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!
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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!
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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!
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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.
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Tips for English native speakers for a better communication in English with nonnative
Being a recurrent topic “how to communicate with local people in places were you don’t speak the language” or especially “how to learn X language” and considering that most HUBB visitors are English native speakers, I propose to start a thread where we, non-native speakers (and native as well), based on our experiences, give some tips to ease the task to Brits, Irish, Americans (US citizens), Aussies, Canadians and Kiwis (and any others) when they speak English abroad.
I’ll start it, hoping that others will provide more and better advice, but here I go.
Honestly, I think that starting point would be... ban the “I’m amazed about how few people could speak English” sentence. Although English is the current “lingua franca”, it hasn’t always been the case (elderly people speak more French, and still the case of youth in certain regions; or Russian in former USSR, etc). Furthermore, if you, a guy with the curiosity to travel to know the world can’t speak the local language, how could you expect the local farmer to speak good English? So, it’s you to make the bigger effort.
Now the tips (just a personal opinion), which mainly refer to the case of a native trying to use English: *note: I insist on native because understanding a foreigner is MUCH easier.
1) Politeness: in many places you cannot start by saying “(excuse me,) where is the cathedral?” So, start with a greeting in the local language (bonjour –really appreciated by the French-, buenos días –‘cos I’m (worth it?) Spanish-, whatever) and give the person a time to greet you back (1 second?). It’s a much better start to get all the kindness and patience from that person.
2) IMHO, don’t start asking “do you speak English?” Why? Some people just get afraid of this question. They may understand “where is the cathedral?” and could point the direction, but they consider that they don’t speak English to answer yes. So, they’ll say NO, although they might help you: most young people have studied some English at school.
3) Have you ever felt puzzled talking to a guy in Glasgow? It’s much worse for us with any native speaker, so speak slowly and pronounce very well, as if you had to pronounce every letter. Don’t speak very quickly followed by a long pause, we didn’t have time to process the info. British pronunciation doesn't sound fluent to our ears (bumps) and Americans "eat" sounds, Kiwis change vowels (sounds lift, they meant left). So, do your best: if you say “ksal”, the average Italian guy won’t link “castel” (say KASTEL) to the Italian “castello” (well, not so slowly as to make the Italian guy feel like an idiot).
4) Consider showing the word in written, whether in English or the local language. Wrong/right pronunciation may make a huge difference. I would add a visual dictionary, but that’s another story.
5) SMILE and be nice, use your body alongside with your tongue (useful anywhere for any speaker).
Not much, nor a golden tip above, but by now cannot think of others.
I hope it will help some and that others will contribute with more/better tips.
Happy travels (and happy communication when traveling!),
Yes, slow and emphasizing pronunciation is essential. Sure enough volume... but not way too high either! (not a matter of deafness , unless in the windy Mongolia steppe, cool blog and nice story, Nath).
Pretty obvious, but do not use slang at all and look for sort of complete and "international/French/latin/greek sounding" words: say motorcycle, instead of bike (motor and cycle will be easier to recognize in many languages: Motorrad, motocicleta, etc).
Support words with gestures: do you have a "pump", and move your arms pumping (Pumpe, bomba, etc, so the meaning comes to mind more easily).
The idea is to boost the effectiveness of communication in English with non/average foreign speakers.
Why do we try and speak in pidgin English to foreigners?
Always baffles me!!!
I adapt my language to the person's skills: he speaks well, I use proper Spanish; he's a beginner, I'll use a more basic Spanish. I don't think offensive, but the opposite. Boring? For some it could be, linked to the statement "how few people could speak English". Sounds like "shame on you" and 90% comes from someone who speaks no foreign language.
Average Dutch? Speak your best English. Average Spaniard? You'd better try simplified English. If the guy can understand you and help you, you'll make his day, he will feel more confident next time. Personally, I'd be thankful if you speak slowly and emphasize the pronunciation.
I've spoken quite a lot of "pidgin English" abroad (not in the UK, obviously) and the alternative would have been to speak the local language... and learning Turkish is not in the agenda by now.
Some excellent advice, thank you.
I am learning Polish at the moment & can now understand how easy it is to mangle the pronunciation of a word! I have a bad habit of speaking too quickly, especially when nervous, so now I try to remember to take a deep breath & relax a little before saying something in any language.
I use a visual dictionary as part of my learning process & find them very useful, as a travelling aid the Point It book is great as it is so small & also generally causes some amusement.
And please, this is also valid in your own country: make an effort to speak the queens english, because thats what foreigners have learned. Not geordie, cockney or scottish (I know its your language but its difficult to understand anyway).
Its strange for a foreigner to learn english and then find out that the english people can't speak their own language.
I would never talk to a foreigner in my own dialect, that even many danish people don't understand
About pidgin english: Years ago, I found it demeaning not to talk a correct english to other nonenglish speakers but after working for some time with asians with rudimentary english skills, I found out, that they didn't understand anything, if I used to many words.
"Do you want to go and have something to eat?" just gave me a stare but "Go eat?" immediately gave me the reply "Can, can"
You should of course adapt you language to the other parts language skills or you might offend them.
If all languages fail, I have had a lot of people laugh at me, for trying to mime and draw whatever I wanted and its always been a good icebreaker, when meeting new people.
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...
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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.
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