The freedom on the open road is the way most people describe travelling by motorcycles. When you plan a trip by motorcycle, you need to spend time planning and organizing your time and itinerary. The average single parent has to plan more in advance, be more meticulous in their organization and has to factor in more emergencies than any motorcyclist could ever have to do for riding long trips with motorcycles!
A logical, organized approach is needed for sure, but once the motorcyclist has decided on the final destination, route and the date he or she wants to travel, only the essentials list needs to be written and the bike to be inspected before the motorcyclist can set off into the blue yonder. He or she only has to think about their own needs, not take into account storage space for babies’ diapers, toys, sleeping gear or feeding formula and child-friendly high sun protection lotion…unless you are travelling as a family with a side-car that is!
The freedom from parking space and traffic jam worries offers a great travelling experience to motorcyclists. Camping on route or staying in bed and breakfast doesn’t require a great deal of planning ahead; there are rarely difficulties of storing one’s bike at the place of accommodation, unlike camper vans or motorcars a bike doesn’t require a lot of parking space.
Life Changes
Riding long trips with motorcycles can be a real adventure, where travelling becomes a life experience rather than just travelling from A to B on a map. Motorcycle enthusiasts all over the world greet each other and get chatting over shared experiences, such as good routes to travel and places to stay. Car drivers are hermetically fenced off from the rest of the travelling world, staying in their “home and castle” on wheels for the duration. Riding long trips with motorcycles is a way of life, not just an outing for a week.
How life changing the experiences and travel companions met on route can really be was aptly demonstrated a few years ago by Ewan McGregor’s long riding trip documentary on television. One only has to search the internet for stories about long riding trips with motorcycles and the adventures lived and the experiences people have had far outweigh any little inconvenience they might have had on the way.
Many people who have travelled this way have made friends for life. That’s not something the average package holiday maker gets to do.
Budget and Eco-Friendly
With fuel prices and airport taxes being on the rise, travelling by motorcycle is a cheap way of seeing the world.
Riding long trips with motorcycles may be tiring, may occasionally pose threats to life and limb, but this is a sustainable way of tourism, as bikers rarely travel in large groups such as coach tours with their mass tourism impact on rural communities and delicate eco systems.
Weighing up the pros and cons of riding long trips with motorcycles will largely depend on the type of person you are. If you have a natural flair for logistics and organisation, you won’t be daunted by the extra effort required to plan a long trip.
