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After the big trip They came, went... and did it! But where are they now? DID that big trip change their lives? What to do with all the travel experience and how to use it? How to get a job afterwards! Was the trip the best - or worst - thing you ever did?
Photo by Helmut Koch - Vivid autumn colors in Canada

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Helmut Koch
Vivid autumn colors in Canada



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  #1  
Old 25 Apr 2020
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
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After the big trip: Don't stop dreaming

I didn’t plan my big motorbike trip properly, didn’t plan my ‘after-the-big-trip” properly, and generally don’t plan too much in my life. I know, unusual for an accountant
I returned from a two year “almost” around Africa trip eight years ago. A friend then asked me to help him sell investments in his newly created business in Cape Town. He fired me after a few months (I think he thought my salary was too high). He then re-hired me another few months later to open an office for him in Johannesburg, this time at a pittance of a salary. Anyway, you guessed it, he fired me again a few months later because my sales were lacking…….what did he expect, I’m a beancounter, not a salesman! We now joke that I’ve only been fired twice in my life, and both times by him. Yes, we’re still friends, and if your friends cannot abuse you, who can?
Maybe that was a good thing because that made me realize that I was trying to avoid my “old” boring life. I decided to get a more suitable job but had no interest in a monotonous nine-to-five routine way of life again. I was very lucky to land a job in Seychelles, a tropical group of islands in the Indian Ocean.
Life was good living in paradise, despite long and stressful workdays, but all-in-all the perfect place for me. Then I started thinking about life on the road again and bought another motorbike, which I keep parked in South Africa (XT660Z Yamaha Tenere). Once a year I charge to South Africa, grab my motorbike and spend two weeks touring through neighbouring countries, always longing for the next big trip. Six years later, and I still live in Seychelles, still do my annual two-week motorbike trips, still have that dream job, and still work my butt off. It’s not all about sipping coconut drinks on the beach, although we get our fair share of that too .
After that “big trip” everybody thinks about writing a book, and many do. I decided I also wanted to write about my trip, but just couldn’t figure out how I could write a motorbike travel book that hasn’t already been done. Then it struck me……why not write a novel?
So, eight years after the big trip ended, I finally published a novel on Amazon Kindle two weeks ago. You guessed it, it’s about motorbikes, Africa, and much more. It plays off in Ethiopia, a beautiful country many of you have travelled through.
If you want to give it a go, you can find it on Amazon Kindle. It’s titled "Confluence" and published under the name "Neville Menn". Please check it out. If you absolutely hate it, I’ll make it up to you with a next time you visit Seychelles

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...izonsunlimite/

Never stop dreaming and be safe
Neville

Last edited by Newbie; 3 May 2020 at 12:19. Reason: New URL
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  #2  
Old 11 Dec 2020
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Beers on you

Just bought it.
Will write a review when done
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Not a bike yet
Gonna get my A license in about a year, after moving to London
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  #3  
Old 16 Dec 2020
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntakouris View Post
Just bought it.
Will write a review when done
Hi ntakouris

Thank you very much for buying my book. I really hope you like it.
Thank you also for saying you'll write a review. I need reviews badly, and can even take a bad review :-)
And yeah, on me when you get to Seychelles
BTW, you must get that bike as soon as you can. It's a great way to travel

Cheers, Neville
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Jo’burg to Cairo (And a bit further): KLR 650
Southern Africa (And still going strong): XT660Z Yamaha
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