Are you a traveller on two wheels? Have you been inspired by the stories you've read on Horizons Unlimited? Or perhaps you watched the 'Long Way' series and it's got you thinking of a motorcycle trip to distant climes; the markets of Marrakech,
the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan, the salt flats of Bolivia, the Bungle Bungles of Australia, the Pan American to Tierra del Fuego?
Did you finally fork out for
that dream bike built for high adventure, and you know every highway and byway within range of an annual vacation? Is something
indefinable calling you farther afield… to the next country… the next continent?
But you've got questions:
Is it safe?
What do I need to know?
Where and when should I go?
And what the hell’s a carnet anyway?
Answering these questions - and many more - is the goal of the new definitive 'how-to' DVD series, "The Achievable Dream - The Motorcycle Adventure Travel Guide". This series is produced by Grant and Susan Johnson, RTW travellers and founders of Horizons Unlimited, who have been helping people to achieve their dreams of traveling to faraway places on their bikes for over 10 years.
The first Achievable Dream DVD, produced in 2006, has sold out, and you've told us you want more information delivered this way. We listened, and we're in final stages of production on a series of four high-quality DVDs that cover everything you need to know. We took what we learned from our own travels, and since then, from helping other travellers, to create this series. We also asked the many veteran travellers who attend Horizons Unlimited meetings to tell us their stories, give us their opinions, and share their hard-earned knowledge from their amazing motorcycle trips to every country on earth. And they have lots of opinions, sometimes contradictory, so you'll get lots of great ideas.
For the new series, we have invested in professional filming, editing and production. Filmed in broadcast quality wide screen, incorporating multiple cameras and with custom written vocals and music.
This DVD aims to inspire you to take the plunge, and start to prepare for the trip. This includes material from Grant and Susan Johnson’s own 'How to ride around the world on a motorcycle' presentation, taped in front of a live audience in 2008. This is supplemented by scenic images and video clips, dozens of interviews with seasoned travellers and presentations by experts.
Click on 'More Information' for the Series Intro/Get Ready! trailer, see topics covered in Get Ready! and read viewer comments.
Watch the Series Intro (6 mins:40 secs) for a sample!
Click here for a larger version of the 'Get Ready!' cover
Description
Topics covered in 'Get Ready!' include:
Why go?
Planning the trip - where and when to go
Who to go with - travelling solo or with others
Money, money, money - how much will it cost, and dealing with money on the road
Paperwork - passports and visas, carnet de passage, bike permits and insurance, licenses
Off-pavement riding - basic tips
Health - travel medical and evacuation insurance, malaria, vaccinations
Giving something back - voluntary work, environmental sensitivity
The world of HU Travellers - Meetings and the global community of motorcycle travellers - 620+ Horizons
Unlimited communities in 100+ countries.
