Turning pipedream into reality in a week!
Hi,
I've been offered the chance of redundancy which I want to take, but it has meant that my travel plan has gone from pipedream to iminenent reality very quickly. I need to confirm a preferred 'leave date' from work this week, and so I'm a bit short of time to validate all my ideas, so I'm hoping I can ask for your advice and validation. Apologies if any of this info already exists - I promise I have searched albeit quickly.
My plan is to travel from the UK to S Africa via the west route in just over 5 months, starting in late Dec / early Jan. I'd like to travel at a relatively easy pace that allows me to experience the cultures, find the back roads, chill on the odd nice beach etc. I've also got a friend's wedding I need to be back for in early/mid June, so I'd also like to have enough contigency in the 'plan' so I don't feel rushed. I should say that I'll be riding an XT660R and so the dirt roads are more fun than the highways for me.
So the areas I'd like some advice are;
- Is 5 and a bit months a reasonable timescale given the style of travel or do I need a bit longer? This is the most important bit because I need to 'choose' a redundancy date
- Am I going to come up against any significant barriers to this route / timing? (i.e. bad rainy seasons or impossible border crossings)
I know all this can be very subjective, but what I'm looking for is a gut feel advice, so I can comfort myself I'm not making any truly amateurish mistakes.
Finally If anyone is planning to be taking a similar journey around the same time then please let me know if you'd like some company
If it helps to judge the timeline, below is what I had in my mind. Those with a * are those I've deliberately allocated a bit more time in as I would like to spend a bit longer in these countries, either to chill, explore, safari etc.
France - 5 days
Spain - 7 days
Morroco* - 10 days
Mauritania - 5 days
Senegal* - 7 days
Gambia - 3 days
Senegal - 3 days
Guinea - 7 days
Ivory Coast - 8 days
Burkina Faso - 8 days
Benin - 5 days
Nigeria - 12 days
Cameroon* - 10 days
Congo - 7 days
DRC* - 18 days
Zambia - 7 days
Zimbabwe - 7 days
Botswana - 10 days
S Africa* - 18 days
Thanks for your time.
James
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