That is the magic question, though: what date do you pick? One year from now or 10. A year from now and you can travel for 4 years and come back to very little. 10 years and you might not ever have to come back.

Of course, it also goes into the mix that I have three kids under 18. But they can travel with me at least part of the time right?

Kids obviously come first but for everyone's sake isn't it better you fulfil one of your dreams instead of putting it off and telling your children/grandchildren of the great plans you had instead of the amazing trip(s) you went on? A life lived in regret is not a life lived (or something!)

Use it as an excuse for them all to fly out and meet you in some exotic location for summer/winter hols...

Regarding the work aspect, are you seriously thinking of RTW for the rest of your days - if so, fair play but I think after a while you may want to come home and work again. I've had four days off in the last three years of work and I feel like jacking it in tomorrow. However, in my heart of hearts I know that after being away for months/years I would at some point want to change my environment and come back.

Your drive to build a business may need nourishing again in the future as much as your wonderlust needs fulfilling now - just a thought...

MS

I am not thinking of RTW for the rest of my days, but the flexibility sounds pretty good. The thought of taking time off right now sounds pretty great, but the thought of coming back and starting from zero (maybe not that low) is more than a little disheartening. Building a business takes dedication and hard work. It is not really my burning passion to start one over again.

Like I said, the question of the day for me is "how much longer?" The longer I work now, the more options I have. OTOH, the longer I work now, the longer I work now.

Sounds like you have already made your mind up to stay for a few more years

Good luck with both your job and the trip when you take it...

MS

If you have a house rather than completely sell up try downsizing to a flat. Nice to have roots if you plan to return.

I was an Engineer before I went away Backpacking for 18 months, was not so easy to return. Companies offered me work but I was not interested in the Rat Race.

Once you have travelled you will not want to go back. On route you could find alterative work, I trained and worked as a DiveMaster.

Your choice, keep some roots back home or SAVE SAVE SAVE and stay away as long as you can. My next trip I plan to make my life on the road.

Well, I found out last week that the company I work(ed) for has gone into liquidation.

I was meant to be returning there in the Spring to pay off my travelling debts as it was really well paid but now i have no job to go back too. SH*T !!!!!

On the possitive side, this means I have no limit to my travels now and have decided to slow down even more, lend some cash from my old ma and stay on the road for a couple of more months.

Ill now only just be leaving Argentina (where I started) when I should of already been back at work

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Hi,

Not sure if anyone's still looking at this thread. Hope so, coz I need some inspiration.....

Been riding for 30 years. Currently running an FJR1300.

Question 1 - would you keep that or trade it for an 1150GS?

Next, I can think of a million reasons NOT to do a big trip on my bike including;

• An 82yr old, widowed father who I see at least twice a week and is becoming increasingly dependent on me. I take him shopping. I take him to the doctors, to his hospital appointments. I do his washing. I cut his hair. I mow his lawn. I look after his ever-more delapidated house (or I try to). I have power of attorney so I look after all his financial affairs.He's had 2 heart attacks and three strokes and is on at least a dozen tablets a day, for the rest of his life. I could no more leave him for a week than fly to the moon.
• I'm 47yrs old, married, with 2 kids aged 14 and 13yrs - every single penny goes towards keeping them fed and a roof over their heads - a situation that I cannot see changing for at least another 10-15years.
• We have a monster mortgage, at least 4 credit cards - 3 of which are 'maxed-out', and an overdraft on our overdraft. How on earth do I suggest to my wife that I'd like to go away on the bike for a month or more?
• I'm a police officer and, where I'm currently working, a 'career-break' is simply not an option (we've already been told that all leave for Christmas 2009 has already been booked!)
• My wife is menopausal - her hormones are checking out, whilst my 13yr old daughter's are just kicking in - it's like World War 3 most days in our house (a good reason to cut and run, but I genuinely fear for their safety if I wasn't around to keep them apart)

But, apart from those reasons listed above, there's absolutely nothing to stop me!

C'mon folks - I'm just an ordinary guy - like 99% of you on here. How the f*ck do you EVER get to escape and rack up some big miles on your bikes?

Hmmmmm hard one there.

You certainly do have a lot of responsibilites at the moment and with absolutely no offence meant, you need to sort out your financial situaton before going on an expensive trip. Thats for sure !

This guy your looking after, there is an infastructure in place in the UK to look after this guy. You seem very tied into this situation which is very good of you but you cant let it control your life..

As far as hormonal women and kids are concerned, thats a reason to go on a trip in itself.. Everyone needs a time out.

Remember, travelling doesnt have to be expensive. You could camp your way around most of Europe or stay at YMCA's etc. Chop in the FJR1300 for something more economical and cheaper. Im sure the cash left over would pay for your trip in itself. Anything bigger than a 600 is completley un-neccessary and usually totally impractical to travel with anyway.

