Dreaming of a motorcycle trip to distant climes? This section will help you to plan your trip, whether it's to the next state, country or all the way around the world! Start here!
The Achievable Dream 5-part series - the definitive video guide for planning your motorcycle adventure. Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
You could just get on a plane with your credit card and passport and buy or rent everything you need when you get there. That includes the bike, riding gear, etc. etc.
Gear Up! is a 2-DVD set, 6 hours! Which bike is right for me? How do I prepare the bike? What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers! "will save you a fortune!"See the trailer here!
So you've done it - got inspired, planned your trip, packed your stuff and you're on the road! This section is about staying healthy, happy and secure on your motorcycle adventure. And crossing borders, war zones or oceans!
On the Road! is 5.5 hours of the tips and advice you need to cross borders, break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Tire Changing!Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
With an HU blog, you'll get a lot more readers than in some obscure corner of the web, it's all set to go, no setup required, and it's free! Start your Travel Story Blog right now!
800+ HU Communities in over 115 countries! People who want to meet travellers - yes that's YOU - and can provide local assistance, and may be your new best friends!
Make a DifferenceTips on fundraising or donating time and energy to a cause.
After the big trip - Was the trip the best - or worst - thing you ever did?
Resources and Links
Horizons Unlimited Presents!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! 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.'
"It has me all fired up to go out on my own adventure!" See the trailer here!
Meet people who don't think you're crazy for wanting to ride your bike to South America or across Asia! They will encourage you, share their experiences and advice on how to do it!
We're not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown a hobby into a full time job and a labour of love.
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T-shirts, Calendars, Stickers
T-shirts Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Calendars Featuring the 13 winning photos from the Horizons Unlimited annual motorcycle travel photo contest!
World Map Sticker for PanniersShow your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Travel BooksMotorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
Videos - Watch and Learn!
Horizons Unlimited presents!
Achievable Dream The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
"The series is 'free' because the tips and advice will save much more than you spend on buying the DVD's."
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Ride TalesPost your ride reports for a weekend ride or around the world. Please make the first words of the title WHERE the ride is. Please do NOT just post a link to your site. For a link, see Get a Link.
The first spark for our round the world trip idea was way back in 2012 and we cannot really remember who came home with the book of two backpackers who traveled RTW back in 2010. But we were instantly hooked. After many more books, videos and DVD's we finally decided to do it, naturally on two motorcycles (which we didn't have) and with two driving licenses (which we didn't have).
After nearly 2 years of saving, planning and driving lessons in the cold winter of Germany we finally did it and started our journey in September 2013. Our bikes, two >10 years old Honda CB 500 (a rather unusual choice) were packed with more gear than we hoped for but less gear than is normal (I just made this up, based on other traveler stories).
This start of the trip was rather scary as Anna didn't have that much driving experience (getting the license in April 2013) and we both didn't have any traveling experience from outside of Europe. But we thought we would just ease into it - but boy we were wrong.
In the first 2 weeks our main goal was to get more and more to the south as it was already getting cold in the Alps. So we crossed Austria in only a few days leaving many beautiful views behind:
We crossed Italy in a day and (this will hurt) we did not even stop to try some real Italian Pizza. That was a mistake, but we only now get used to the fact that we have no real time constrains. The first two weeks or so we were just rushing forward.. It still feels like a long holiday. I think many of you can understand.
In Croatia we started to slow down a little bit and to enjoy the local food, the costal road and even more local food We headed down this beautiful road, always the seaside to the right. Right until now I was always longing for the sea as you would might expect by someone who lives hundrets of kilometers away from it. We could not stop seeing this for days:
And we got rewarded for traveling rather swift the first few days. Warm days greeted us even though it's already October. One shocking moment did occur though. We were driving along on a (kind of) highway in Croatia as I heard a loud bang and Anna on the intercom saying "Uhm, my bike just died. No more light, no more engine and no more power". Should this be the end of our trip already? Was it a mistake to buy old and very used motorcycles? We pulled over and examined the motorcycle. Just like magic it turned back on after a few minutes. This did occur a few more times but days apart so it was rather hard to figure out. In the end it was just a lose battery wire, but for a while we were rather devastated because of the suddenly unreliable bike. But we managed to fix it with just a screwdriver after all
After the riches and comfort of Croatia we moved on to Montenegro where we stayed only one night (for it is really small). We are most interested in food. So we used this evening to try a local restaurant and the local as well. Both was delicious, and very cheap!
Then Albania hit us hard. The border officials were interested in the bikes until they discovered that they were no BMWs but just lame Hondas. After the border we suddenly arrived in a totally new surrounding. Suddenly everything we were used to was gone. No more easy to find supermarkets, campsites and ATMs. Suddenly we were the only motorcycles around, children were waving and we got watched wherever we went. More than once we saw the locals use horses, but not for getting tourists around...
Is this really still Europe? In Albania we saw a kind of poverty like we never did before in the rest of the continent. And don't get me started on the traffic and road conditions. Luckily our cheap Hondas can drive in the dirt just as well as anybody else. If not better.
We stayed in Albania for 3 days trying to understand the country a litte more. But I think it is still mostly a secret to us, even though we enjoyed that first little challenge of our trip.
After that we moved on to Greece with more of an eye for the richness and culture of a country. And here we are, with no jobs and no home, sitting at a beach in Greece and enjoying the sun and swimming in the ocean. It's a crazy world...
For now that was all. We'll try to keep this post up to date as we move along our journey.
There are blog posts available in English and German at Blog and many more pictures at Facebook
And there is more!
If you really want to see the Alps, the traffic in Albania or the mountains of Iran we may have something special for you. In the past 4 weeks we collected over 100 GB of HD quality film material both while driving and visiting places. We turn our trip into a video documentary so everybody can get a look at all the places we visit / people we meet and a look behind the scenes of a motorcycle RTW trip.
Have YOU ever wondered who has ridden around the world? We did too - and now here's thelist of Circumnavigators!
Check it out now, and add your information if we didn't find you.
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.