Africa trip with wife & kid???

[charliegreger]

greetings all

I have been dreaming of a two wheeled adventure for years, and have finally made up my mind to go...Start with africa and then see where the road takes me. I have decided on a two year plan to save up as much cash as possible which will also give me time to do all my mods, first aid course and all the rest.....

however i do have a rather major dilemma on my hands.... i have always wanted to do this trip on a bike, seeing as its my passion, its the obvious choice.

however, i would love to do this trip with my soon to be wife and her 10 yr old daughter.

I am wondering if there are any people out there that have done a similar trip with a wife as well as a kid or two? and if so did you do your trip in a car/4x4 etc or motorcycle???? i would prefer to ride rather than drive, but am not set against driving at all. though the budget is going to depend on the mode of transport i guess.

I would love to hear from any folk out there that have any pearls of wisdom to share.... random comments are also welcome

[ta-rider]

Hi,

Forget riding if you want to take some kids along. It will be a nightmare for both of you as you have to carry lots of luggage as well.

On my way through africa i meet several families such as

www.five-in-a-box.de - Startseite
SIX EN ROUTE - Journal de Bord

As you see: Its possible

Have fun, Tobi
Transafrika - Riding on a motorbike through africa

[Gummikuh]

Hi!


Have look on the Wild Dog Adventure Riding - Index forum and search for metaljockeys last trip. He called it "the wife, the Ex and the kid" awesome ride!!!

If you really want it and your wife likes it.....not a problem at all!


Werner

[PaulD]

I spent 3 mths travelling around Africa with my wife and 2yr daughter but it was in a Combi Van just went where we wanted, my family travels are the best I have had, 5 yrs ago I spent 10weeks travelling around Africa with the wife and 3 kids once again in a car they all loved it !!!. If the young girl does not mind riding on the back of a bike I would go for it. The only thing I would say is make a series of smaller trips rather than one long one as there interests are different to yours. At that age there friends and emotional security are paramount. But the upside is a trip would give you a chance to bond with her as well and schooling is another issue ?
It's all food for thought !!!
Cheers
Paul

[jerry85]

I want to spend some time traveling around Africa with my wife, two sons and little daughter. We don’t have any past experiences. But I took some ideas from your posts.

Cheers!

[adventure trio]

We have not yet traveled internationally with kids yet but we do several multi week trips per year around the US. Myself, wife, and now 8 year old son.

My advice is to keep the time in the saddle to a 6 hour maximum per day. This gives the kid a chance to experience whatever destination you seek. It is both scary and terribly fun to travel with your family and give these experiences to the kids. All of my sons friends watch in awe as we gear him up to depart on a trip.....all wishing they could go too.

Good luck!

-Terry
http://www.adventuretrio.com

[Warthog]

Not quite the same scenario, but I have been working towards a similar trip with my wife (nothing new there) and two dogs (ahh... right...).

The solution I found in keeping with a motorycle trip was a sidecar outfit.

My particular choice was a Ural, but many have opted for a more conventional bike and fitted a chair to their bike of choice.

Mine has plenty of pitfalls: not the least of which, as I have been finding out, is luggage space but finding solutions is half the fun!! Also, it is nothing like riding a bike so you'd essentially be a nocive to riding regardless of how many years you've been zooming around!

Worth at least thinking about...

[NaughtyLampLighters]

We did 9 week trip from Kenya to The Netherlands in 2008 with my husband and our two-year old (and my brother-in-law). We had such a great time that we've had another kid and are getting ready to take a year and travel from NL to South Africa down the West Coast of Africa - now with a 4.5 year old and a 1 year old. My experience is it is a little extra planning traveling with the kids to be sure you have very clean water, the right meds, etc and the driving days are shorter (we did pull a few very long days to make border crossings or visa dates but our daughter made us pay for those). We traveled in a Land Rover which was ideal because you can travel with enough stuff. Not sure about traveling on a bike but at 10 she should be pretty easy. I bet you can make it work. Good luck!

[mx4eva]

A Danish couple travelled extensive RTW by bike with their 2 kids, ie 2 up on each bike and they mentioned in their book that the kids often was a real ice breaker. Home schooling and all along the way. Of course at times it was not easy, but what's the alternative ?
Just do it

[danward79]

google 2 capes 2 kids

[zeroland]

I liked the sidecar option mentioned above. What about quad bikes? Currently I know of only one trans-Africa trip on quad bikes. It would give you the option of sharing the 2nd passenger plus the ability to carry extra kit.

I am gearing up for a 2013 departure with my 3yr old daughter and have looked into how many other trips have taken kids with them. One website made me think hard.
This trip (below) was a father & son trip in 1997. The father wrote the blog and an item that stood out is the levels of responsibility he felt. This was an added pressure that he did not realize leading up to the trip.
Read more here...
The Africa Overland Network - Independent Overland Travel across Africa, Asia, the Americas and the World.

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