Very nicely put Siggsy. Couldn't agree more.

I was always hoping for that 'epiphamy' moment on my trip when I would go 'ah, thats what I want to do for the rest of my life' but like you, my old job here was kept open and in the current financial state, it was a case of 'the better the devil you know' and all that. Even with a decent job and despite being pretty frugal, I find my salary just gets sucked up each month with very little to show for it and just keeping your head above water in the UK is pretty damn expensive. I think any city, no matter where it is, is pretty much the same though. I always tried to avoid the big cities while travelling as I enjoyed the smaller places which were generally much more friendly.

So while I'm plotting my next escape, I've just thrown myself into stuff I really enjoy like playing guitar and have so far managed to get myself back into playing again and have joined a good band and am also studying jazz. At work, (I'm a building surveyor), I'm just taking on bigger projects to get useful experience and hopefully look into getting work elsewhere like Canada (one of my favorite countries) though their visa system doesn't seem to be that easy to deal with, especially if you're job isn't on their list of approved occupations (eg hairdressing!). Will keep plugging on though!!

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Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

I can relate to a lot of that Siggsy !!!

Seems very hard to let go of that western comfort and greed mentality .....

I was also looking for a pinacle moment when my life would suddenly change but it just doesnt work like that.

I do think I am a much different person for my travels but not for where I have been or what I have seen, its definately been in the people I have met and their warmness, love of life and friendly trusting nature.

Many people fear the "3rd world" for corruption, crime and greed where really the western world are really the biggest criminals of the lot.

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

i tell you lot what. just reading this thread has really got me going again. I`m starting to spin a plastic globe, that sits on a blokes desk, on the 4th floor of my glorious work place, watching for a way east. People are saying "oh here he goes again. the escapist, cant handle the real world. substituting love and commitment "... maybe thats true. I say a happy happy , "oh well !" to that !... the only thing that reminds me of the real world is the sad looking infected , lonely tree outside my window.

I agree with ya Ted about 1st world criminality. It seems so high up that we mostly dont see it. We have to look for it. The 3rd world threat to a traveller is generally in ya face, so that scares us. But like you i didnt see it when i was there. it was all just smiles and interest help and loads of laughs.

I wonder if the pinnacle, the epiphany, the golden moment is there. we just have to keep building to find it. So more trips have to be !....... Going away indefinatly doesnt seem like its just for other people , to me now....So the loose plan now is, to get the flat done up sparkling, so as to rent it out. graft for a couple of years, growing blisters on my dreams. (heard that the other day , not sure where, and like it - had to use it !) and just go. surely its that simple..

in the mean time i have listened to what you lot have said and have stuffed myself with an interest for my non working hours. A shiny new camera. gonna wander the streets and capture stuff. fulfill my artistic pretentions ! and take that gommy expression off my face... mind you i was reading yesterday about photo restrictions. like you have to ask permission and pay for taking a photo of major landmarks here in london, unless you can prove you are taking the shot for personal reasons that are not a desire to blow it up. Or not for business reasons. Let them stop me ! pahhhh !

I`m lucky really, to have come back into a job, even though its a low payer. I see that there are alot of riders who have come back to no job and even no place to permanently live. Good luck you lot. its probably just round the corner !

what you up to then people ? whats the plans ? who wants s by the thames then ?

Dude... You are my mirror image from down south !!!!!!

I couldnt put how I feel into any better words than that...People say and think the same about me..

"When are you going to get realistic"

"When are you going to settle down"

"Shouldnt you be putting money away for a pension instead of "wasting" it on bikes and travel"

"When are you going to stop wasting your life"

"You're 30 now Ted, don't you think you should grow up and get a career"

"You're going to die lonely and broke"




Just a few quotes of the week

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

Fine ,let them think that .
Just be very glad that you aren't one of them .
We need the masses to be that way ,so that we can be the way we want to be .

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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 ."

What have you done when you got back ????

Bought an F650 Dakar. No seriously.

Left uni, started travelling, and never stopped. Tell you what. People stopped talking to me like they are to you. Has to do with age. The older you get and still remain the same free spirit, they turn to accept the alternative lifestyle for a legitimite lifestyle.

But now I'm 12 years older than when I started and I'm more with Dick. Travelling is not as exiting as it once was as everything become routine if you do it long enough. But that's where motorcycling while travelling is so amazing, because you do it for the biking and seeing scenery, and less about seeing every single Church. Three months is about long enough. Just have to justify the cost of getting the bike there. But a 5 week trip to Europe cost as much as a 3 month bike trip to keep it into perspective.

As for living a sustainable lifestyle, you guys in the UK are limited as was I. So I moved to Aus where you can do adventure rides all year long.
It's all about the lifestyle.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Hi,

Haha so true I think to work is wasting your live. I dont need a big flat TV or things like that...i go with my bike to see the world live...out there in the wild its HD and 3D as well

Also traveling can be something like a carrere if you do Slide shows or publish Articels in a Magazine when you back home to earn money for the next trip...

cu, Tobi

hello all
just found this.on our journeys towards the end usually ready to come home.
but after being home for a couple weeks ready to go again,start to go a bit crazy.often go back to work to money up for next trip.we try to go on a good trip every other year.so on the off year . we plan for that trip,which
game parks,campsites,lodging,route.also look at expedition vehicle builds.
as long as i am planning and have departure date I can cope fine.I am lucky
to have a job in the pipeline industry.where i can have time off.also worked
on the road for many years with no home or house.it was terrible so now we
keep a home to come back too.
good luck
kevin

When we came back we never really had a chance to settle back in as my (now) wife was diagnosed with cancer and so began nearly two years of treatment. During that time I HAD TO finish editing the book we were writing of the journey. Plus after that journey I found, somewhere along the ways, I had lost the stillness of normality, along with the previous reference points shared with work colleagues - so I bit the bullet and took early retirement to finish the writing and editing.

I originally knew (in 2006) that I would write a book about my wife but had thought it would be (academically) based on aspects of her blindness (yes, she is completely blind).

I never dreamed a motorcycle journey would be the vehicle to tell of her life and disability........... Just goes to show how life has some mysterious and wonderful turns around each corner. Her battle with cancer goes on to this very day and so each and every one is appreciated. Sometimes life can be placed very much into perspective when you least expect it.

You can find the link to our on-going story on this site at http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/boo...nd-25000-miles

Best wishes to you all.

Bernard and Cathy.

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Touching the World: A Blind Woman, Two Wheels and 25,000 Miles

With smell and taste included.

thanks Sam for your post above.
Simon and I have now been on the road for what seems an eternity (in our 10th year) ......the end is now closer than the begining, much closer.
we have no idea as to where we will end up or what we will do.
but finish we will as money is a continual point of stress and has been for the last 5 years!
we always seem to manage to make 'ends meet' and get to the next country but it is getting harder and harder.

People say, write a book, make a DVD or three! but there are so many out there these days is anyone interested in 'yet another'. perhaps we will - who knows?

this type of travel is like a drug. the more you do the more you want to do! without the continual moving we become restless and irritated. once the 'drug' hits in we feel content again.

however reading your post Sam has provided us with a different perspective on how things may be.......

i will keep looking at this thread when I get the chance!
cheers guys.

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Lisa
www.2ridetheworld.com

If your a building surveyor (if I understand the term properly), Fort MacMurray in Alberta is the place for you. Actually anyplace in the Canadian west is the place, it's started to heat up in the oil sands again and they're begging for people to work there. The companies there are actively recruiting in the US and Europe for trades and engineering people, check it out, look it up on the internet..and good luck


Cheers Growler