GEORGE NEWS - In November 2008 David Radford decided to take a bit of time out of his career in computers and see the world.
A motorbike was his choice of transport even though he had until then done relatively little biking.

"To really see where you’re going - and get off the beaten track - a bike can’t be beaten," he insists with a smile. Moreover, nobody can now scoff at his lack of riding hours or his determination.

Just over a year later Dave has covered 75 000km on his new BMW GS bike. He has travelled down the west coast of North America through Mexico and back up through the USA to Canada.
He and the bike then flew to Europe and started in Denmark, visiting Iceland and the northernmost part of Norway including the northern polar cap.
Dave then spent the summer of 2009 in the warmer Mediterranean countries including Greece, Turkey and Syria before he ended up in northern Iraq.

"I wasn’t originally planning on travelling to Africa, but adventure called and I travelled to Egypt and the Sudan down to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi before getting to South Africa," says Dave modestly.
His 2009 GS bike has held up well although he had a suspension problem along a notorious stretch of road known as the ‘worst main road in North Africa’ that caused a long delay.

"Between Turkey and Nairobi there were no BMW bike dealerships so from where I had the accident I had to get the bike on a truck to Nairobi and wait for parts. It took two months," he recalls.
"So I managed to do some normal sightseeing and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
"Fortunately I’m not on any kind of time schedule."

Dave first planned to travel for 18 months, but has now decided to extend his trip to three years. He did manage to get home to Canada for a family wedding in between, he said.

After finishing his travels, he isn’t planning to go back to the world of high tech either. He wants to get into some sort of volunteer work in developing countries.
Dave concluded that his motto throughout the trip was to follow his nose if anything looked interesting, but with one firm guideline: "If I can’t do it on the bike, I don’t do it," he says.

Article: Anica Kruger


Enough space for a three year trip! As bikers always say, a bike can take everything you need, but not everything you want.