I'm not a big spender and never have been, with the result that I've never been in debt other than the occasional use of my overdraft when an invoice gets paid late. So now I have some savings, but also a relationship where, while I could just go and he'd still be here when I get back, I don't want to just go and do my thing leaving him to work and pay off his debts.

So... I'm investing in his career change: he also wants to be a private contractor, but in landmine clearance. He's been saving for the course, I'm making up the shortfall so it happens sooner rather than later (bit of a dent to his manly pride there!!). Then, if all goes well, he goes off and earns lots of money in stints of a few months at a time. I get to spend that money

We're both very independent, so while he's off doing his thing I'll be doing mine, then when his contracts end we spend a few months together before starting all over again. (whilst both technically British, we both grew up abroad, so don't particularly feel we have to base ourselves here)

So kind of a mix of lots of the options mentioned: investment, danger money, keeping the other half happy while you go off and play, and marrying the money! After all, if he's going to make me worry about how many limbs he has left I figure I deserve some travelling money to take my mind off it!

Mind you, if it weren't for him I'd probably be gone by now, always been tempted by just upping and leaving and sorting things out as you go along...

Laura

Since your partner will be going to "strange and exotic" places to ferret out mines, why not go along? Get hold of a bike, and explore the country your in while he's getting paid? Cambodia could use his help from my own experience there.
Maybe someone should train the locals in mine extraction
instead of hiring overpaid foreigners to do a job they could do better themselves? :confused1:

The so called "experts" we met (Brits, btw) there had "native" workers actually getting in up close and personal with the munitions, while they stood back the barked orders

I was in Cambodia filming in the early 90's, at one point we were very near the Angor Wat ruin .... which was shut due to ..... MINES. Some Russians (technical Advisors) had been blown up a few days before around the ruin.

We used a lesser site for our stand up piece and went back to Phenom Phen
and drank with our minders.

What a great country to bike around! I was stuck in a UNICEF Landcruiser most of the time.

Patrick
"No Sound Too Big"

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Also an option - I thought of setting myself a challenge, no matter where he's sent in the world I have to ride there before the contract runs out! Balkans, easy, Cambodia, hope it's a longer one! Kind of like a permanent treasure hunt...

Re use of foreigners vs locals, I think it depends where you go - the training he's off to do is in Kenya, and run by the Kenyan army, so that's a reverse situation. Problem is that training in disposal requires using explosives, so it's expensive, where training to find them doesn't, so isn't - hence why foreigners can pay their own money to train in disposal, which locals often can't afford, and charities feel they're helping out by getting locals trained to find the things. Far from ideal I agree. Although apparently now they use rats in some places, cos the rats can smell them!!

Linzi will send you a PM with the places the boyfriend found for info on it.

Laura

Rats? WOW! Now that is ingenious. I thought I'd heard of this but would be fascinating to see in action! I may have found a new calling:

"Official Rat Wrangler"

B A N G! Whoops, there goes Willard!

You two have a great time in your adventures!

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Apparently it's a particular breed of rat, can't remember which one. Although no-one seems quite sure how they let you know they've found a mine... :confused1: Maybe it's like bees, they run around for a bit then come back and do a dance!!!

Hi everyone, I've spent all week reading this fantastic thread and have finally finished! Not that fussed about the 'how do you do it' side of things right now, as we are already 6 months into hard savings with 6 months to go to our big trip (Africa, South and Central America for at least 18 months starting July 2008). However, it's been really intersting to read how others are doing it, and see the similarities (or not) to our situation, as only a short time ago I was wondering 'how can we do it!!'

Really, a point comes in your life where you decide it's time to go and suddenly nothing else is as important anymore. You reassess what you're doing in your life and what you really need to spend money on (or really, not!), and start saving! For us, that turning point was the 2008 HUUK meet when we realised we had 12 months left working in the UK, that was plenty of time to save up and finish the bike travel preparation we'd already been doing to equip oursleves better for smaller trips, hubbie was ready for a career change, and we could celebrate 10 years since our 1999 world backpacking trip! We've been saving so well that our original thought of 6-12 months is now at least 18 months. If we didn't have a shed full of stuff stored in Oz, we wouldn't have a tie in the world and there wouldn't be an endpoint! Such is life (and yes, we're looking for ways to sort that out but it's looking unlikely...)

