to suffolkcindy

[aitch]

i'm having to contact you in this manner as i'm not sure whether you would have gotten my email Sooooooooo
hi suffolkcindy
it was a surprise to hear from you as i don't think their are to many people around with the time to take on a trip like this.
hard to know where to start realy,india is definitely on my places to visit i'd like to go to shimla which is on the pakistani/indian border the only place in india where it snows,i cycled from goa to the southern tip of india several years ago with my nephew,borneo and sumatra are there as is new zealand initialy thought about going through spain over to morocco and follow the coast along to the suez canal and into the arab emirates but don't know how safe that would be after the gadaffi situation,central and south america are there i cycled from caracus in venezuela to belem in brazil 5/6 years ago initialy went on my lonesome but was lucky enough to meet a couple of french lads on a tandem a couple of hours after i set off.
a trip like this is all about compromise so where is it that you'd like to go to and why? the why? is for my own interest as if you decide you don't wish to come along it would give me an idea for my own route,so i can get my map out and start a plan of action.
hope to hear from you again
ride safe
aitch

 

[suffolkcindy]

Hi wow what a fantastic list...NO, I didnt get your email. Mine is c.engel@open.ac.uk

The 'why' bit? Well, my two children have grown and flown and I am self employed which means I can take time out when I want to (within reason and with much planning) AND several friends my age have recently died and so I am encouraged to seize the day, as it were, and do that long tour Ive been wanting to do for a long time AND although I have done solo touring of a few months at a time I feel I have only dipped my toe in the water, the urge to go longer and further is still there but Im not so keen on doing some of those countries alone and finding someone else to take that much time off is, as you say, difficult. I have thought part share and part solo is one answer? A long trip is one of those things that will get put off and delayed because there is always a reason not to rent out the house and set off so when I saw your plans for next autumn...I thought that might be a reasonable deadline to head for if it sounded simpatico...
I definately want to ride south America and I SpeakaSpanish so that might help and New Zealand is also highly desirable but I am really longing for big open fenceless plains like Mongolia (although quite happy to avoid another trip to China for the rest of my life) and Argentinian/Patagonian plains...I like the idea of the 'stans but worry about feral dogs (less of a problem with two riding)...
anyway, do mail me more ideas. I guess the important one is budget? I would be on a low budget needing to camp when possible and hostel/GH/warmshowers/couchsurf it other times. I have never been able to afford hotels but am certainly not averse to a celebratory luxury now and then.
tail winds
Cindy