It is understandable some jobs and family commitments are always the biggest issues, it's just the way the cookie crumble. That said, and to be blunt about it, if you really, really are besotted about travelling there is ways of doing this.
Most of the travelers we met up with all sacrificed pretty dearly to embark on trips like this. It is a once off for some or a continuum type expedition for others, some quit their jobs, some sold their companies, others had their kids with them in 30 year old converted army trucks, but yes, no two ways about it, you have to sacrifice to be able to venture on such a trip. I am de moer in with myself I did not start doing this 20 years ago.
We have heard all the excuses why people can not do trips, but in the end it's only excuses people offer as reasons to themselves because they are not motivated enough to start it. For sure we had it easier, because we do not have kids, and our businesses.
Mark Twain pretty much summed it up:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
~ Mark Twain ~
With some off our close friends we do not share foto's and our experiences as they just are not travelers and get bored quickly with our ramblings. Not all are the same, some just love reading about other peoples travels, we also do it for them in a sense.
On our trip as we met up with travelers you fast come to realize that you do not need to finish a trip in one sitting.You are not winning anything, you're not more of man in the eyes of your friends. That is about the biggest mistake people make when planning trips like this.
Honestly to jaag up through Africa in less than 4-6 months is a absolute waste of money and time. I am horrified and it's soul destroying to me when I ask people so did you visit this place or that place or did you eat Njira at that cafe and they say no we had to make up time. It is the same as going from Cape town to JHB and back 14 times. Also true some people just do not have the time and 3 weeks is better than nothing, and hopefully they will do it again in the future.
You experience and see very little. It's the same with people going to Moz, Mal, Zam, Bots, SA in two weeks and 5000km, you see nothing but tar. Rather spend time around one country and see what they have to offer. Look at our ride reports on the site, even in and around SA it's always the same routes, not many venture into new places and explore new routes.
I can tell you the secret, and it's actually not that difficult. :mwink:
If you only have two or three weeks at a time, do one country a year. As you head up north store your bike with backpackers or lodges, most offer those services. Obviously if you have more time you can do more distance before storing your bike. People do not charge a lot of money for storage.
If you have a family buy a old Toyota 4x4 double cab or station wagon, parts are cheap and you DO NO NEED all the **** South Africans drag with them. It's a African joke that South Africans carry anything plus the kitchen zink, spot lights on the roof, trailers and Old Man Emu suspension which by the way you can't get anywhere except SA. You take the family with and store the car and fly back home. Air fairs into Africa are not that expensive if you doing it once a year or every two years you have time to save up and quit the cigarettes. If we had to do it in a car we would still only have the 50kg luggage we shared between us.
We met up with 55 year old woman travelling alone in a Tazz she bought in Uganda, we met up with a 80 year old couple driving a old ambulance that they used for the last 15 years and already done Aus and other countries. Back packing if you do not have a car is as cheap as **** to go around in Africa and actually quit a lekker adventure.
With regards to camping and expenses Teejay. South Africa and Namibia are the most expensive countries to tour. Once you hit Zambia, Malawi and up camping pretty much fall to R50-R80 per campsite and most of the times we camped in the field. If you eat from cafes or restaurants next to the road, you can get away with R80-R100 per person per day for food. If you stick to self made food, tomatoes, pasta and so on you can even go cheaper.
Beers are R8 and soft drink R4. You don't need water purifiers and that ****, there's bottled water everywhere in Africa and a few tablets will sort out the gremlins if you have to drink water from a river.
We dropped our speed to 80-90km/h and we increased our fuel consumption with 30%. If you take the main road up through Africa only doing 400km per day you will cover the 14000km to Cairo in around 35 days. We were in Addis and ended there on 19000km.
It is cheaper to travel than to sit at home, fact!