"I watched it straight through, non-stop. Let's put it this way: this DVD does not need to be accompanied by popcorn, beer or candy bars! It's mouth watering and heart warming at the same time, a very good intro into adventure travelling. Now I'm going to show it to my wife also, see what she likes about the whole concept..." Markku, Finland
"Keep up the fabulous work! We loved the first 2 DVDs and have no worries about waiting for the next ones if more time is required, we do however await them anxiously as the content is great ~ kind of like waiting for Christmas! Thank you for putting these together! Hope you are getting as much enjoyment from making them as we are from watching and being inspired by them." Angela, Canada
"I thank you very much for the first DVD - it was very inspiring and convinced us that everyone can participate in the global bike adventure regardless of financial capacity, choice of bike and age." Mick, Australia
"I had such a good time watching it. I think that, apart from the huge amount of precious information you're giving, you managed to transmit that special feeling that travelers have and share." Pascal, Hong Kong
"These (DVDs) are especially valuable when you’re having those 'this is too big for mere mortals, what the heck were we thinking?' moments, because they include plenty of interviews with regular folks, sans super-powers, who just chucked it all and hit the road." Michael, USA
"Enjoyed it immensely!" David, South Africa
"I wanted to congratulate you to the fantastic DVD you have produced. My wife Heike and I have enjoyed watching it and it helps us a lot to prepare our Africa trip next year." Matthias, Germany
"Watching the first DVD is helping me to see that a long-distance-time ride is well within my capabilities and budget. Once I have a plan, will be in touch - perhaps I can be in the video series!" Rob, USA
"Susan, Grant, and everyone else involved... I LOVE this DVD." Gillian, Australia
"We really enjoyed the first two. They really motivated me into taking a motorbike trip. I had never considered it before. Thanks for the idea and inspiration!" Sandy, USA
"One word: 'Excellent!'" Joe, Australia
"Good work, I really enjoyed them. Good quality footage and am certainly looking forward to the other two." Gert, Scotland
"Great viewing - I look forward to the next two." Bob, Australia
"I loved the first one! Thanks for your effort!" David, Germany
"Excellent DVD! Made me wanna get on my bike (when I get one) and ride off..." Elvin, Singapore
"I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the first DVD in the Achievable Dream set. I gave it to my partner for his birthday and we have already watched it several times, dreaming about our own adventures on two wheels. You have done a fantastic job and we can't wait to receive the rest of the collection." Kath, Australia
"...at 60, I am not a novice traveller. But WOW your DVD has, just on one run through, told me so much I did not know. I want to tell you what a fabulous achievement it is. Thank you very much. I shall watch it many times over, learn a great deal and enjoy my travelling all the more for having the extra skills. Hurry up with the next one please." Andrew
"It's very good, the production quality is excellent and it makes one salivate even more for the open road. Well done." George
"Lots of very useful information and the people you have selected to interview are very knowledgeable and down to earth, makes you feel that 'I could do that'." Stephen, Australia
"I am very impressed and very, very pleased with it. It was everything I hoped for! The interviews with the riders are fantastic. You can't beat getting the answers to the questions you want from people who have 'been there and done it.' You just don't get such good quality information and guidance like this anywhere else!" Barry, UK
"…absolutely wonderful. You covered an amazing amount of material. The production and attention to detail were outstanding. As a 'wannabe motorcycle adventurer' - it really lit the fire inside me." Randy, Canada
"Volume 1 of 'The Achievable Dream' is outstanding! The first-hand accounts and stories are a great way to format the presentation, as it gives the student (me) a real straight-from-the-horse's-mouth idea of the information source, which builds confidence in the information. And the sheer volume of that information is phenomenal! I can't wait to receive the rest of the series. Great job!" Shawn, USA
"It was very well done and the quality of filming and information was excellent..." Scott, UK
What is it like to spend weeks, months or years on the road? In this 2-DVD set, just released, our veteran travellers share their tips (and great stories) for staying healthy, happy and secure on your motorcycle adventure.
You'll get the advice you need to help you cross borders, break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike across oceans or war zones, and deal with the 'stuff' that happens such as breakdowns and emergencies. Demos include building a shipping crate and first aid for bikers.
Click on 'More Information' to watch the 'On the Road!' trailer, see the topics covered and read viewer comments.
Watch the 'On the Road!' DVD Trailer (3:10 mins)
Click here for a larger version of the 'On the Road!' cover.
Description
This 2-DVD set (324 minutes of content) contains the following chapters:
Riding the World
Day to Day
Where to Sleep
Language & Culture
Borders & Officials
Shipping the Bike
Building a Crate (Demo)
Dealing with Breakdowns
Safety and Security
Emergencies
First Aid for Bikers (Demo )
Meeting Travellers
Coming Home
We've got a fantastic and entertaining bunch of contributors with many amazing stories to tell and hard-earned wisdom to impart, enhanced with demos, video clips and heaps of great photos. We think it strikes the right balance between information and entertainment!
