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@ough
In the spring me and my girlfriend will hop on a tandem and ride eastwards, for a very long time. We'll be terminating our rent contract, getting rid of most of our things, and leaving London behind after more than 10 years here. It's frightening.
A few things we know:
We'll go slow. The longer we take to reach the end, the best. Our meagre savings are likely to be the biggest constraint, but if we could take 2 years it'd be incredible.
My stupid approach to touring involves setting arbitrary targets and letting them govern the experience. When an intersection reveal an enticing road, or I pass by a pretty village, I lie to myself thinking 'oh, if I only I could linger here'. Now I will.
Above all, we're traveling. We want to see things and to stay in places; we are not applying for membership at the Explorers & Adventurers Guild. This means we won't be terribly ashamed to take a bus or train here and there, when logistically or emotionally essential.
We don't know where exactly the end is yet, but we know we'd like to winter somewhere. We'll probably be around Central Asia in a year's time, so we'd need to figure out something between Turkey and China (I guess). We'd probably need to work during this period to earn a bit of money, so that might be a factor in choosing our spot.
Our ever-changing planned route currently goes through France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey, heading North to Georgia and Azerbaijan, from where we would ferry to Kazakhstan. This can be a direct route to China, but we're also keen on exploring Kyrgyzstan, some of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, so will likely detour here, before finally entering China, then Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.