Time and Travel

We started thinking about time and travel during the preparations for our trip. The time you have to conquer the back roads is one important point that influences your trip. Take your time and read all about that here, and get some advice for your next trip!

Travel duration

Short time travel

There is no minimum of time that allows to travel overland by bike/car/truck. But the fact, that you cannot make thousands of miles a day requires a specific length of travel when you want to leave more than your own neighborhood. On the other side: When you have enough money you can ship your vehicle somewhere far in advance and fly there when it has arrived. Or you fly to your dream destination and rent a vehicle there. We are coming back to the Iron Triangle of Route Planning here!

Long time travel

Long time travel is more than being on vacation. It mostly implicates to quit your job (or go on a Sabbatical e.g.) and to have some savings in your bank account (and/or to work once in a while during the trip). A common period for long time trip is one year. It leaves enough time for relaxed travel but it won’t influence your carrier that much. But there is no upper limit for the period of travel. There are several people out there traveling for more than one year (up to traveling for their lifetime). Traveling will become your daily routine and hostels/tent/car your home. It allows you to get to know more places better.

One great thing about overland traveling is the little risk of getting a cultural shock. As mentioned in The World Trip, the speed of overlanding allows you to acclimatize slowly to new cultures and climates. You feel the small changes of countryside and people driving on the back roads without bumping into a hot, damp and loud wall at some destinations’ capital’s airports.
On long time trips it is always important to have some days or weeks off from time to time, to have a break from traveling and being on the road. There are some blog posts about the burn out from traveling and the most common cause is to drive every day and don’t stop to relax, breath and stay at one place for some weeks.

Stay flexible! If it is necessary to determine a period of time, calculate some time more and less. It’s easier to end a trip when you arrived at some point (geographically or in your mind) than be bound to be back in an exact period of time. On the other side don’t see it as a personal failure to come back after six months instead of the pronounced twelve when you are exhausted, homesick or just want to have a hot shower and a clean bed. It is more self reflected to admit that the time of travel is over at some point than to continue only to avoid possible immature comments.

Time of year and seasons

Besides the allowed duration of stay in a country related to your visa, the most influencing part of time planning is the season in a specific country or region. There are some months all the guide books recommend for a country or region. But usually these advises are written to plan the vacations, to book a flight in the best season. For a long time overland travel it is difficult to plan the route exactly matching the actual climate. There are too many different (time consuming and hard to predict) variables influencing time planning (e.g. speed of visa organization).

It may be easier to plan when not to be in a region. The hottest/coldest/most rainy/snowy times will influence the route a lot. There are border crossings points, roads and mountain passes that are closed due to ice, snow or flooding. It is important to know these times. On the other side you do not want to be in a tropic region in the hottest season and melt in your tent.

Other things to consider:

Besides the season, there are other time related things that you should consider:

Political situation, elections: In times of elections, the safety situation may become unstable, especially in urban areas. Probably, you will not notice anything driving on the back roads. But it can influence, for example, opening hours of markets, embassies and border crossing points as well.

Tourist season: For shorter trips, you probably travel during tourist season. Of course, you should make the best of your days, have the best weather and best travel conditions. One of many advantages of longer trips is the possibility to avoid times when the beaches, museums or roads are crowded. Right before and after the tourist season, the climate is usually pleasant but the prices are lower and popular sights less crowded.

If you consider these things, you may have the best time of your life, whether on a short or long time trip.

What is your favorite length of travel time? What do you think are the pros and cons for a long time travel? Have you ever been to a region at the wrong time? Write a comment!