In order to take on a trip/adventure like this, you will have to pay a cost... And when you are riding the ride, you won't regret it, BUT I won't lie to you and tell you that you won't think about life after your trip....its only natural.

I rented out my house, gave my girlfriend/family/close friends the heads up and rolled...tying up some lose ends as I need their support to make this trip happen.

So while I'm more than halfway done with my trip, I planned ahead with a couple months of "Readjustment Allowance" cash and time; and will sort out this re-adjustment when I get back...To EVEN attempt to sort it out before/during the trip would be a waste of time and could be better spent on the trip.

This "trip" is just like that proverbial gal you've exchanged numerous glances with at the bar/pub...will you go over and figure out what keeps grabbing your attention, or go home and smack the salami...

No need to plan what happens on the latter, but the former is fates way of telling you:

Opportunities will present themselves in ways you will never imagine, so have faith in it(fate) and roll the die...

With Difficulty
 

Tmotten, with great difficulty and by being away a long time to spread the airfare over a bunch of months - then along comes a book contract (last Friday) and I think, Wow! Great!
Then I think: THREE books! Oh no, please God...
And it is back to reality and back to work.
Looking back, I know when everything went bad. People kept at me, saying, Hey, you can't stay a snow bumb all winter and a beach bumb all summer. You'll get bored.
I was never bored. And I knew how to get by.
Yet, somewhere back in my forties, I fell for the lecture and got a career. It seems to be a career without any retirement date more obvious than the grave. Fortuntely my family own a small graveyard round a church my great-grandfather built. My wife insists I carry a Montecristo cigar box on my travels so a funeral parlour wherever has something in which to ship my ashes home.

More On Pension
 

Tmottem, I ride a Honda 125 Cargo bought new at around £1200 in Veracruz, Mexico - 160 Ks to the US gallon: three punctures in the rear tyre, no other problems - plus lots of Honda agents gave me a free service. I stay in small hotels off the tourist beat, room with bath. I eat one good meal in the evening, plus snacks or fruit. Nost of the costs are listed on my blog at home
Take care and good luck...

Good on ya. I've met a few guys (and gals) like you in the last few years, and it's an inspirational meeting every time.

I take it you buy and sell a bike and make the most of the preparing/ luggage situation.

If you know what you will be doing on Tuesday two weeks from now.....
That will either give you a secure feeling or piss you off.

I was fortunate in that I was able to come back to the same job. Problem was it was the job that made me leave in the first place. I lasted 2 days back at work before I had started setting up my own company - something I would not have had the energy or motivation to do if I hadn't gone away.......

I think it is impossible to predict how things are going to span out, so just stay positive, stay psyched, do what you WANT to do and doors will naturally open for you!

Preparation Is All
 

If only...on the last trip I got the money together with a few days to spare for a cheap flight on Aerlingus. I bought a used Clancy Brothers jumper and a green cord shirt at a thrift shop in the hope of an upgrade. I didn't get the upgrade and had to dump the jumper in Veracruz as it took up too much room. This trip I am trying to be prepared: seat, rainwear and undergarments...

If you have a talented work (doctor, lawyer, etc) you can get it back when you're back. If you do a job any person can do, you find again. Why you worry about. If you think you can't earn like before, oh yeah you must pay an invoice for that experience. If you are ready to pay do it, othervise, just ride around.

You can rent your home to take it back.

Anyhow I know millions of people can't live a think what you are thinking about (they don't even have an opportunity).

I had it all figured out.
 

When I left for a RTW I had it all figured out. :cool4:
My house was rented out through a reliable agency.
I had tax-exemption.
If I returned within a year I could have my old job and salary back.
My financial 'stuff' would be dealt with by my ex who is very accurate
in these things.

