As per above as long as we get a decent blog and piccies i will donate a 1 man tent. Is orange and an argos special but keeps u dry in the rain and weighs about 1.8kg let me know and can post it off. Good stuff! I would maybe also ask that after your tour if its not going to be used if it could be forwarded on to another good cause as it were.
Touring on micro budget
- Thread starter andy__
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thistler
Veteran
- Location
- Happy Valley
Love to have an update on the bike choice!
BigonaBianchi
Yes I can, Yes I am, Yes I did...Repeat.
- Location
- Iskele TRNC & Mordor UK
I met a young guy I. Montanna a few weeks back doing something similar..all he had was an mtb with a buckled wheel and a sleeping bag...he was riding across the USA...but he was tired hungry and fed up.
It sounds like a great adventure..and you can make it work on a shoestring...but the reality is that you need cash to survive out there..so just do it but plan it and do it right...as much as you can...this guy was stealing to eat...that isnt fun its desperation.....but a ride to Paris is doable...I say go for it just have a.back up plan and try to save some cash to take with you.
My back up plan here is to sell my body...its a sound plan and one I don't recommend ha ha!
It sounds like a great adventure..and you can make it work on a shoestring...but the reality is that you need cash to survive out there..so just do it but plan it and do it right...as much as you can...this guy was stealing to eat...that isnt fun its desperation.....but a ride to Paris is doable...I say go for it just have a.back up plan and try to save some cash to take with you.
My back up plan here is to sell my body...its a sound plan and one I don't recommend ha ha!
Hi folks.
Going to have to leave it till next year now, was a nice idea but i think i should wait and get a decent bike otherwise it would be a bit of a struggle, may as well enjoy the cycling as much as possible instead of doing it on an old clunker. Be back next april, lol!. And yes you really are going to need some emergency funds in the bank.
Going to have to leave it till next year now, was a nice idea but i think i should wait and get a decent bike otherwise it would be a bit of a struggle, may as well enjoy the cycling as much as possible instead of doing it on an old clunker. Be back next april, lol!. And yes you really are going to need some emergency funds in the bank.
captainhastings
Guru
- Location
- West Wales
Surprising what bikes seem too do the job though. I saw a chap out side tesco a few weeks ago. He was using what looked like a small ladies bike.
He had panniers on the front,back and a bag on the bars. A trailer fully loaded and a ruck sack on his back. Plus he was a good 6 foot plus tall. It must have been a hell of good bike despite it's looks wish I had made a note of the model out of interest.
It really was an old ladies bike of some sort or some sort of super duper tourier
He had panniers on the front,back and a bag on the bars. A trailer fully loaded and a ruck sack on his back. Plus he was a good 6 foot plus tall. It must have been a hell of good bike despite it's looks wish I had made a note of the model out of interest.
It really was an old ladies bike of some sort or some sort of super duper tourier
lip03
Über Member
- Location
- beds/ london
hate to say i told you so but.............................................................................i told you so!
Alex11
Active Member
- Location
- South West
Andy, I think you should do it. Don't worry about an old bike - if it moves you'll have a great time touring. You've got everything you need to get going, so go for it!
thistler
Veteran
- Location
- Happy Valley
I agree, even if you stay within the UK, just get out for a couple of weeks to change your perspective. I was really looking forward to reading about your adventure, it gave me a bit of hope for the future!
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Being on JSA frazzles your mind. In the time you are not applying for and searching out jobs you devise quite impractical plans and schemes to stop you going mad, it's creating hope for yourself allowing your self to dream that some day you will realise your plan or dream especially if they are short term plans. You can put far too much time and energy into them when you should be securing a job. But if you don't you die inside every day. I think you would have to tell the jobs people you were away and not available for work other wise you would be in the sh1t if they found out. What other committments do you have? If you are living just to collect JSA then you truly have a miserable existence. My adivce would be to break out and do some thing different to break the decreasing spiral of despair you no doubt find your self in day in day out doing the same stuff, getting up late and watching Jeremy Kyle until 3pm.
If you do go to France then think about working the harvests, grape picking where all accommodation and food is provided. WOOFING is good which can make your stay very cheap or maybe you could pick up some bar work or campsite work but bear in mind the season will be finishing in a few weeks and the french hospitality industry tends to go on holdiay in september. You would certainly learn french quickly. Why not buy a bike for £25 in your local paper?
France in the autumn is beautiful. But you might need some warm clothes and a decent sleeping bag as it will start to get chilly at night. You really don't want to become a tramp with a bike do you? You then run the risk of being stopped by the French police who could make your stay very uncomfortable. You will need some cash for emergencies.
