Mayan sites in Mexico. We luckily got there at 8 when it opened. This was before it got very hot and absolutely mobbed with people. We did find a German bike parked beside us, but we unfortunately never saw the rider.
Driving thru the jungle from Piste to Merida we hardly saw another vehicle and luckily very few tope. This is a lovely small city with several nice squares and churches. This is the first place we have seen free public wifi in all of the parks. There is also free entrance to a number of museums and galleries. The Cathedral is all lite up at night and with the full moon it was spectacular.
After leaving Merida we rode west to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico at Celustun. It is famous for Octopus hunting and the almost 30,000 pink flamingos that flock here. We saw a few birds from the bridge, but hired a boat for an hour tour of the estuary. This got us up close to the flamingos as well as herons, and huge Canadian pelicans. We also toured thru the mangrove forrest. The town itself has a chain of restaurants along the white sand beach where we had amazing prawns and ceviche.
We rode south and west again to Uxmal. Travelling on the back roads involved some pot hole dodging. Got to love an amazing drive thru the jungle on an almost deserted road. Dan was very uncharacteristically swerving on the road and it was not until he stopped a few minutes later that I found he got stung on the face by a bee that came thru the crack his viser was open. We managed to get a super deal at the Hacienda Uxmal which is located just outside the park. The next closest town is 14 km away, but there is a great little B&B there, the Pickled Onion run by Valerie a transplanted Brit. We had dinner there and enjoyed a traditional Yucatan meal Poc chuc or grilled pork steak with pickled onions of course. The ruins here are really amazing with very detailed facades. It was cool hiking thru the restored and unrestored parts of the site.You can even crawl into the pyramids to see the layers of building underneath. There was a huge number of very big iguanas all over too. After the moring in the hot sun, the best part was arriving back to the hotel and being treated to a cold limeade and a ice cold scented towel to freshen up with.
It was a short but fun drive to Campeche City the capital of the state.This place has a very European feel especially inside the ancient stone city walls where the building are all painted bright colours. It is also famous for amazing seafood. There are ruins of a number of the forts that defended the city. We visited the Fuerto San Miguel. We visited the lovely 17 th century Cathedral as well as a number of other churches in the city.
The remains of the old walls include the "Sea Gate" and the "Land Gate".The waterfront has a 3 km long walking, running, biking path along the sea shore.
On the road there were also hundreds of pilgrims in groups of 3 to 10 all riding bikes towards Mexico City for the Celebration of the Guadaloupe on December 12.
The last 180 km included 50 km of road that was almost all potholes, a long stretch thru an industrial zone with heavy truck traffic and a huge amount of oil on the road, and the rest at dusk in traffic with the uber aggressive Puebla drivers.
We were greeted at the hotel by a fellow Canadian traveller who directed us to a local Cuban bar where we enjoyed food, drink, and a local musician. Puebla has I think has the nicest Cathedral I have seen in Mexico as well as a very nice Zocalo or central square.
For the first time in weeks we actually saw other riders, but unfortunately on all 3 occasions they were on the other side of the toll road. We all did wave madly at each other of course.
Morelia is known as the pink city because of all the buildings made from pink marble. It also famous for the birth place of La Michoacana, a massive chain of ice cream shops started by 3 illiterate brothers.
Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's thelist of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now, and add your information if we didn't find you.
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
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"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
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Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
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s. Ahhh Duvall.
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