So my only addition was to suggest people look into Antarctic service. I know both Oz and UK employ tradespeople to work on their bases throughout the year (I'm sure USA and others do too). I've had personal experience working in the Oz Antarctic, and the tradies there got a great deal - zone tax break, no living expenses at all, usually 12 month contracts (sometimes longer). Guys I worked with were either single and making enormous pay-offs on their house loans, or had a family at home they supported and still raked it in. If you're single and wanting to save for a big world trip, it's definitely an option! It's not just tradies either (electricians, carpenters, plumbers, diesel mechanics) but also station leaders, communications officers, electronics engineers, physicists and meteorologists (they could never get enough people for this job right across Oz!). Us poor bum scientists usually go as volunteers or PhD students and make no money

Good luck to everyone who reads this and makes the jump into the uncertainty of the travelling life!

Tam (sorry for the essay)

That's great info. I was lucky enough to do two tours at USA's Palmer Station, Antarctica on Anvers' Island back in the 70's. After my Winter over I came home to about $30,000 saved .... that was in 1978, a lot of money back then. I'm sure pay has gone way up by now. My two tours also allowed a lot of exploring in S. America after I cashed in my pricey full fare air ticket for cash and went over land.

Lots of Brits work in the middle east and some Americans too. One friend is doing some IT work in the UAE for a US company. He'll be there two years and will make about $200,000 a year!

Much better to go to the Antarctic as a trades person rather than a science person. As Tam mentions ... Scientist and their undergrads don't get paid squat.

I was the Field Party Coordinator at Palmer Station and ran a fleet of Zodiac boats and supported the scientists doing studies on various islands near the station. Studies included Bird and Penguin, Krill, Ice fish, Phyto- Plankton, insects, seals and Whales. Also worked on two movies and supported divers.
Great job.

Now days they have TWO guys doing this job (or so I've heard (Summer only), or so I've heard. Only problem, Raytheon hold the contract to run the US stations now under US govt.'s National Science Foundation. Raytheon make missiles and other very evil secret weapons, which should all be banished from this earth. Somehow with Raytheon in charge I just don't trust anything going on there now. I would bet much of the research is now weapons related.

My last year they were already doing secret Radar projects, Upper atmospherics laser tests, and a big VLF (Very Low Frequency) experiment used in Submarine tracking/detection. (now obsolete).
So even in 1979 they were dead set on destroying paradise
and had plenty of willing toadies .... who would do anything for money.

Patrick

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Update: This plan only works if the bastard doesn't dump you once he's taken the money and done the training.



Yeah OK maybe that was an obvious flaw.

But hey, on the flip side, I've just done 14000 miles and 4 months in Europe for about £3500 excluding the bike (but I get to keep or sell that), I'm back for 6 weeks then off to Indonesia getting paid to work for Rough Guides, then back for 5 weeks before spending Xmas working for my little sister who's a zoologist in Botswana.



Moral of the story: work with what you've got rather than focusing on what you think you should have, learn to stand on your own 2 feet and pick yourself up no matter what happens (that's literally as well as figuratively, 65kg me vs 250kg bike on its side...), and things will sort themselves out.

Laura

Wise words Laura ..

Please let us know how you got on in Indonesia .. as this country is on my 'optional' list.

Thanks




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Right Way Round ...

Hi all, Please forgive the length of this rambling but after reading every single entry in this topic over a good few days, I felt I had to throw my tuppence worth in.

Some years ago back in the early 70’s when I was 17 and I was scrubbing around on a BSA 175 Bantam, I decided I wanted to go around the world. I also wanted to go on a Triumph Daytona. I have no idea why a Daytona? It just sounded so glamorous and was a large bike at 500 cc. As some have said in other posts, not so long before those days a 500 was a real big bike ridden by men and anything bigger was for dragging a side car around. Incidentally I had no idea who Ted Simon was or that he was actually doing what I was dreaming about. Anyway the years rolled by and relationships, marriage, divorce, caring for elderly parents all got in the way.

In my late 30’s I had to wear glasses and I stopped biking. My dream was over and I sold my beloved Honda 400 four and everything I had to do with biking. It was only about three years ago, some ten years after I had sold my bike, when a close friend and fellow HUBBER told me about “decent” flip top helmets. I could wear one of those and still be able to put my glasses on. It was time to get another bike and start dreaming again.

With the extraordinary and generous help of some from here I have sourced a bike that would do all of the things I wanted it to do and go to the type of place I want to go. Equipped it with the best stuff I could afford which is a long way off and not necessarily the most expensive there is. From scratch with no helmet boots, gloves, tools or sod all I have a Transalp 650 and enough of the right gear to stay on the road almost indefinitely. The cost? around 8k. The bike and accessories such as a centre stand and crash bars etc came to about 3.5k£ the rest went on camping gear , luggage, security, clothes, tools and other bits and pieces. It all adds up. In trials some stuff worked and some didn’t. 200 quid’s worth of security chain keeps the bike safe at home but is far too big to carry around. Everything I have can be sourced for a lot less than what I paid. The truth is I have probably gone overboard and accumulated in 18 months what most have spent a lifetime gathering. I am very conscious of the ticking clock and age is not the only consideration, health is right up there.

