The BMW GS Experience - The Dream of World Travel

I've got a love affair with my GS. There's nothing like preparing it for a big bike trip. I love every detail of it. And I swear my bike feels it too. It's like a thoroughbred chomping to hit the trail. It's the only bike I'd ever choose and it's never let me down. The bike really gets me off the beaten track in Borneo, Peru, Alaska, the Arctic. The type of places where you really need dependability and strength. Those things aren't just luxuries in places like that. But for me there's just no better way to go. It gets my heart pounding every time. We found ourselves in the middle of the Sahara Desert. And it's then that you realise just how small and insignificant you are. And you look around you and go, I am a speck. I really am just a very tiny speck. And it's so exhilarating to be able to ride through an area like that with your partner. One year of living on a trip like this is like the equivalent of 10 years at your normal job. So if you have your dream, you better do it. I'd say probably down at Baja. I'd really like to try that one. Going into Mexico and experiencing the culture and the lifestyle and everything. I'd like to do some more riding in Central America. There's so much cool stuff to do. And most of the roads aren't paved, which just makes it that much better. I want to go from the northern tip of Europe to the southern tip of Europe. Like they say, so many roads, so little time. And that's exactly the way I feel. Riding the rain, riding the snow, that's the adventure. You don't have to have all the answers before you set off on a journey. Whether that journey is a motorcycle journey or starting a family or even changing careers, the scariest moment of this entire trip wasn't the accidents and wasn't the dangers that people perceive, but was the deciding to do it. The rest of it is breathing in and out, twisting the throttle and making stuff up as you go along and hoping for the best. I will always advise people to go traveling by themselves. But that takes a lot of effort. And in today's society, many people, they don't have that much time off. They don't have time to dedicate to do the research, to find out where you can go, what you need to pass borders, what to bring. And many people want a safety net. They want a chase vehicle. They want, if something goes wrong, somebody that can help them and basically bail them out of it. So all of those are arguments to go with the touring company. All the hotels are paid, all the visas are greased through on the borders, good food all the way, excellent cultural enrichment. When you plug that into your tuition charge, the price paid is truly a bargain. Even though it's a lot of money, you gain so much more from it that every cent spent is well worth it. I think a lot of us are trapped in a typical life where we work every day and one day merges into the next and you really lose sense of time. You can't differentiate days from each other, weeks from each other, and literally years from each other. So if you have your dream, you better do it. Love to travel by motorcycle whether it's local or international and prefer to travel slowly off the beaten track rather than mad dash to get somewhere. Some places the geography is so stunning it can't help you but awe you. Literally at those times it's like time stood still and you really, really truly feel alive. By riding motorcycles I think you make better contact with the people and people seem to be a lot more friendly, a lot more receptive to you on a motorcycle. It's the people that you meet who surprise you in the most wonderful of ways that set the memories that stay with you. Motorcycle adventure riding to me is the ultimate in living because you can go to various places that are difficult to get to and then when you team that with exposure to other cultures that makes it almost obsessive. You get to observe different religions and their effects upon their lives whether they're either good or ill, but you get to observe that. And the people that you get to meet, regardless if there's a language barrier, communication is accomplished. It's amazing to see the way you can communicate with a few signals, a few signs, a little pointing. And the laughter that comes from these encounters are wonderful and they're memories that you carry with you for a long time. At the end of a tiring day and you reflect on it, you just praise the Lord that you were privileged to have it and that's just the way I feel with the riding that I've been able to do. Be careful what you ask for when you buy a GS because it will take you places you never thought you would go. This film is just a small taste of the adventure awaiting you on the BMW GS. To find out more about riding around the world, training up your skills in our BMW Off-Road Academies, and where you can hit the trails in your home state, go to exploregs.com. To connect with GS riders and other lovers of dirt, visit our GS Facebook page at facebook.com slash BMW GS Explore.