The inspiration was still coming from Mondo Enduro and now Austin and the Boys were at it again with Terra Circa, another round the world adventureI had now got the inspiration and the team for the big trip, all I need now was a destination!I had agreed with Jen that I would be away no longer than three months and so a round the world trip was way out of reach. I considered heading off for a particular destination but I have never been keen on re-tracing my steps and certainly couldn't afford to have myself and bike shipped back from a distant land. I decided I would try to work out a circular route.

I began by considering what I wanted to achieve. It was important to cover as many miles as possible, after all this was about adventure motorcycling, putting myself and machine through a daily routine of endurance (The inspiration was still coming from Mondo Enduro and now Austin and the Boys were at it again with Terra Circa, another round the world adventure) I also wanted to experience extremes, in terrain and temperature. I hit on the idea of Heading as far north as we could and then turning to head south. This would see us north as far as the Arctic and then hopefully head south as far as a Desert. Artic Camel was born.

The Route:

We would ride from the most southerly point in Norway to the most Northerly taking us well into the Arctic Circle, we would then cross over into Russia and start heading south until we reach the Black Sea and then into Turkey and on through Syria, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and then cross over into Southern Spain and head home via Spain and France. It was now Christmas 2003 and we had our provisional route planned, preparation was ongoing.