The Motorcycle Thing
Registered user
Dear motorcycle maniacs,
I’ve been scouring this forum obsessively over the past few months in preparation for what is to be the biggest step of my life. The mere shuffles leading up to this great leap, I will hereby document.
I was born and raised in Cornwall, England, arguably one of the most beautiful shires our fair land has to offer. Seemingly remote from the rest of England in distance (and at times cultural!) terms, as an inquisitive boy growing up, I became drawn to wild tales of adventure and daring escapades in far flung corners of the globe. Thus it was, having saved enough capital after my studies, and with maturity and independence gained, that I fled to South America. I spent an exhilarating 1.5 years on a continent exotic enough to both magnify my wanderlust and spawn an intense passion for motorcycles. With an ardent desire to do something my parents had always forbade, I went out and bought an old BMW K75 motorbike before setting off completely underprepared from Colombia to Argentina. Cruising down the Pan American highway, I had never known freedom like it, and I wanted more. Unfortunately with money running low and the bike requesting some tender loving care, I was forced to return to Blighty to supplement my dwindling funds.
Before long however, the road was calling once again. This time Asia stood tall before me, offering new lands to conquer and cultures to befriend. After spending some time traveling through SE Asia, I purchased the not-so reliable Belarusian Minsk motorbike, which I rode/sat on broken down by the side of the road, through Vietnam, where I eventually took up residence as an English teacher for a year.
From there, it was back to England briefly to top up my Curriculum Vitae as a physiotherapist, and then to the Middle Kingdom in China to take up a physiotherapy post in a private hospital. There, my love of bikes continued unabated, as I enjoyed the winding, mountainous, carpet-like roads outside of Beijing. Whilst there, I was also lucky enough to meet Phoebe, my partner in crime and kindred spirit. After (very quickly) deciding that we’d had enough of working for the time being, we cashed in our chips, quit our jobs, and decided to embark on the biggest adventure of our lives, a round the world motorcycle extravaganza.
If you’ve read this far, well done. That about brings us up to the present day. We have returned from the mythical kingdom and set up our war room of preparation in Cornwall, where we are doing enough research on compactable tents and origami plates to turn any sane person into a gibbering wreck. Our planned date of departure will be at the beginning of August, and we hope to be gone for around one to two years to see as much as this funky world has to offer as possible.
Part of the current preparation involves completing my UK motorcycle test. It actually sounds rather absurd when you call a motorcycle school and ask them how quickly you can get your license, as you need it to ride around the world. I’m not sure how much more re-assured the lady on the phone was when I told her that I’d be riding for the past six years abroad, and that I hoped the license would be a formality. Luckily though, things seem to be going smoothly, and I just have to hope for a kindly examiner on the day.
Phoebe and I have recently agreed to purchase a second hand BMW Adventure, which we hope will take us and our worldly belongings to wherever it is we’re going. With regard to riding preferences, we are quite partial to taking the scenic routes, with enough twisty turnies to keep us on our toes. We’re not die hard off-roadies, although by the time I’ve been up to Simon Pavey’s off-road skills school in Wales, I hope to be more comfortable slipping and sliding my way up a dirt track.
Our route is currently a work in progress, and probably will be until we actually hit the road. Part of the fun of a long adventure is surely waking up on the day, sniffing the wind, and setting off. Most people naturally will ask us if we’ve considered visas. The answer is yes, but luckily we’ll be popping back to the UK after visiting Europe so those decisions can happily be put off for another day
.
To avoid this post being too one sided, I’d also like to talk a little more about Phoebe, my wing woman. Phoebs is from Washington D.C. and has also been scarred by the bite of the travel bug. She has seen the world extensively already, and I was lucky enough to encounter her on one of her forays, working in real estate in China. Funnily enough, we actually started courting after becoming more acquainted during a five-minute speed date. Phoebs is one the most curious creatures I have ever had the pleasure to meet, unsatisfied by the comfortable, mundane life she could quite easily be living if she wanted to. She pushes herself beyond most peoples’ normal limits, and pushes me to want to be more productive and more positive in life. Thus when I suggested traveling the world on two wheels, I knew she would ‘get it’. Phoebs enjoys being pillion, and always aims to solve life’s little riddles from the back of the motorbike. Always one to think big, she has grand ideas for the trip, having set herself (and inadvertently me), the goal of finding out ‘what makes people happy’ the world over. She plans to answer this question on her brilliant website, Short Road To Happy (www.shortroadtohappy.com). She may even throw in the meaning of life if you’re lucky.
In addition to answering these mysteries of the Universe, we also plan to grow and develop as individuals on the way round. Now, I’m as cynical as the next Cornishman, and people talking of finding themselves and growing into Natures children makes me want to be sick in a bucket. However, we have some ideas to do some random little jobs on the trip, and hopefully pick up some useful new skills. One of these projects is WWOOFing, an organization that allows you to work on organic farms in return for room and board. Not bad. Also, getting our hands dirty and doing a spot of charity work along the way seems like fun. The added benefit of being on a motorbike is that you can seek out these little projects instead of paying some tour company a king’s ransom to go and build a little mud hut.
Anyway, I think I’ve probably bored you enough by now, and plus I’m about to take delivery of my new Rev It Sand suit. I’m looking forward to developing this thread with more pictures and stories of us grappling with trip preparation, and latterly some raconteuring from the road. Anything that doesn’t make the cut will be featured on my website below, so if you have nothing better to do, check it out 
All for now,
Joel
www.themotorcyclething.com - A platform for the petrol head brethren among you. All hail the bike.