So, with no worries and many safety-nets I went off.:Beach:

After three years the situation was as follows:

My house was a total mess. As a result it had not been rented out for over
a year.:(

My ex had misunderstood the importance of a letter that my bank had send
her and I lost 40% of my (invested) savings.:confused1:

When the tax-office had send a income-tax-form my ex thought is wise to
give it to an accountant who filled it out, send it in and billed me. Sending in a
tax-form automatically canceles your tax-exemption, so now the accountant
had a steady job on my account.:mad2:

Several companies who's subscription I had canceled still send in bills. My ex
paid all of them.:cursing:

Many more annoyances occurred. Some during the trip, some after I returned.
If I would have sold my house instead of renting it out, the interest alone
would have been just as much as the rent, bit without the hassle.:crying:

My point:

Burning your bridges behind you is a hell of a lot easier than trying to maintain them from the road.:yawn:

In the end I sold my house and left the country for good.:boat:

Maarten:mchappy:

That sounds like an example of what a bad case would be. We usually do something similar but without a house, where we cancel everything and let my sister in law open our post which gets send to her address. She askes us what to do though. So if we still get billed, we know about it.

It's getting so much easier with some banks giving you the option of not getting any paper send out anymore, or they can send it overseas. We've got 6 banks acounts and 3 credit cards in 5 different countries, and have so far not had any trouble. BT mobile in the UK has ignored my cancellation of my account once, but I knew about it through online banking. And when you don't live in a place, it's very easy of keeping up to date with your finances online now.

Not sure about tax yet, as only now we'll have income from an investment after we leave. So far we've declared ourselves non-tax resident without any problems.

I've been pondering this Q for a while myself. Basically, I see it this way: whatever I did prior to the trip to enabled me to have this opportunity, I can do again. It only took me 5 years out of University to rack up debt, get a mortgage, new car, etc, then sell it all for "the trip". I'm pretty sure that I can do the same when I get back if I so desire.

With the right motivation I can do anything I want. Start a coffee shop, go back to my old job, work minimum wage and do freelance photography and journalism, whatever. The point is that for now, I don't know and don't care. I understand that I have lots of options and in 2 years from now I'll sort it out. Or I won't. It's all good. Will I maintain the same "standard" of living? I guess it all depends on what makes a quality of life for you. I won't have the same debts and I won't be making the same money right off the bat. Or maybe I will.

Like many other posters, I'm gonna say don't worry about it too much.

Cheers, and go for a ride and think about what really matters to you.

Mitch

Didn't I read....
 

I'm sure I read something a few weeks ago (looking but can't find it at the mo) about people who travel having a key chemical in their brain that is missing in those people who don't like to venture out of their door.

My theory is that I must have this chemical, and if it's a chemical imbalance in my head I may as well just give in and do it, then when I get back 'home' I can let the chemicals build up again before I'm forced to fly:clap:

On a more serious note :innocent: I have a permanent job that pays well and that I really enjoy - I couldn't imagine leaving it behind but at the same time I have this pull to travel - so, thank goodness I have an understanding boss who let's me take all my leave each year at the same time allowing me to do the world bit by bit, it doesn't have to be done all the time and by getting away for a month every year it seems to keep those pesky chemicals at bay.

Thanks for all the info and advice guys. Makes some interesting reading.:thumbup1:

Coming back...
 

I'm a bit late to this thread but I thought I would add my $0.02.

Things never work out how you expect...

I spent over a year travelling through Africa in a Land Rover. I left a well-paid but hateful job to travel. I thought I might never work again.

I spent three months trying to get a job when I got back, applied for dozens of jobs and didn't get a single interview. But then, I got an interview for a great job, I walked into the interview and the first thing the boss asked me was about my Defender - turns out he was a Land Rover nut and thought the trip was a great thing.

Got the job, it's a 50% pay rise on what I was doing before I left, it's a nice company and good prospects, only problem is I wish I was still travelling...!

Go for it, life has a way of sorting itself out when you get back...

Fascinating and informative responses to this post.

My small contribution is that I dont especially want (at the moment) to do RTW on my bike, but I am very interested in doing longish (2-4 months ish) trips to places like Mali, Tashkent etc.The time for these is easier to find, and this may be a solution for the guy who posed the question.

Has he done any longish trips?.....or is the attractive dream of RTW looming too large in his mind? Why not get a couple of months off somehow and try for somewhere like West Africa? After that, he'd know for sure if the RTW bug had really bitten, and then he could just jack it all in and go RTW, in confidence that this was what he REALLY wanted to do.