Then there's the personal health issues to contend with as one grows older .. eh greenman? There can be no guarantees in this department either.

At age 55, and still blessed with comparatively excellent health (no health issues for me whatsoever) .. is the single most important factor that drives me to get on with it while I still can .. AND without the need to take pills or potions with me.

-----------------------------

BTW - Just been for quick lookaround your site. Nice! Thanks for the tip about the Garmin Quest satnav; reckon I'll stick with my Stylophone too .. :yes:

Cheers

KEITH

PS - shame we didn't meet-up in Ripley .. maybe next time?



.

Does anyone know anything about google adsense. Roughly how many poeple would you need to be looking to be giving you a hundred dollars a month say? This isnt a request for people to go clicking on my blog links (though feel free if you want to). Its just we only started with this blogging business and we got $20 waiting for us. I wasnt expecting this and now I am wondering if I can get some more!! Would it be o.k to encourage people to click the advert links on the blog in order to give me money (a sort of donation) or do you think this would make google mad and I'd get cut off.

We are getting a bit low on money, thinking of teaching english in Cambodia or laos for a few months, but this idea excites me more.

Well - I just did a "clicky" on your blog !!!!!!

thank you!! yesterday i got 4 pounds, about $6.50, from 'clickings'! I only need ten pounds a day, so if i can just get another 6 pounds i can go forever...

this is great!

ps still need to know whether its ok to ask people to click on the blog links? any ideas? anyone make money from this?

Google AdSence
 

When you sign up for google adsence, you agree not to ask people to click on the adds. You know, the part that we always skip and just say "I agree" to get on with the setup process.
However, this is stupid. The whole idea of having adds is for people to click on the adds and hopefully buy something. This is how google makes money, selling add space on your blog.
So I don't see any problem with getting people to check out the adds on your blog.
If you tell people to click on the adds when you tell them about your blog, you should be ok (it's verbal).

BTW, I love your blog. And yes, I did check out some of the adds.

2 Wheel Herman

nice one 2 wheel herman, thanks. have clicked a few for you. have actually just read the adsense rules, and they can quickly get wind of people asking others to click ads, so we shall see. haven't really written it anywhere on the thing anyway.

good to see you've got a blog going too, having a good old read now. is it really showing my age if i know the final countdown? oh dear... and its good you've put a packing list, we didn't get round to it as started it halfway through..

A Change Of Logic
 

I am 52 yrs old and just returned from 6 months in south east Asia, I lived in cheap accommodations, i ate from local markets. I am home now . yesterday i had o decide whether i should pay 20 bucks for a pizza and what went with it. i could last for two days in asia on that 20bucks. so before you go think aobut what you spend a home. go to the supermarked and get your things, dont spend on takeaways think everyday how you can save to go away. That night you want to go out and party. you will spend a 100 dollars. Thats a weeks accomodation when you are away.

I funded myself on the stock market. i would try to find an internet shop somewhere somehow, even in sumatra and laos i made my trades. I did not get greedy just tried to eke out 300 or 400 at a time which might last me two weeks.
trying to be frugal and careful at home sets you up for when you are away.I plan on riding argentina to alaska soon. so now at home that is in my process. no pizza....I bought a bbq chicken for 8 dollars and some fruit and vegetable and bread and salad. tha cost 20 bucks and lasted me for 3 days.

My $0.02 is that once you've gone through the initial (big) expense of kitting yourself out (camping gear, cooking gear, proper clothes, bike, mods etc), it's not difficult to live rather inexpensively in places other than Europe/North America.

If you choose wisely where you go and what you do, even modest savings can get you a long way. For instance (speaking completely theoretically here) planning a lot of mileage in Turkey where petrol is so expensive is not financially wise...

Alexandros

Too tired to go
 

After completing a trip of 35 months and a bit over 28,000 miles throughout Canada,the U.S. and nortern Mexico on a bicycle i discovered my biggest expence was the medical emergency travel (mostly airfare) to get me back home when other family members needed my presence.
Now i have been bitten (badly) by the adventure travel bug; as apposed to the regular travel bug that had me hitchhicking across the us as a tweenager so i have decided to put my old motorcycle to good use so i can speed up the exploration process before my "Macular Degeneration" ends the scenic beauty.
After spennding everyday the past several weeks looking over this site, i "hafta" say I am still thankful i never read the sister type sites involving bicycle touring.
One of the many things they have in comon is, by the time you think about jumping thru all the firey hoops most posters think are necessary for a journey of any magnitude you are too tired to go.
I think i will use the tried and true method i used for the bicycle tour;"the Braille method"
The bike has been sitting for about 20 years so i will rebuild the carbs and the generator and grab a few spare parts throw my bags onboard,and if it starts I'm gone...
Love the site love the trip journals......
see y'al in the funny papers!
Hope to see some of you on the road.......:scooter:

Saved, Sold, Traveled
 

Like many have already reported, I saved over a 4 year period. I didn't scrimp on everything, I'm not hard core as some (or have as much will power!), but I did forgo the luxuries and stuck to the basics of what I needed. When it came time to leave I sold everything that I couldn't take with me: the condo, the car, the clothes, tv, etc. Everything went. It was very liberating. I can't begin to express how free I felt with no possessions to my name, money in the bank, and the open road in front.

