For inspiration and for meeting up with like minded riders, nothing better than an HU travelers meeting. These events happen world wide. I've been twice to Canada for HU meetings (BC). I'm sure they have them around Toronto as well. Look up the schedule. You will learn A LOT there! FUN too!

To start off touring I'd do something cheap and easy. USA is your best bet, best weather options too, longer riding seasons. You could be riding in California now ... I'll be doing a 4 day ride through Cent. California this weekend.

Sure, it's a long ride from Toronto, but if you plan it out, could be interesting hitting Montana, Idaho and Nevada coming or going. Fabulous riding.

Now you're ready for EU. Bring money. I bought a cheap, used bike in the UK, using a friends address. Kept the bike in France (another friend) in between tours, made several riding trips through EU for 3 years. Sold off my UK bike in the UK and over all for 24K miles worth of touring only cost me about $800 USD plus a service, new tires and chain. Compared to renting, that is DIRT CHEAP

I did three different 6 week long tours. UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, also bit of Germany and Italy. Great fun but hard to do it super cheap. Fuel alone is about $8 USD per gallon. In USA it's under $3 per gallon!

Good luck, have fun! Ride now while you can ... don't wait!

Welcome to the HUBB Allister! And Skyy23 too!

Allister, where are you from? Note you can go to your control panel and add that in - it can be a big help to others to know what to offer in response to questions.


Some thoughts:

Join the HU Community in your area, let them know who you are and that you'd like to meet up in a pub or something, go for a ride, whatever, just try to connect - you might get surprised who you'll meet.

Also of course check the HU Events schedule and get to an HU Meeting near you. You will be in the younger group, but you won't be alone. We are getting more younger people to the events all the time, which we're delighted to see. ANY of the presentations / seminars / tech talks are applicable to any age, so don't worry there's lots for you.

As for level of experience - the "born again biker" is a big phenomenon - men and women who rode a bit perhaps when young, stopped to have kids, the kids are now grown and gone, so they're coming back to bikes in droves. BUT to parallel yourself - many of them know little or nothing about bikes, and aren't experienced riders, or travellers perhaps, so they're in the same boat as you - beginners - and that's 100% OK. Everyone starts at the beginning.

Spend time here, read the HUBB posts, read the blogs and get inspired and learn.

Hope to see you all on the road someday soon, or at an HU Meeting somewhere giving YOUR talk about your travels.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

A few responses that may help clarify where we're at on Mehmets comments. Thanks for the feedback Mehmet! Good to get these subjects out.


Sticker for HUBB recommended shops etc - love to, but it's a far bigger task than we can administer. There is only the two of us with some part time help. If we made a LOT more money we could hire someone to do this along with a number of other things we'd love to do.

Think about what's involved to make this happen.
1: Someone has to make the recommendation and send us all the details into a form / database (which we have to create $), including mailing address, and make sure the venue knows what it's all about
2: We need to check the information.
3: We have to mail them a sticker possibly half way round the world, (at least $4 mailing to many places plus the sticker at $1 and the package at $.50 plus the time to actually do it)
4: We need to reconfirm at some point, perhaps annually, that they still exist. More time.
5: Fee - we don't think we can send enough travellers to make it clearly worthwhile to the venue. It will take a real sales pitch - and few travellers are willing to to that. Some yes would be wonderful, but not enough.
So yes, it's doable - but not with our current resources.

"Home Countries events" - they're what inspire and enable people to get out and go to the "destination countries". So they're critical, and without them we'd have closed the door long ago. "Destination countries events" - absolutely love to have more, and we are getting some more. MOST IMPORTANT to understand is that WE cannot "create" or start an event in some country out of thin air.

ALL events started because someone said "I want to have an HU Event in my country, AND I'LL MAKE IT HAPPEN." It's all volunteer run. A venue like our North Carolina venue, or Bulgaria at Doug's MotoCamp, our the South Africa event at Elgro Lodge or our new Ecuador event at Sierra Alisos are perfect, the owners are motorcycle fans and want the event for themselves personally, they get customers for their venue, plus they have everything we need to make the event a success.

The other model is that a few local people form a team and go out and find a great venue, and make it happen. That works well too - but finding the venue is the hard part and may take a lot of effort to get the right balance of accommodation, camping, food and presentation facilities at a sensible price for most people, but it's clearly doable as most of our events are done that way.

FYI, we've had folks approach us about an HU meeting in Turkey, but none followed through to actually make it happen. That's been true in many other countries too - it's a great idea and sounds easy but someone has to put in the work. We do have a complete organizers manual with everything you could possibly want to know, and we offer loads of support and guidance to help you make a great event and have fun doing it. We spend a lot of time on Skype working through everything to help you out. We also offer profit share for those who want it.

