I am a pensioner and my home base is a country that gives me free health care with priority treatment, free travel and arguably the finest TV and radio programmes in the world. My dwelling place has one of the best beaches in the world, OK most of the year lying on it semi naked would probably lead to hypothermia but on the good or even better side, there is no chance of being continually bothered by locals trying to remove my hard earned pension by almost any means possible, legal or otherwise. I must admit that attempting to satisfy what remains of my rapidly diminishing sex drive without resorting to slightly illegal means is harder than it would be living in the tropics, but each to his or her own. Like almost every country that I have been to and they are many, on closer inspection they are all, in my opinion, better to visit than to live in. I am writing this missive in Colombia whilst waiting to catch a boat to Cuba and the moto that is parked beside me on the hostel patio is my 2004 BMW R1200GS with some Touratech bits and 260,000k on it, I bought it by saving up from my miserly military pension which is not a patch on the one that our police and firemen get but they have a union and my lot have to rely on the goodwill of our elected representatives. Still, mustn't grumble. Just in passing, how many counties in the world can you take an indexed linked pension to and also, once again, how much will this super duper health care cost. I would keep buying a lottery ticket. Oh and bye the way, I am a two wheeled tourist and not a poser adventure traveller. Ride safe.

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Mike
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Mike is riding the twisty road in the sky

Maja thanks for your input. You started well but halfway through deteriorated into a somewhat bitter little rant thereby confirming another well known factoid on the HUBB, being that BMW R1200 GS riders not only have money to burn but have absolutely no sense of humour whatsoever

You do sound quite old so FYI in future note that a :-) at the end of a sentence is called an "emoticon". It tells the reader that the previous sentence was meant in jest.

When you get to Cuba, chill out, have a or two and get some sun. The vitamin D is great for depression. smiley face!

You did well to get to the end of the previous posters "post"

I got to about line 4,

vette

What Mike says above, more or less.

I've been retired 15 years now and travelled a lot. Staying the winters in various warmer places, S. Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, Oz, S. America.
I'd return to all of them tomorrow for another visit, but there are lots of other places still to see.

Nearly every place I visit I think - well, this is a great place, nice people, warm biking climate, a good place to live.
The places where this really kicked in were Bali, New Zealand, Bolivia, Oaxaca Mexico, eastern suburbs of Malaga, Margarita Island (N. coast away from the holiday towns, Venezuela), Cartagena Colombia, Western Kenya and others.
But every time, after a short or maybe a long while, I get homesick.
For London.

Winter here now. Inside the M25 40 mins from the West End. An hour from Brighton:




I took the photos a couple of hours ago, then read this thread.
I don't think being an overlander has anything to do with it. It's the depth of your roots, the sense of belonging, the sense of place.
My travelling has been mainly by big Honda, big Ducati, big Aprilia and little Yamaha. Never felt any sort of draw towards those Bavarian machines.... (My word, they're getting controversial in these threads lately!)

In fact I think the more I've travelled (I travelled around the world a bit for work before retiring), the greater has been the sense of belonging here.
Something about being born within the sound of Bow Bells I suppose.

And to confirm the purely mercenary aspect hinted at by Mike. Yes, the index linking of my pension stops the minute I move abroad.

So it's very nice to imagine a home in the sun, to daydream a new life, but reality is much better.
Home is where the heart is!

(From above, it seems I should add some of these to go with the winter Vitamin D ... )

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town

Nicely said and with a little more thought and good nature than Mike.

I have also been to many places around the world where I thought, yes I could live here but as you say, the return home gives you a certain sense of place.
Obviously not for everybody and it may turn out eventually to not even be for me but it is interesting to hear other peoples perspective either for or against such a move. Happy

And in case anybody else takes offence at my use of the word "Overlander" I use it with reference to mode of transport wether Motorcycle, Bicycle, 4WD, Mogi and yes even cranky old gits on BMW R1200 GS"s.

I find it hard to imagine how offence can be taken with that word, but it does seem to be used increasingly within the HUBB; just as the website has developed/evolved into aspects of riding bicycles, driving 4x4 etc etc.
Maybe the word adventurer (with or without motorcyclist) is "so last year".

Next, there will be a section for the walking fraternity; then there will be real ructions, with rambling rights, access to the countryside etc
The hubris associated with that would be enough to kill off the jibes at Boxer twins.

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Dave

[QUOTE=Walkabout;408576]
Next, there will be a section for the walking fraternity; then there will be real ructions, with rambling rights, access to the countryside etc

I think the term independent ambulatory explorers might be a suitably PC term for their own forum

I am like McCrankpin, the more I travel the more I appreciate my home in Devon and have no wish to live elsewhere, but having spent 2 of the last 4 winters in warmer climes fully appreciate the benefits and would like to do it as often as possible, Asia being the favourite destination for a variety of reasons, price being one of them.

It will take more than that!

The german language has a single word for this:-
Heimat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regarding the index linking thingy, I understand that there is a range of countries which have some kind of recipocral arrangement with the UK, whereby the pension benefits earned in UK employment are maintained while residing overseas (such as the EU for instance, or have I got that bit wrong?).

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Dave

You got it in one, I am a bitter little ranter who is not only quite, but very old and have no sense of humour as anyone who knows me will confirm. However, I will take one thing that you said very seriously, I will have a when I get to Cuba, in fact I have already started practising. Finally, despite all of my apparent social problems, identified courtesy of your long distance psychological profiling, some things cannot be denied:

1. I have a BMW and you don't.

2. I am travelling and you aren't.

3. I already have my pension and you don't.

4. Next week I will be in Cuba and you won't.
5. Our is better than your .

It truly is a hard life but try not to weaken, just hope that the world economy will not continue so far down the tubes that it screw up everyone's pension plans

Ride safe

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Mike
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Mike is riding the twisty road in the sky

OK I'll concede the first 4 but not the 5th!
Nice to see appropriate use of emoticons!
Enjoy cuba

Yay! You, sire, have a admirer in Sweden.

One thing that I´ve noticed is that it´s always the ones with very small penises and no bike that is complaining about what everyone else is riding.

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"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open". ― Frank Zappa

Birka Adventure Riders

Confident Music Studio

Nonsense; not true at all! I've never complained about what everyone else is riding.

erm...er...

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That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing...

Depends on the bloody Gulf Stream. I love the UK but if she decides to abandon us for good, I'm getting outta here. This last winter has about wiped me out

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That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing...