Our starting point was organising the shipping of the bikes to Los Angeles. Air was too expensive so we started collecting Ocean Freight quotes from various sources. The next big project was getting our camping equipment sorted out. For anyone that is interested, have a look in the archives for a complete equipment list of what we started out with.
This is more about all the things that have to be done before you can turn up at the airport and catch the flight to your destination. Preparing ourselves is the easy part!! Having both done long trips before, we know pretty much know what to expect, although for me it is going to be a different experience travelling by bike instead of public transport

Our starting point was organising the shipping of the bikes to Los Angeles. Air was too expensive so we started collecting Ocean Freight quotes from various sources. It was interesting to note that the actual cost of the sea freight was pretty similar (around $80US per cubic metre) but charges for paperwork and documents varied wildly. Arno got a couple of crates sorted out and we played around with crates and bikes, trying to get the total size as small as possible.

The next big project was getting our camping equipment sorted out. Most of the equipment we needed, we already had from previous trips, two new additions however were tent and cooker. Previous trips have seen us squeezing into a 1½ person tent, leaving most of our stuff outside in waterproof bags - not recommended in Central/South America!! So we splashed out and got a Macpac tent for a great price from Sian’s employer Lauche & Maas, the source of most of our equipment.
As for the cooker, Primus won over MSR, and we are the proud owners of a liquid fuel cooker.

For anyone that is interested, have a look in the archives for a complete equipment list of what we started out with.

Technology has changed completely since the last time we both travelled (no email address then!) and we had to decide how much of this tech we were going to take with us. The list of ‘useful’ gadgets was loooong, and our budget small, so some decisions were made quicker than others. eg no GPS, no mobile phone, no pocket PC. It took a lot longer to decide which items to take and more importantly which model etc.

We both already have SLR cameras, but the versatility and possibilities offered by digital was extremely interesting. After a lot of questions at various camera shops, internet forums etc, we decided that the Sony MVC CD range fitted our specs, but not our budget!! Will have to make that decision nearer our departure date. Also a laptop would be very useful, mostly for Arno to write his book on but also to keep all our information on. However, we could live for a good few weeks on what a laptop would cost, so maybe we will stick to good old fashioned pen, paper and internet cafes.

Most of the injections and stuff you need when travelling away from Europe, were still valid from the last time, just one with a shorter life needed doing again. Also learning from previous experience, we prepared a small medical kit, with just the basics. Anything else we can buy along the way when needed.
Staying on the subject of health and in particular health insurance, always a hot potato! Here in Germany, things are quite complicated, private health insurance is compulsory and normally paid from your wages. Paying this whilst travelling would eat a huge hole into our budget and having no insurance wasn’t really an option, so we looked around for alternatives. One possibility is something called “Anwartschaft” normally available to people working abroad for long periods of time. You pay about 10% of the normal premium, your insurance is suspended but if the worst were to happen, it would be reactivated on your return. Our travel insurance was with a German firm and surprisingly contained no exclusions regarding motorcycles in the small or very small print.

Sponsorship is always an interesting subject, something not easy to come by and as is often the case it is a case of who you know. Arno had worked hard at interesting sponsors for his last trip, through contacts and many phone calls. Having secured sponsors, he made sure that they got lots of publicity by doing radio, newspaper and TV interviews and writing magazine articles during his trip.
For this trip, we approached the same sponsors, this time with a presentation and also with different objectives. We were successful and now must organise some publicity along the way.

We left it until the last minute to sort out our flights. This was necessary because of the possibility that we might have to fly to Australia if we got our visas, but I wouldn’t recommend it! There were many alternatives; so called “round the world” tickets offered the best value for money, but then limit you to a years travel - which is not always a bad thing. Another point we had to consider was that we were flying into the US, practically the only country that rigidly enforces the rule that you need to have a return ticket. There are a few tricks to get around this, read more in our September journals.

Well, that’s about it for the preparation we had to do. For us the preparation is part of the trip and, like a long journey, it was mostly fun sorting everything out, sometimes stressful and very occasionally frustrating. Time will tell if we have done enough!!