I returned to the world after 6 months. For me it was surprisingly easy. Too easy. I got a job, bought a car, bought a condo, etc. Now I'm right back to where I was prior to my trip -- and yet I'm dying to leave again. I stare at maps, troll the forums, and scan countless blogs.

I guess if I had any lessons to impart its this: if you leave and come back beware of settling back down, of assuming the trappings of your previous life, because sooner than you think the road will call to you and you will want to leave. Your urge to travel will not have been satiated with your first trip. So if you manage to break free, do come back to replenish the kitty, but stay light and footloose. Don't get caught in the quicksand, like me.

After almost a year on the market i have just accepted an offer on my house !
Fingers crossed that the sale goes through and AT LONG LAST !!!
Now my trip of a lifetime can begin ! :D:D:D

best of luck
 

Mr Moto best of luck, I am going to put my place on the market next September. I am planning to be away by March 2011. Let us all know how you get on.

Keith nice site have just PM'd you.

The frustrations of life
 

Hi all,

I'm reading through all the info here on setting up, financing etc etc and I'm really dead set on doing a RTW. I'm a graphic designer and can pretty much pick up work anywhere/ work over the net. I like to think I'm handy with a camera and would be happy to turn in a few pages of writing to a travel mag/blog if I needed some extra cash. Problem is, I'm loving the money I'm earning now.

London life is getting to the pair of us and I've always wanted to do a RTW on a bike and my partner is keen on the idea.

Her parents live in Malaysia so I thought a bike trip to KL would be not too long and not too short of a trip for us. We could probably do that on our megre (about 10k) savings. How far do you think 10k could get 2 people, roughly? I'm quite happy to do this as 'budget' as possible but I know she likes a shower and a toilet so maybe some hostels along the way.

We've been thinking about ways to save more money quicker...I used to be a chef and my partner's family have owned restaurants so we thought of setting up an underground restaurant in our home, doing markets with our food, going to peoples homes to cook for dinner parties, doing some graphic design work, writing our blog and maybe selling some ad space on there and finally setting up a website for something (not sure yet) and selling it.

my main issue (as I've noticed with most things in my life) is that there are too many decisions to make. I usually have the view that I should just make one and stick with it but I can't decide on that either.
I like asking opinions, getting lots of views and making my decision from there so if anyone who might have been there and done that wants to leave some inspiring words I'd really appreciate it.

Through HU I've got on to lots of blogs, people traveling all over and it's fascinating, although, I'm reading Jupiters Travels again for about the 5th time!




Supper Club London

Google Adsense
 

What a great idea google adsense is! Thanks for mentioning it. I have just been accepted. We might as well earn a $ or two from our blogs seeing as we spend so much time working on them.

Too scared to take the plunge......
 

I'm a police officer. I can retire next July (2010). The lump sum part of my pension will clear all of our debts and pay off a big chunk (but not all) of our mortgage. I'd love to take the wife on a really big bike trip - Highway 1 round the Australian coast is our goal.

However, I can think of a dozen reasons NOT to do the trip including;

Our kids - will be 17 and 16yrs old. Both still in full time education. Both want to go to university - which is going to cost us a fortune. How can I tell them that we will NOT support them through university because we want to go off on a motorcycle trip?

My father - is 85yrs old and has lived alone since my mum died 16 years ago. I am his sole carer. He relies on me completely to care for him. He can just about wash, dress and feed himself but that's it. He doesn't walk very well. He is almost completely deaf. He's had 2 heart attacks and 3 strokes. He has no transport and does not like to use the bus as it makes him ill. I do his washing (he's double incontinent - it's not pleasant). I do his shopping. I take him to every one of his numerous doctors and hospital outpatient appointments. I tend his garden. I cut his hair. I have power of attorney and deal with all his legal & financial matters.

My wife has family in Australia. We visited them a couple of years ago. When I told my father we were going, his first words were "Who is going to look after me?". It's just like having another dependent (child).

I feel totally trapped and can't see me EVER going on the bike trip I've been dreaming of for years.

Can anyone out there offer any advice or support?

Thanks

PETE
BEDFORDSHIRE
ENGLAND