Finally when most of the things stopping me had gone from my life a recession hit me. I was and still am of the opinion that I had to sell my house and not rent it out. I have seen and heard too many horror stories about people who ended up with undesirables in their property, rent unpaid and damage mounting to many 1000’s of pounds, dollars, euro’s etc etc. It is bad enough dealing with all of that if you live in the same town but halfway around the world? No thank you. For me this would be a one way trip, I would not be coming back. For a start it is hard enough to get a job in the UK right now but at the wrong side of 60 when I reckon I would be back I would be virtually unemployable. I cannot see me ending my days selling the big issue and sleeping in a hostel, No offence to those that do and have to. As a much younger man I have had to do similar things but I have no desire to re-visit old territory.

The only thing stopping me now is the money to go. Almost everything I have is tied up in the house and I do not believe I will be able to sell it for a “reasonable” price for at least another 18 months. When I look back there was always a reason why it could not be done and as far as I see it not everyone can travel at the drop of a hat regardless of who tells you that you can. I have since learnt it’s only when you do not know why you cannot do something that you try to do it at all. Will I ever manage it? Who knows but at almost 40 years after having the dream it has still not faded away and the urge to go is getting stronger every day. Just because you cannot do it today does not mean that you can never do it. Sometimes you just have to wait. In my case close to 40 years and still counting.

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www.frothandflames.com
2012 Kawasaki W800
1997 NX 650 Dominator

Then there's the personal health issues to contend with as one grows older .. eh greenman? There can be no guarantees in this department either.

At age 55, and still blessed with comparatively excellent health (no health issues for me whatsoever) .. is the single most important factor that drives me to get on with it while I still can .. AND without the need to take pills or potions with me.

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BTW - Just been for quick lookaround your site. Nice! Thanks for the tip about the Garmin Quest satnav; reckon I'll stick with my Stylophone too ..

Cheers

KEITH

PS - shame we didn't meet-up in Ripley .. maybe next time?



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Right Way Round ...

Does anyone know anything about google adsense. Roughly how many poeple would you need to be looking to be giving you a hundred dollars a month say? This isnt a request for people to go clicking on my blog links (though feel free if you want to). Its just we only started with this blogging business and we got $20 waiting for us. I wasnt expecting this and now I am wondering if I can get some more!! Would it be o.k to encourage people to click the advert links on the blog in order to give me money (a sort of donation) or do you think this would make google mad and I'd get cut off.

We are getting a bit low on money, thinking of teaching english in Cambodia or laos for a few months, but this idea excites me more.

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Far From Home, U.K - Oz and beyond.
http://www.globegallivanting.blogspot.com/

Well - I just did a "clicky" on your blog !!!!!!

Hi all,

I'm reading through all the info here on setting up, financing etc etc and I'm really dead set on doing a RTW. I'm a graphic designer and can pretty much pick up work anywhere/ work over the net. I like to think I'm handy with a camera and would be happy to turn in a few pages of writing to a travel mag/blog if I needed some extra cash. Problem is, I'm loving the money I'm earning now.

London life is getting to the pair of us and I've always wanted to do a RTW on a bike and my partner is keen on the idea.

Her parents live in Malaysia so I thought a bike trip to KL would be not too long and not too short of a trip for us. We could probably do that on our megre (about 10k) savings. How far do you think 10k could get 2 people, roughly? I'm quite happy to do this as 'budget' as possible but I know she likes a shower and a toilet so maybe some hostels along the way.

We've been thinking about ways to save more money quicker...I used to be a chef and my partner's family have owned restaurants so we thought of setting up an underground restaurant in our home, doing markets with our food, going to peoples homes to cook for dinner parties, doing some graphic design work, writing our blog and maybe selling some ad space on there and finally setting up a website for something (not sure yet) and selling it.

my main issue (as I've noticed with most things in my life) is that there are too many decisions to make. I usually have the view that I should just make one and stick with it but I can't decide on that either.
I like asking opinions, getting lots of views and making my decision from there so if anyone who might have been there and done that wants to leave some inspiring words I'd really appreciate it.

Through HU I've got on to lots of blogs, people traveling all over and it's fascinating, although, I'm reading Jupiters Travels again for about the 5th time!




Supper Club London

What a great idea google adsense is! Thanks for mentioning it. I have just been accepted. We might as well earn a $ or two from our blogs seeing as we spend so much time working on them.

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Peter

http://peter-onamission.blogspot.com