Wow there's a thing! I would have bet ............well.......... bet 10K you would have taken the money and gone.

For what its worth there is no " right decision" but I reckon you made the best decision. And don't forget as well as "within my means travel" you have the excitement of starting a new venture, that might truly be life changing anyway.........

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Regards Tim

Learning my craft for the big stuff, it won't be long now and it's not that far anyway

Although I don't really agree with the approach, could try crowd-funding to make up some of the funds....

There's an RTW Ive been following atm which has done that

I am all in favour of Crowd Funding to support disaster relief, charity and good causes etc.

But to ask for donations to pay for my jolly's around the world, in my eyes, is more like begging !

Half the joy of travelling is knowing that you earned it.

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Agreed....what I dislike more about this particular individual is that it is all being done under the concept that funds are being raised by the ride for charities :/

Makes me feel like Im saving my ass off to do my RTW while some people can just do this

I'm gobsmacked that any private individual would give money to someone else so they can go off on holiday on a motorcycle. I also feel that if I were to ask strangers to finance my m/c holiday, they'd just laugh at me and if I ask friends, I very quickly wouldn't have many left.

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TBS.com

Not long to go now till the start of the charity season and then you'll see lots of people being "sponsored" to do stuff they'd self finance otherwise. There are times in the summer when you have to queue up at the start line to do a charity LEJOG event.

I'm sure Ted's a resourceful kind of bloke and if he could come up with a good angle, one where people would feel they were getting something for their (say) £5 investment the money would flood in. All he'd have to do is stay one step ahead of the police.

It's been proven that many forum readers (myself included) have given support to those on the road. ADV Rider is full of such stories. Some sell books, DVD's or T-Shirts, some put your name on their tank, some give you a hearty handshake! A few get into trouble and use the forums to solicit "emergency" funds. Some of these pleas have backfired when discovered to be less than truthful.

Successful rider/travelers have a few qualities that seem to endear them to readers and inspire others to SEND MONEY:
1. Most are good writers and Photogs, post great stories on Forums and stay active with followers. They all seem to have good salesmanship skills as well.
2. Some offer something in return, others are sponsored by charities and offer goods for money. Some give only a hearty hand-shake and show up at a rally that you have to PAY to enter and hear their presentation and buy their do dads. Like it or not, that's our reality at present. Support it, or not.

You could argue that reading forums about MC travel beats watching TV or going shopping. (reference Simon Gandolphi!) And why not support someone you feel connected to ... if you can afford a few bucks? Am I a sucker for doing so?

I've given money to several riders on the road. One is Jammin' Jay, who spent 3 years going RTW on his Suzuki DR650. I bought a T-Shirt. Jay has now parleyed his celebrity into running a tour company:
Jammin Global Adventure Travel (this was my idea, submitted 2 years ago!)

Many have done the same, long list including Charlie Boorman, Tiffany Coates, Nick Sanders and more! Others do the rally circuit peddling bits & bobs and doing slide shows and talks.

You can read Jay's Ride Report on ADV Rider:
Jammin thru the Global South - ADVrider

I might end up selling myself to a rich old man as a chaperone BMW tech.. I'll cry myself to sleep as I wash his riding socks by moonlight..

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Really not a half bad idea there Ted. You'd be amazed at the kind of absurd money some American BMW riders here have. Off the frickin' scale. I'm sure some would be happy to hire a ride along mechanic, expert guide, linguist, Valet, Documentarian and boot polisher.

There are guys here that make Ewan and Charlie look like paupers. Seriously.
And a lot are YOUNG guys, mostly Dot.Com Zillionares. And they'll pay good money for those with the right skills. And again ... we can thank Ewan and Charlie for bringing this Super elite group into our small ADV Travel world ... which now seems to have been co-opted into Pop Culture.

Maybe an idea... Being someone's butler doesn't really appeal though. I'd end up burying them in the desert.

And you'd never know where the line is... Before you know it he's demanding that I wear latex gloves and a gimp mask and do things with WD40 that shouldn't be mentioned on a Motorcycle travel forum...

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

the voice of experience......and you know this how? Do tell!!
Err.... no, maybe best to claim the 5th!

Sometimes it's better not to ask

Hahaha

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Ted- you're bad!
I'll never be able to look at another can of WD40 now... It's a good job I mostly use ACF50 though!
....and now you'll no doubt tell me that's reserved for customers paying for 'extra's...
I am sooooo not coming to ****** bmw!

p.s. solution to your troubles
It's called knuckle down for 30 years and save hard- then quit and travel.
Borrowing money is like having a mistress- exciting to have instantly but you'll (really) end up paying for it forever! + a few years!

Just throwing this in the ring... My daughters each have small online businesses and are looking at ways to market...they are studying this guys methods:
Funnel Experts

If your thinking of marketing yourself or creating a product, some of the points this guy makes my be helpfull.

It may seem way out there, but something in it may just help with the process of getting $$$

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Age does not protect you from motorbikes. But motorbikes, to some extent, protect you from age.

Blast from the past

My 2c worth. Borrowing money to travel is the same as borrowing money for just about anything else. You should always assume it'll have to be paid back and know exactly how you're going to do it. Never, ever borrow thinking "I'll sort it out later" because it will come back to bite you, with interest.

As such you could certainly argue that borrowing to travel now and paying back over [x] years isn't that different from saving up for [x] years before travelling later.

In my case I'm coming to it late, in my 60s, because I spent years doing the family, career and home thing. On the minus side I have missed a lot of opportunities that will probably never come again, but on the plus side I know I have a home and family to come back to