numbers of partners
 

Hi

I almost always travel alone

share your opinions about long term travel with partners
you love it ? or prefer to be alone ?
what's the more appropriate number, too much give more possibilities of differents opinions and making decision hard to take ?

solo or just 2 in some place is not safe for camping ?

FranK

With someone
 

I always take one or two of my wives with me and as I'm the boss we never argue about decision making.:wacko:

The saying goes: Two's a company, three's a crowd. I've just spent 6 weeks going through Tibet and China with 3 others, two of which I didn't know at all before and it's hard at times. It was made harder by the fact that in China there is no way out, you must stay with the group.

Twice I have hooked up temporarily with one other bloke and it worked out very well.

My main advice is: be ready to part company at any moment (i.e. equipment-wise) and then you can, if there is a need. The parting can be temporary, e.g. you want to go one way to visit something or somebody and you re-join later.

My 2 c worth...

And when comes bed time , I got limited experience in noth america with hotels.... naturaly cheaper for 2 or 4 person to share the room ...Is it the same everywhere ? or ..I don't know ..in some less fortunate contry... did they full the bed they have, no matter how much you are or who is sleeping with you ?


FranK

This thread is getting very personal - number of partners eh!

Well, your point is right in my experience - I am not the first to note the value of Formule 1 hotels (French owned, but across a lot of europe). There are beds for 3 in each room, and a room can cost around 25-30 euros, depending on if the hotel is in a popular area.
So split the cost 3 ways and you get a nights sleep for no more than 10 Euros and that includes a continental breakfast.
I have seen people get 2 more, or thereabouts, camping on the floor as well = even cheaper per head (far, far cheaper than camping of course).

Any hotel room I have ever "hired" has been by a "room rate" i.e. the charge is for the room and, therefore, shared across a number of people it can be very cost effective - whether you get extra people into that room depends on where it is in relation to the lobby/reception - motels in the US are easy to get extra folk into!!

I find myself agreeing totally with Walkies yet again

F1 Hotels are in every major city, between two or three your solid gold. I use them to get clean check the bike, do the washing, LOVE THEM.

But what noones said is you do have to have the same riding style two different personalities is ok but riding styles can clash.

But best advice as always go with the Flow. :thumbup1:

Never!
 

I have ridden with others in the past and that is okay as long as you have just met them along the way and they are going the same direction. The problems begin when the other bike breaks down and you need to wait. Or a border crossing is hard for you, easy for them. Do you boht use gas at the same rate? Need to eat at the same intervals? No? Well more problems. My partner goes where I go, when I go, and why I go. Sitting on the pillion doesn't offer any other choice. When She needs to stop. We both do. We do't need to worry about the other rider running short on change, needing to see the ruins of the 98th statue of Boongidata 98 miles of the 43rd road for which there is no map. Ride alone, or on the pillion, but no fellow travelers.

98% of my trips I ride alone.
Sometimes I make a daytrip with my brother-in-law but he can/will not go on longer trips.
Sometimes my wife rides with me on her own bike.

I love to have my wife with me (that's why I maried here) but I would rather have her on the pillion then on her own bike because her riding style is "a bit different" from mine.
Unfortunately she (a) does not want to ride pillion and (b) she does not like "long", more then two hour, trips. My perfect riding day is riding all day. So, I am afraid that my 98% riding alone will not change.

Riding with others may make sleeping in Motels much cheaper but I would not let a good ride be spoiled by others, just to safe on my Motel costs. If you can get along it is OK but if not, the benefits are not as big as the drawback.

A completely different situation arises when you are going into a very remote and/or dangerous area. Then an extra person will provide some help/protection/"get parts vehicle" etc.

For me there is another problem with riding with others, I like to take a lot of pictures on my trips and riding with others makes stopping for pictures a problem.

Just for clarity, the point about sharing hotel room costs is a practical one which, in my case, I have not done while riding (but I have in other circumstances).

As far as riding together is concerned, the best argument about this is on UK TV at present:-
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...way-down-30266

Those two tell you all you need to know about travelling with others.

jkrijt,
Yep, my wife situation is the same. When she is on the pillion, at least we cannot get separated while riding!

I did both on my trip and each has its good/bad points but the price of shared accommodation is an important one on a long trip, especially in expensive countries.

Someone gave me a good tip re meeting and riding with other travellers you have met when on your trip- From the outset, agree to only ride with them for say 2, 3 or 4 days (or whatever) then you both split off again. If it's still going well after that time you can keep riding with them, but if they're getting on your tits, at least you have a get-out clause!

hotel rooms
 

As to the price of hotels and motels being for the room note that in Canada and the USA it is in most cases the price per room for a determined number of persons. If a room is stated as $40 for two persons it is strictly speaking not permitted to just add a third, fourth or... although a lot of times folks can get away with it.
On the doors in most hotels you will find a printed form with the max legal rates for the room and also the staements that letting more than the stated number of folks sleep over is considered fraudulent.The hotels management can if they want to have you charged with a form of theft for doing that.All guests must check in through the office if they are going to spend the night, and pay. This is also so they can know how many bodies they need to look for in case the place burns to the ground,.

I made 2 trips with another driver ... ( Jordan & St.Petersburg ).

I made 4 solo trips ( Nepal, Mongolia,All across Europe, Morocco up to Mauritania border)

.....

I prefer solo trips .. I like being able to decide where to stay, how long to stay, when to leave, where to go, where to eat, which road to take etc ... 100% independency..

Of course there are positives of travelling with a company .. )

But having experienced both ... i prefer solo.

,
,
,
Formula 1 hotels also in Cape Town.

Just 10km north of CT, might be the Koeberg Road, on the right just past some traffic lights.

Alone mostly.
 

Well it doesn't really bother me where I stay of if it's cheaper if you have 3 to a room etc. You can really camp next to your bike anywhere and really not have to worry about people. Anyway it is much easier to get invited to someones place of their veranda if your alone.

I do prefer to travel alone as I have found that if there is 2 or 3 or 4 in a group you tend to associate more with these people rather than the locals that I really want to meet. I have also found that people become apprehensive to come up to you ar don't want to really meet you if your with a group. Border crossing are also easier and you don't get asked for bachshesh so often when you by yourself. Maybe one other person at times but for my buck, I'll go it alone.

Cheers
Ivan

on my own please
 

I prefer to be on my own and then i can decide what to do/where to go/ and when i go/do whatever. i have always been about on my own and have enjoyed meeting people on the way, took my ex with me on a trip for 4wks and lets just say i've decided it's better on your own! meeting people on the road and having a ride together is fine as long as you get on, but you dont have to stay together if you dont neither, not even to save on hotel price's. :mchappy: just be honest at the beginning and say we'll see how it goes.

I have only done one decent overland trip, but did that on my todd because the guy I was supposed to go with couldn't get the cash together. It is definitely the way to go! The warmth of welcome I got off everyone I met was amazing - I think being alone makes you seem a lot less threatening and more approachable, so you get a lot more contact with the 'natives'

When you travel alone people are always happy to approach you with beer, food or help. I've lost count of the times guy's come over with a beer just to look at your bike and 99% of the time they've had to leave theirs at home and take the family on hols in the car ! As for sharing hotel rooms one word..
"Snoring". Ear plugs just aren't enough, especially with my chainsaw going all night. The extra 20 Euro's for your own room would be money well spent !

..99% times I prefer go alone...
1% time I meet someone (feminine mostly time) and I can allow share a part of road...
:thumbup1::thumbup1:

solo
 

Im a solo rider. I stop when I want to eat when an where I want to. Some days are long 800+ miles some short hops. If Im told where and what to stop for how long to ride for Id go nuts. Hell If I had to travil that way Id save the money and ride on a bus and get a backpack.

When I have goten to where I want to go I like to talk to people and talk to people on the way. Im not antisocial I gust like to go my way.

Riding with people seems to be just follow the leader and stay in some silly formation. Grate if your in to the cookie cuter Harley-Davidson mind set but hell if your not. Ever notice that many of the new Harley riders all look the same, dress the same, sound the same, talk the same, and ride the same, Individual most have a different definition in the official Harley handbook. :innocent:

Im a slut........

I love travelling with lots of differnt people but also like to break away on my own for a few days too..

I dont think i could travel with just one person for 6 months.. We´d drive each other mental !!

saying that, been on my own for 5 days now and im ready for some Quilmes with some other travellers now ! :)

The more the merrier?
 

Well, I can see the point you are making about solitary travel, but my thoughts have been towards getting a group of friends (or friends of friends) together and travel as a group.

My main inspirations are Terra Circa and Mondo Enduro, that´s what I´m looking for.

Besides sitting alone watching photos and giggling to myself I cant really understand the thrill of travel withhout anyone to share the experience or the memories with.

Sitting in a pub a rainy november friday evening, with your companion and a couple of beers remembering and laughing. A memory for life, or kind of...

Am I totally wrong here?

RZ

Depends on what you remember ?

The people you travelled with?

Sights you saw?

The local people you meet along the way?

---------
Travelling by yourself means

you do meet more local people! Either that or you are alone.

you are freeer to change the plan.

--- If going in a group - 6 is good .. enough to cope with an emergency - 3 can go off and get help leaving 2 to care for the victum. With more than 6 you increase the possiblity more than 1 will have problems at once.

------
Hotels here have fire plans .. those plans are made with a number of people in each 'room' .. if they go beyond that a huge fine can result .. there have been a number of deaths in 'backpacker' type places burning down .. expect no cooperation in overfilling any hotel room here!

Hmm, good point. What do you remember... it might turn out to be just like an company event type of thingy with all the experiences centered around the group instead of the people/culture/country you´re currently visiting.

I thought I knew how I wanted my trip to be...

I don´t think that I´ll be travelling alone though. If I fall down with my leg trapped under my very old Ténéré I will need someone to help me up/take me to the doctor when I´m sick/get spare parts for my wreck of a bike and so forth.

(Anyone for Europe-Istanbul-Vladivosktok-Toyama-Anchorage-NewYork-London in 2009?)
((I know its another thread for that...))

RZ

I found pushing the bike away to be useless .. pull the bike towards you, lift up - remove leg from under bike .. free .. took say 10 minutes of pushing away .. strain .. think.. strain, think .. pull towards, strain .. strain, leg out .. collapse.