Everyone that comes to an HU Meeting gets two free stickers automatically plus of course all the presentations and workshops, group discussions and ride-outs, etc. If they buy a DVD they get a free sticker too. Paying for articles is beyond our reach, there are so many in there that it becomes far too expensive. Remember the ezine is free, and takes a lot of our time to prepare as is. It doesn't make money it only costs!

We are considering making changes to our Membership Subscriptions (as opposed to just registering for the HUBB - 30,000 new registered users in the last 3 years). Details on Membership and full info here.

Currently it's $15 for Contributing Membership or $40 for Gold Membership, both of which get the new member additional privileges on the HUBB, primarily more storage space for PM's and photos etc.

No decision on where to go with it. What would you like; Membership card? Mail out stickers? How's the prices? Let us know!

Your support is MUCH appreciated!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

LOCAL VOLUNTEERS can do that - we can't from here, but we are very supportive of any efforts made by local volunteers to make these sorts of things happen. We'd love to have a volunteer to coordinate it!

We've been thinking about an HU Ambassador program for a while now - which would be as you suggest or someone recommended by travellers, or that we personally know, to take on that role.
Volunteers appreciated - as always, it's volunteers who make things happen.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

It's important to understand that HU is ONLY Susan and myself, and a few very part time contract people to do stuff outside of our expertise or time constraints. We are not rich (doing this as a hobby), we are in fact struggling to pay our rent every month. This is more than a full time job, it's a passion, but it's also 60 hours a week as is. We have very few paying members, advertising is poor ever since the recession and dot com crash, so the income from events has to pay for all website upgrades and operating costs, plus our rent and food. Without that income we'd close HU and retire and live off our tiny state pensions in a much cheaper country than Canada. And maybe then we'd have a day off or two.

We are working hard at bringing a better website to you all, and you can see the beginnings at the Travel Stories and especially the all new Destinations (links at the top of the page tagged with "new"). "Destinations" has mapping of POI's that we collated of every border crossing in the world we know of - 2500 so far - and also the top "Bucket List" destinations you will want to go to, plus YOUR recommendations of the great places to see, to stay, repair shops etc. And yes, you can add your favourite places to that NOW!

Start recommending Destinations of all types, and Mehmets comments on HUBB Recommended becomes real, albeit a little differently, but there in the most important way - findable! Note you can also add those POI's to your personal collection and download a GPX file of the waypoints.

The new website is also fully responsive, meaning it works properly on your phone, tablet, or desktop computer.

For more, remember it's all volunteer - YOU have "been there done that" and have the information, it's up to you to share it to help other travellers, and they'll help you plan your next trip with their information too. Imagine if every repair shop, every traveller friendly hotel, every shipping location, every route to follow, every interesting place to see was in one place, all you need to do is search in one place, or zoom into where you are and see what's nearby in bike repair shops with the experience other travellers have had with them.

Would that be a HUGE help or not? We think so!

More events in new countries - VOLUNTEER.
MORE information - VOLUNTEER to help - fill in a simple form!
Got web skills - VOLUNTEER to help make this site even better than it is now and reach and help more people. (Drupal skills especially needed)

I hope that helps everyone understand what our limitations are and how to make things happen.

Horizons Unlimited was founded on the basis of travellers helping travellers, and sharing information to help us all have incredible life-changing adventures meeting people all over the world, and gaining a rich understanding of what life is all about on this amazing planet of ours.

Please volunteer and share.

Thanks, Grant and Susan,
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting Travellers since 1997

hey, thanks for the heads up. i updated my profile. ill try meet some guys in my area if i cant find some. i have a group i ride with now in the toronto area, social group called Clutch6, if anyone from hubb reads this and is in toronto, shoot me a message and id love to get together and chat.

Be sure to contact the Toronto HU Community, and also come to the Ontario Travellers Meeting where you'll meet loads of local travellers!

see you there!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

It is an interesting discussion...the ageing of overlanders. While I sit over in the 4x4 corner of the room, it is easy to say the same thing of our crowd. I attend a number of events each year besides HUBB UK and see the same thing. Most 4x4 overlanders are in their 40s-60s.

Money is definitely an issue, as is vacation time. In N. America the average is only two weeks annual leave. The five weeks vacation time I get here in the UK makes it easier to plan month-long trips.

What I find interesting though is that the adventure travel sector has boomed from something like $9 Billion globally in 2014 to in the $trillions in 2017. Young people are spending tons on scuba diving, mountain climbing, para-sailing style holidays...even Mongol Rally 'cool' type events. Things you can do quickly, post some great pics to your buddies on FB and Instagram and then get back to paying the bills and online gaming.

