Hi all -

Due to an upcoming career change I have 4-5 months to do a big moto trip starting in January. I am looking for some advice from riders who have been there & done that.

The two options:

Option 1) fly to Cape Town, buy a bike once I am there, and then head north to Morocco via the west coast route through Namibia, Angola, Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, etc.

- Advantages: more adventurous, not as touched by tourism, radically different cultures, covers a part of the globe I haven't been to yet.

- Disadvantages: flight cost (one-way in, one-way out), bike purchase cost, visa hassles (mainly Angola and maybe Congo?), not likely to find a great bike for my budget ($2-3k), bike cost is probably a write off at the end since I won't be returning to the country where I bought it.

Option 2) Ride out my back door on my own bike, head south from Oregon, spend the time bouncing around South/Central America, ship the bike back, and fly home at the end.

- Advantages: easy, more fiscally responsible, one language to deal with, more relaxing, do it on my own reliable bike, no visa hassles, less planning required, no need to purchase a bike, get better at spanish.

- Disadvantages: Not as exciting to me personally, route is well-traveled, less diversity and interest in terms of cultures/people, and also I have already been to several of the countries i would be crossing.

It may be a long time before I can pull off another trip like this. My GF is cool with the trip and she wants to meet me somewhere for a few weeks part way through. In terms of relevant travel/riding experience, I've done moto trips (mostly solo) in SE Asia, India, Uganda/Rwanda/Burundi, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina/Bolivia/Chile. I've also spent some time backpacking around Kenya/Tanzania and South Africa. I ride dirt and dualsport in the US, and I much prefer dirt roads and small, off-the-beaten-track towns vs pavement and cities.

I'd like to keep expenses under $15k for the trip including everything (flights, bike shipping, bike purchase, visas/border fees, gas, etc). Definitely no more than $20k.

One the one hand, Africa is definitely calling to me; especially the stretch from Angola to Senegal, crossing lots of different countries and getting out into the countryside and meeting people, experiencing the culture, etc. That kind of stuff really gets my blood pumping. On the other hand, the ease of just riding out my back door with zero planning on a fun, reliable bike also sounds very appealing, and I'm sure I could find plenty of offroad adventures in South/Central America to keep my inner adrenaline junky in check.

Anyone want to weigh in on this? Where would YOU go?? I keep bouncing back and forth between the two and I can't seem to decide.