"Got the DVD on Sunday (27/12) morning and immediately spent the next 5 1/2 hrs glued to the TV. Didn't get anything done that day... at least my wife was understanding. Once again, you have produced a fantastic, informative and inspirational DVD. It was great to hear from other travellers about life on the road, sharing experiences that I hope one day I can have. I particularly enjoyed the section about 'bodge jobs'. It was also very enlightening to be presented with opposing views on the different subject matters. Truly, you have both done the biking, in particular the adventure motorcycling community a great service with these DVDs. It inspired me to get on a bike again after 15 years!" Elvin, Singapore
"What a great Christmas present!" Tommy, USA
"We have just received the latest double DVD. Although we were going to 'save' watching it until Christmas Day, we couldn't wait, and have started watching the first couple of parts of the first DVD, and it is up to your usual very high standard." Celia and Ted, UK
"Have just finished re watching the first two in the series just to prepare myself for the arrival of the third!" Nick, Australia
"We received your DVD on the 24th spot on and it's been delightful to see all you guys faces again and hear more of your exciting stories... but why didn't Karim burn the fuel he had with him to signal his presence in the Sahara desert or have we been watching too many episodes of Man vs Wild? This third section is probably the most evil of them all! The last part about coming back just made me feel I won't, ever. Thanks a lot for your hard work, it's great, it's needed and it's totally helpful and encouraging. (we take lots of notes!) Please try your best to finish the 4th DVD by next spring indeed because I won't delay my trip and that's all your fault! :)" Nish and Abby, Hong Kong
"I received the DVD, On the Road and I think it's brilliant - thank you very much." Michael, UK
"My wife keeps shouting at me to come to bed, but am only half way through viewing Disc B of 'On The Road', having viewed all of Disc A this afternoon. I am extremely impressed with the quality and content." John, UK (time-stamped midnight!)
Here, for the first time ever, is a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! Our globetrotting ladies share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure - choose and maintain a bike, decide what to take and tackle rough terrain. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road!
Click on 'More Information' to watch the 'Ladies on the Loose!' trailer and read viewer comments.
Watch the 'Ladies on the Loose!' DVD Trailer (2:20 mins)
Click here for a larger version of the 'Ladies on the Loose!' cover.
Description
Here, for the first time ever, is a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! Our globetrotting ladies share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure - choose and maintain a bike, decide what to take and tackle rough terrain. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road!
This inspirational and entertaining DVD is presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles'. Lois delivers action, entertainment and hot tips, as well as coverage of 'women only' topics. Austin Vince, of Terra Circa and Mondo Enduro fame, is her director and cameraman for this production.
The DVD features eloquent and engaging well-travelled women motorcyclists such as Elspeth Beard (first British woman to ride around the world), Erin Ratay (Guinness World Record holder for longest team motorcycle ride), Patsy Quick (Dakar racer) and Mel Falconer (Trail Bike Magazine), who offer tales, advice and inspiration from the road.
This DVD is meant as an addition to the first three DVD’s and also covers topics of particular interest to women travellers.
"They are certainly inspirational ladies! Made me want to jump on a bike and go, that's for sure!" Kate Hoskins, Pitstop Bookshop, Australia
"Hi Lois and Susan, just watched your Ladies vid and have to say congrats on a great job: the writing, shooting, the look and editing. For any AM'ers, you summed it all up very well and had a great cast of Loosards giving their PoV. Can't have been effortless to make it look that good and not drag too much over 150 mins, so well done you!" Chris Scott, Adventure Motorcycling Handbook
"We received our copy of 'Ladies on the Loose' a few weeks ago and it has got me all fired up to go out on my own adventure. You all did a fantastic job on the DVD and we are eagerly awaiting the final DVD's. It sounds like such a huge job but the final results have been invaluable to future motorcycle travellers." Kath and Rob, Australia
"I've watched it (Ladies on the Loose) twice. The DVD is great - very informative and inspiring. Well done!" Michelle, UK
"My girlfriend and I really enjoyed watching them - very well done!" Aleksandar, Germany
"The quality of the first two (1 & 4) is really professional and an absolute credit to you. Thanks once again we do really appreciate your efforts in making The Achievable Dream' an excellent series." Allan, Australia
"We watched part 4 and it was great. Invaluable for the preparation for our own trip!" Xander, the Netherlands.