If you do go to France then think about working the harvests, grape picking where all accommodation and food is provided. WOOFING is good which can make your stay very cheap or maybe you could pick up some bar work or campsite work but bear in mind the season will be finishing in a few weeks and the french hospitality industry tends to go on holdiay in september. You would certainly learn french quickly. Why not buy a bike for £25 in your local paper?
France in the autumn is beautiful. But you might need some warm clothes and a decent sleeping bag as it will start to get chilly at night. You really don't want to become a tramp with a bike do you? You then run the risk of being stopped by the French police who could make your stay very uncomfortable. You will need some cash for emergencies.
Andy, I've also been on JSA in the last year, so really think you're on the right lines of 'refreshing' yourself. I remember how drastic it felt... A trip away on your bike will give you more than you can imagine!
Crankarm has the right idea about woofing and such.
Bikes don't have to be expensive to be reliable. I picked up a fairly good steel bike from a guy on Gumtree for £40. See what you can find, with a wee bit of searching.
Getting out on my bike was true escapism from grey days searching for a job. If the woofing thing doesn't appeal, just go away for as long as you can here in UK. Some gorgeous riding to be done here, not just in France! I did a 19 day tour here in Britain last year, which cost me a total of £400. I need to stress that I didn't wild camp until Scotland, and *did not* watch the pennies when it came to food. My point is, I could have easily restricted myself and spent between a third and a half of what I did.
I plan to go away for 5-7 days in September and not spend a penny (as I haven't got any to spend [as I'm saving for a new road bike!]) - we'll have to see how that turns out. But my point is, cycle touring is amazing because it's something you can do on a low budget.
Good luck either way.
Crankarm has the right idea about woofing and such.
Bikes don't have to be expensive to be reliable. I picked up a fairly good steel bike from a guy on Gumtree for £40. See what you can find, with a wee bit of searching.
Getting out on my bike was true escapism from grey days searching for a job. If the woofing thing doesn't appeal, just go away for as long as you can here in UK. Some gorgeous riding to be done here, not just in France! I did a 19 day tour here in Britain last year, which cost me a total of £400. I need to stress that I didn't wild camp until Scotland, and *did not* watch the pennies when it came to food. My point is, I could have easily restricted myself and spent between a third and a half of what I did.
I plan to go away for 5-7 days in September and not spend a penny (as I haven't got any to spend [as I'm saving for a new road bike!]) - we'll have to see how that turns out. But my point is, cycle touring is amazing because it's something you can do on a low budget.
Good luck either way.
thistler
Veteran
- Location
- Happy Valley
I'd love to hear more about that trip!!
Teuchter
Über Member
- Location
- Erskine, Scotland
I could see lots of practical reasons why you shouldn't have gone and lots of emotional reasons why you should have.
If I were you (and I know it's easier to sit here in employment and say these things - it's been almost 10 years since I found myself in a similar position), I'd get onto gumtree or similar and get a cheap bike (anything that more or less fits you though I'd probably try to avoid offroad tyres) and just get out cycling. Explore the UK fanning out from your local area for daytrips and odd nights away.
You can wild camp in woodland under a tarpaulin with a cheap sleeping bag up to November comfortably enough (I've done it) so the kit doesn't have to cost or weigh much. Come next summer you'll be fit, know a lot more about bikes and cycling (doing it is the best way to learn) and be ready for France or wherever. You may even have a job and more cash by then.
If I were you (and I know it's easier to sit here in employment and say these things - it's been almost 10 years since I found myself in a similar position), I'd get onto gumtree or similar and get a cheap bike (anything that more or less fits you though I'd probably try to avoid offroad tyres) and just get out cycling. Explore the UK fanning out from your local area for daytrips and odd nights away.
You can wild camp in woodland under a tarpaulin with a cheap sleeping bag up to November comfortably enough (I've done it) so the kit doesn't have to cost or weigh much. Come next summer you'll be fit, know a lot more about bikes and cycling (doing it is the best way to learn) and be ready for France or wherever. You may even have a job and more cash by then.
Tiberius Baltar
Active Member
- Location
- Liverpool
Just to add to this point (which is actually sound advice)! What I found worked well for me when I initially wanted to "tour" as a teenager was if you follow a canal tow path for a few hours then you suddenly find yourself surrounded by untouched and unspoiled countryside. The only people you tend to meet are fishermen nearer the city or town your passing and the occasional dog walker or runner. There are plenty of places suitable for you to pull off from a canal in order to wild camp and canals pass through places you normally don't get to in a car. Ive found some really nice little villages in the North West by just following the Trent & Mersey Canal for two days and you really do "feel" like your miles away even though in reality your only a half hour away from a main road.
Have your evening meal on the edge of the canal with your stove and cheap noodles and veg then push your bike off the towpath into your chosen field or copse and set up a basha and tarp. Simple no nonsense touring and camping for the cost of a few boil in the bag meals and fruit throughout the day! Simples!