I’ve been scouring this forum obsessively over the past few months in preparation for what is to be the biggest step of my life. The mere shuffles leading up to this great leap, I will hereby document.
I was born and raised in Cornwall, England, arguably one of the most beautiful shires our fair land has to offer. Seemingly remote from the rest of England in distance (and at times cultural!) terms, as an inquisitive boy growing up, I became drawn to wild tales of adventure and daring escapades in far flung corners of the globe. Thus it was, having saved enough capital after my studies, and with maturity and independence gained, that I fled to South America. I spent an exhilarating 1.5 years on a continent exotic enough to both magnify my wanderlust and spawn an intense passion for motorcycles. With an ardent desire to do something my parents had always forbade, I went out and bought an old BMW K75 motorbike before setting off completely underprepared from Colombia to Argentina. Cruising down the Pan American highway, I had never known freedom like it, and I wanted more. Unfortunately with money running low and the bike requesting some tender loving care, I was forced to return to Blighty to supplement my dwindling funds.
Before long however, the road was calling once again. This time Asia stood tall before me, offering new lands to conquer and cultures to befriend. After spending some time traveling through SE Asia, I purchased the not-so reliable Belarusian Minsk motorbike, which I rode/sat on broken down by the side of the road, through Vietnam, where I eventually took up residence as an English teacher for a year.
From there, it was back to England briefly to top up my Curriculum Vitae as a physiotherapist, and then to the Middle Kingdom in China to take up a physiotherapy post in a private hospital. There, my love of bikes continued unabated, as I enjoyed the winding, mountainous, carpet-like roads outside of Beijing. Whilst there, I was also lucky enough to meet Phoebe, my partner in crime and kindred spirit. After (very quickly) deciding that we’d had enough of working for the time being, we cashed in our chips, quit our jobs, and decided to embark on the biggest adventure of our lives, a round the world motorcycle extravaganza.
If you’ve read this far, well done. That about brings us up to the present day. We have returned from the mythical kingdom and set up our war room of preparation in Cornwall, where we are doing enough research on compactable tents and origami plates to turn any sane person into a gibbering wreck. Our planned date of departure will be at the beginning of August, and we hope to be gone for around one to two years to see as much as this funky world has to offer as possible.
Part of the current preparation involves completing my UK motorcycle test. It actually sounds rather absurd when you call a motorcycle school and ask them how quickly you can get your license, as you need it to ride around the world. I’m not sure how much more re-assured the lady on the phone was when I told her that I’d be riding for the past six years abroad, and that I hoped the license would be a formality. Luckily though, things seem to be going smoothly, and I just have to hope for a kindly examiner on the day.
Phoebe and I have recently agreed to purchase a second hand BMW Adventure, which we hope will take us and our worldly belongings to wherever it is we’re going. With regard to riding preferences, we are quite partial to taking the scenic routes, with enough twisty turnies to keep us on our toes. We’re not die hard off-roadies, although by the time I’ve been up to Simon Pavey’s off-road skills school in Wales, I hope to be more comfortable slipping and sliding my way up a dirt track.
Our route is currently a work in progress, and probably will be until we actually hit the road. Part of the fun of a long adventure is surely waking up on the day, sniffing the wind, and setting off. Most people naturally will ask us if we’ve considered visas. The answer is yes, but luckily we’ll be popping back to the UK after visiting Europe so those decisions can happily be put off for another day
.To avoid this post being too one sided, I’d also like to talk a little more about Phoebe, my wing woman. Phoebs is from Washington D.C. and has also been scarred by the bite of the travel bug. She has seen the world extensively already, and I was lucky enough to encounter her on one of her forays, working in real estate in China. Funnily enough, we actually started courting after becoming more acquainted during a five-minute speed date. Phoebs is one the most curious creatures I have ever had the pleasure to meet, unsatisfied by the comfortable, mundane life she could quite easily be living if she wanted to. She pushes herself beyond most peoples’ normal limits, and pushes me to want to be more productive and more positive in life. Thus when I suggested traveling the world on two wheels, I knew she would ‘get it’. Phoebs enjoys being pillion, and always aims to solve life’s little riddles from the back of the motorbike. Always one to think big, she has grand ideas for the trip, having set herself (and inadvertently me), the goal of finding out ‘what makes people happy’ the world over. She plans to answer this question on her brilliant website, Short Road To Happy (www.shortroadtohappy.com). She may even throw in the meaning of life if you’re lucky.
In addition to answering these mysteries of the Universe, we also plan to grow and develop as individuals on the way round. Now, I’m as cynical as the next Cornishman, and people talking of finding themselves and growing into Natures children makes me want to be sick in a bucket. However, we have some ideas to do some random little jobs on the trip, and hopefully pick up some useful new skills. One of these projects is WWOOFing, an organization that allows you to work on organic farms in return for room and board. Not bad. Also, getting our hands dirty and doing a spot of charity work along the way seems like fun. The added benefit of being on a motorbike is that you can seek out these little projects instead of paying some tour company a king’s ransom to go and build a little mud hut.
Anyway, I think I’ve probably bored you enough by now, and plus I’m about to take delivery of my new Rev It Sand suit
. I’m looking forward to developing this thread with more pictures and stories of us grappling with trip preparation, and latterly some raconteuring from the road. Anything that doesn’t make the cut will be featured on my website below, so if you have nothing better to do, check it out All for now,
Joel
www.themotorcyclething.com - A platform for the petrol head brethren among you. All hail the bike.
