hello,

good choice to spend a part of your life travelling on a bike. you have found the right website to prepare your trip. dont forget that the most difficult day of your journey will be the first day, leaving home. I have met many people that prepared for years and never left.

I agree with all what is said from others travellers in this thread. here are a few of my advises.

- set a date when you are going to leave

- than go to the HU meeting together with your girlfriend/wife, than buy the bike (or bikes).

- take your time choosing the bike, it will be an important part of your trip. you will ride it around the world, so very important is that you (and only you !!) feel comfortable with the bike. dont underestimate the different costs of the different bikes and ask yourself how much you can do yourself on the bike. you will meet millions of people on your trip and they will look at the bike as well and judge your budget according to the bike model. e.g. you ride a 200cc farm bike your budget will be lower to them, if you would ride a big bmw or ktm.

- quit your job min. two month before you leave and learn everything about your bike that you can before leaving. do a complete service on the bike yourself, work very careful. service the bike allways yourself on the journey, and do it regularly.

- calculate your budget very careful

- never hurry, never ride at night, never pay a policeman or a border guard

enjoy the preparation and make your own decisions, because its going to be your trip

greetings from switzerland

mika (rtw 1999-2005 on a yamaha tenere)