It all depends where you want to go, what you want to do and more importantly, how determined you are you realise a dream !!

If your just looking for us to get yourself and family into further debt and abandon your wife and kids for a bit of a jaunt then I dont think we can help here !!


Oh, and how would you chop in an FJR1300 for a GS if your already self- confessed, SKINT !! ????

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Most of the folks on here who travel a lot don't have dependent relatives .
They are young and fancy free , or middle aged and uncluttered with children , or [semi]retired "empty nesters".
Sounds like you will have to wait a few years mate , at least you have a regular job and can plan ahead a little .
Get rid of the borrowing ,that's the real noose round your neck .
In the meantime take short trips and enjoy your dad's company, he won't be around for ever !

__________________
Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

For the wise words.

You're all right of course. With my current financial commitments, planning anything other than a Sunday morning ride out is madness.

Guess I'll just have to keep watching the DVD's and count the days to retirement!

I wouldn't quite give up yet. But with those commitments, I wouldn't be planning something for 2009 yet either.

Just work towards taking some longer and longer rides. Ease into it. Start out with an overnighter Sat to Sun. Then a long weekend, then a week, etc. Believe me, it won't fully satisify the longing for a RTW trip, but it scratches the itch a little bit.

As I indicated before, I am not intent on waiting for retirement to live some of my dreams. No guarantee I will make it that long. But making sure my family is well taken care of is definitely a priority. At the end of the day, though, my wife and kids do much better with a happy daddy.

Hi, Stevie, go for it. Keep worrying and delaying...you will end rivaling me for Oldie of the Day. All that should I or shouldn't I proof of being a responsible citizen? At least you have plenty of years in which to obsess. Wait long enough and you may travel on a Scotish passport! I plan enjoying my 75th with friends in Guatemala having ridden on my Honda 125 from Mexico to Tierra del Fuego and back. BLOG at home

"I'm 47yrs old, married, with 2 kids aged 14 and 13yrs - every single penny goes towards keeping them fed and a roof over their heads - a situation that I cannot see changing for at least another 10-15years."

I hope you're not planning on keeping your kids fed until they're 23 plus???!!!! Boot them out to be real adults in 4 and 5 years, and that's at least one problem gone. Not saying this coldly, but a child does need to be an adult at some point.

Good luck on all the other points, I'm sure with your genuine desire and the obvious commitedness you have, you'll get there in the end.
Lorraine

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Well Dodger

It seems from what you say that you have too many commitments to do RTW - you'd never relax if you did go - but can you get, say, 3 months off somehow and do a big trip instead? And RTW isnt the Holy Grail of travel, as Ted Simon once quietly pointed out at Horizons Ripley one year- remark which seemed not to have been heard by many.

Myself, I prefer many longer trips to the RTW experience, wonderful as that would be. I'm thinking of places like Samarkand, Tashkent, Timbouktou, Syria, and so on - as well as my regular trips round Europe, especially the new larger Europe.

Just a thought......get yourself down into South America for example...now that would be tasty!

I'm a tad older than you, but started my family a bit later. I made the mistake of planning a big trip before the youngest could be left alone, relying on grandparents and her developing maturity. When the latter didn't happen as quick as I hoped I replanned. Then she started having/causing problems at school (possibly partly my fault) so I replanned again. She seems OK now but I'm not willing to risk anything yet. Those plans are now on ice until she turns 18. I'm hoping she'll be at university then, but if not I was living alone at that age so she can learn. Harsh, maybe, but I don't want her "growing up" like some of her friends, who look likely to remain dependent on their parents for the rest of the parents' lives. The phrase "to grow up and leave home" does capture a certain truth.


I was probably quite evil in a past life, as I have two daughters. You have my sympathy. Can anyone explain when the mood swings start though; Mrs MarkE's mood swung once and I'm still waiting for it to swing back!

I admitted I was being selfish, but persuaded my wife that as the only male in the house I needed "man time" I take up to one week, on the bike and agree to check in daily (some areas however have very poor mobile coverage, honest!). All I have to do is remember to bring back some sort of bribe for my wife and promise to remain faithful - not difficult as living with three women means I don't really want to seek more female inputs to my life (my daughters made me a misogynist!). This year it will be a run across France to Trier, along the Mosel valley (very slowly), then onto Cologne for Intermot before returning via Utrecht to visit friends. It's not the big trip, but that is still planned.

You refer to 2 kids but only one daughter - would a father & son weekend be wrong? Again,. it is not a big trip, but it will help scratch the itch. Tie it in to school work; I took the elder daughter to a few stoneage sites for a weekend - it fitted her school project and we had a great time.