"I watched 'Get Ready' on my own and with a little coaxing got him to watch 'Ladies on the Loose' with me. By the end I could see the cogs ticking over and he looked at me and said 'People really do this - I think we could too!' Success! That is why it is called the 'Achievable Dream' series darling! Thank you guys- keep up the great work!" Lisa and Stu, Australia
This 2-DVD set covers 'the Kit' - the bike and all the other stuff, including which bike, preparing the bike, what to take and how to pack it.
Click on 'More Information' to read the 'Gear Up!' description.
Description
Although virtually any bike can travel around the world, ‘which bike’ is always a lively topic for discussion among motorcycle travellers.
For the favourite travel bikes, we interviewed knowledgeable owners - why did they choose it, what’s good and bad about it, how did they make it better, and what are their top tips for this bike.
Considerations include carrying capacity, travelling solo or pillion, comfort, paved vs. dirt road, reliability and availability of spare parts.
Through interviews with experts, we also cover how to prepare the bike for overland travel, what spares to take and choosing tires.
Finally, we cover what to take and how to pack it, including riding gear, clothing, panniers, tents, sleeping bags, cooking kit, medical/first aid kit, maps, GPS and much more.
Pre-Order Now and get it at the pre-production price of $24.99, plus get free shipping! (Production price for the 2-DVD set will be $36.99).
This DVD series is brought to you with the generous assistance of Touratech and Michelin!
Be warned, viewing this series may be a life-changing experience.
We are frequently accused of inspiring people to live their dreams.
As you can see by the comments, we’re guilty as charged:
"The ultimate round the world rider's how-to DVD... the first in a series entitled 'Achievable Dream: The Motorcycle Adventure Travel Guide'. 'Get Ready' is available now and is receiving rave reviews. Visitors to horizonsunlimited.com include some of the hardest-bitten bike travellers in the world, so standards had to be high..." Guy Procter, MCN (Motor Cycle News) UK
"Its tips will save you money, help unravel the red tape and might keep you out of jail. The DVD is also inspirational and makes the point that you don't have to be a super rider, super fit or have loads of dosh to give it a go." Motor Cycle Monthly, UK
"The 'Achievable Dream' part one DVD is a heart-warming and inspiring video. It simply makes you want to chuck it all for an adventure. Immerse yourself in the Achievable Dream for a few hours and I'll guarantee that you'll watch it way more than once. I am positively salivating for the next instalment. Two dusty riding thumbs up!" Motorcycle Mojo, Canada
"It is inspiring and extremely informative.The down-to-earth and factual nature of the material is reinforced by the inclusion of interviews and information from a number of different motorcycle travelers. The Achievable Dream is also very easy to watch. Not only are the production values of professional quality, but the organization of the material make it a pleasurable viewing experience. The different types of information are broken up into easily digestible bites which, for this reviewer who has the attention span of a flea, was extremely helpful." Cameron Weckerley, Road Show Magazine, USA
"Inspiring and Motivational DVD - You don't have to be a rider interested in cross-country or global rides to enjoy this DVD (Ladies on the Loose). It's for every woman who enjoys a good human interest story about real women doing what they love. It's about women being women dealing with challenges that come up when riding in a foreign country. If by chance you want to do what these women do, you'll certainly learn a few things as there is plenty of advice packed within the 2.5 hour DVD. But more than that, it's downright entertaining with great footage and interesting interviews. I think every woman rider should own this." Genevieve Schmitt, Editor, WomenRidersNow.com
DVD series details:
Available in PAL or NTSC (see below for explanation of formats)
When we first started this project in April 2008, we thought we could have all 4 DVDs finished by Christmas 2008. Wow were we naive! In November 2008, we were told by the editor that we were 90% of the way through three of the DVDs. When we originally started pre-selling the DVDs in January, we thought they'd all be finished by end of April 2009. We shipped 'Get Ready' in February 2009 and 'Ladies on the Loose' in June 2009. 'On the Road' shipped in December 2009.