Overlanding just isn't that 'cool' anymore. Twenty or thirty years ago if you said you wanted to ride from London to Capetown, Alaska to Patagonia or Paris to Singapore people would say, "Wow, what an adventure!" Now, after literally thousands have done the same things, written the book, posted the pics and talked at the HUBB...not so 'cool' anymore.

The modern media's portrayal of the world probably doesn't help. When my son flew over from Canada in 2015 to do a Morocco trip his friends thought he was crazy to go to a Muslim country. "You'll get kidnapped or have your head chopped off!" was a common response. Much safer to backpacking in Thailand or a campervan holiday in New Zealand.

You want to draw in a younger crowd? Invite some Indie bands to play at HUBB gatherings, burn a giant straw figure at midnite on Saturday, put together challenge events that raise money for new and fashionable charities like "Kids Without SmartPhones" and only ever post pictures online of people under 35, in artistically skimpy or sexy outfits who are partying hard while communing with nature in an ethically and environmentally sustainable way.

For my part, I've dreamed about traveling all my life. Although doing short stints here and there, I've only really started traveling for prolonged periods in my 40's.
Realistically, when you finish your education, one has amassed some form of debt. You want to start living on your own and not under Mom/Dad's roof. New job, little vacation time, new partner, probably kids in the near future. and then you realize that you've jumped on the treadmill and need to keep on running to keep up with all the payments.
I'm now at 53 and have found the freedom of decluttering my life. The kids are now on their own and the years spent at the same job has afforded me the pleasure of several weeks vacation that I use to try to make up for lost time.
I guess life is whatever you make of it. Society pressures us into a "norm" that is beneficial for most, but can be quite hard for those, like many here, who have a nomadic spirit. Personally, I'm juggling with the idea of quitting work and taking off for a year long sabbatical. Not sure if I'll have the coconuts to do it, but it is entertaining in the meantime.
So it's not surprising to me to see that most members of the HUBB are of advanced years, but I welcome the idea of encouraging the younger crowd to follow their hearts and realize their dreams. Traveling does open your eyes and breaks down the barriers of fear and prejudice.

27 checking in. Adventure riding and crossing continents on two wheels since 2014 (or 21 of age).

Might sound strange, but I'm on HU BECAUSE it's average age is so high. As this includes high experience levels naturally.
I'm travelling and browsing HU to learn and am extremely happy to know that many of you have done things I dream of in times I wasn't even around yet (like change a tyre ) This truly inspires me. And perhaps I've been to places some of you have not been, even though I'm "young", which seems to often arouse jealousy.

Being open to learn from everyone, no matter what age is crucial for a great time imo, especially when travelling.

Staying closer to the idea of the first post: all those points and possible actions to take to get youngsters involved sound fair and doable, but none of it would have triggered my interest more than what's on here.
If HU only was a FB page, I would have never found you

Happy to be here and someday be one of the old guys too!

Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

Experienced international motorcycle adventurers have probably encountered younger riders on the road and might be able to pass on how these youngsters created the time and money for motorcycle adventure travel.
If we discount the "trustafarians" and accept the example in "brclarke" post that current students/graduates might be in debt and not have a regular source of income, then task one might be suggest ways the young can finance motorcycle adventure travel while on the road.
Today, the young are driving camper vans and motorcycles internationally financed by web site or YouTube revenues, and/or product endorsements.
There is an old standby of legally buying a used bike in country, exploring that country while camping and fixing up the bike to legally sell for profit in the same country. Then, repeat the process in another country. After a year or two it is possible to have ridden many countries and to return "home" with money in pocket.
"Start up" money will be required, but just enough to buy one used motorcycle, food and shelter for a month or two. Each of us could select a worthy youngster and loan/grant the start up money. Perhaps that errant nephew, or that niece who is at loose ends, or even a daughter or son.
What a great education that youngster would have after a year or two of motorcycle travel. She/he would have learned to be self sufficient, frugal, learned priorities and common sense. They might even find temporary or a life work while on the road.
Developed countries offer free kitchens, free camping and even some health care. Third world countries are more challenging, but also less expensive.
Always check regulations and restrictions for "tourists" purchasing motorcycles.
Merhaba, to Mehmet, founder of this thread, thanks for your comments. We bought 2 new BMW G650gs in Spain and rode to Istanbul where one bike had starter problems and the other a blown gasket - but BMW Istanbul and a Turkish lawyer BMW rider Okun Beggu, whom we will never forget, came to our rescue, repaired both bikes and provided us 4 glorious nights at an upscale Istanbul hotel at no charge to us. We were speechless.
FYI, I graduated high school in Ankara as a diplo brat.

__________________
Motorcycle Parking Buenos Aires, Argentina
www.xfiltrate.com