Thanks for your reply Mark. So far the amount is roughly what we expected which is good to know! Although still a LOT to save!

We are looking at going on 2 x Yamaha 250 Serrow. We are hoping that this will cut our petrol costs and also would be able to share the weight of any spares we decide to take! We know that they will not go as fast as big bike's but will be lighter to pick up and also easier to park safely (seen pictures of similar bikes inside hotels!), and will cost less to crate for shipping / flying! Also... we hope not to be in a rush!

Ideally we would like to leave from home (Scotland), and return going overland as much as possible, only shipping or flying when we run out of earth! Probably heading east, maybe south east depending on what time of year we manage to leave!?! The main bit of the trip for us is north to south america which is where we plan to spend much of our time... at least a year if not more!

We will do touristy things and if we are lucky enough to make it to Africa then a safari would deinately be on the list! As would be going on an ice breaker ship from South America... but we know that these types of trips will hugely put our costs up! But then again, we probably only going to be able to do this once! Over all the years as a backpacker or bike traveller we have always done things which we want to do as the chances of getting back to do them later on in life is uncertain!