We've learned quite a lot about producing high-quality DVDs now, most of it the hard way, so I'd like to share with you the stages that it goes through, and where the series is in the process:
1. Scripting - Done April 2008
2. Filming - Done from May-September 2008
3. Digitising/capturing 250+ hours of video from tape to disk - Done July-Nov 2008, and continuing throughout as we find we need to shoot more material.
4. 'Rough cutting' the footage - reviewing 250+ hours of video and excerpting material as needed to cover the content from the script. Since we shot interviews which covered multiple topics on multiple DVDs, material has to be put into DVDs and individual chapters. This process has taken about 11 months for a full-time editor.
5. Final cutting the chapters in each DVD, reducing it down to the actual final content, making it flow, adding transitions, photos, video clips and music. This takes 2-3 months full-time for an editor per DVD. DVD 1, 4 and 3 are finished, DVD 2 - 'Gear Up!' is still to be done.
6. After the content is locked, the next stage is 'Onlining' or polishing - sound balancing, exposure, colour correction. As interviews were filmed indoors and outdoors, in varying light levels and background noise, this is more challenging than if it were shot in a studio in controlled conditions. This takes 5 working days per disc (i.e. 10 days for a 2-DVD set) for a technical editor with fancy equipment. After this stage, we have to watch the onlined files all the way through to ensure no glitches, as we learned the hard way!
7. Authoring - creating the menus and the master disk - 2-5 days per DVD. After this stage, we have to watch both PAL and NTSC masters all the way through to ensure it plays okay, as we learned the hard way!
8. Production - mass-producing the DVDs, printing cover sleeves and disk labels, inserting disks in cases - 10-12 working days per DVD. Afterwards, we have to watch both PAL and NTSC DVDs all the way through again to ensure no glitches in the production process.
9. We get to send out the DVDs!
There's a few other items in the process, such as art work for the DVD cover and disk, sending press copies out, creating trailers, etc. To be honest, if we'd known 18 months ago what we were getting into, time and money-wise, we likely wouldn't have even started!
What are the expected shipping dates?
'Get Ready' is now shipping.
'Ladies on the Loose' is now shipping.
'On the Road' is now shipping. It is a 2-DVD set totalling 5.5 hours.
'Gear Up' -We're expecting 'Gear Up!' to be shipping in late spring 2010. We also have quite a lot of footage to review, but we will need to shoot more footage to complete some of the chapters, particularly 'Preparing the bike', which is why it will be the last to produce. It will also be a 2-DVD set, at least 5 hours (at no extra charge for pre-paid orders).
What if I don't want to wait that long?
We do appreciate the pre-orders (as you can tell from the process, the cost of doing all this has been huge) and we're grateful for your patience, but I'm sure it's wearing thin! Since we don't want anyone to feel we took their money under false pretenses, if you don't want to wait and would like a refund, let us know and we'll be happy to provide it. We will then notify you when the DVD is ready so you can reorder at that time.
If you have any questions at any time, just ask. And please, if you find any problems with any of the DVDs, let us know so we can fix it!
Check out the Books pages for Travel books and videos. Remember if you go to Amazon from our books page, we get a small percentage of every purchase.
Thanks!
Grant and Susan
Editors note:
We accept no responsibility for any of the above information in any way whatsoever. You are reminded to do your own research. Any commentary is strictly a personal opinion of the person supplying the information and is not to be construed as an endorsement of any kind.
