Austin Vince article

[FMFox]

Whats wrong with trying to do some good??

Doing a trip and setting up a just giving page who does it hurt?? You cant personally take money out of it and people who enjoy reading your blog/ website may give a few quid to a worth while cause. Also there is a VERY SLIM chance that you may get sone help from a company wanting a bit of exposure. Win win for all envolved.

Voluntourism - if the money was there to give a local a job to "paint an orfenage" then there would be no need for voluntourism how ever the likely hood is by going to a place and helping out and probably spending a bit of money with local buisnesses then you may help the local economy and create more jobs.

No one is forcing you to donate or have any envolvement in it.

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[Freeloadeur]

I've been a voluntourist before the term was even invented and while I'd agree that it'sas much about what I got out of it as what the local orphans got from it, I still think it was worthwhile. Firstly, because if I hadn't have been going there's no way I could have raised the same amount of money before I went, the cost of my getting there was far less than the amount people gave. Secondly because when I came back and spoke about it it inspired others to give more and set up a "twinning organisation" which is still going 27 years later. And thirdly, and most importantly, because everyone I met while I was there said how good it was to know that they weren't on their own, that people cared enough to give up their time and comfort as well as their money to come and see what their lives were like and to help as best they could.

So don't knock people for wanting to give a bit back, yes we could just sit on our arses, and send the cash we would have spent with Touratech instead. But if we did that everyone's lives would be poorer. And be honest, if you're not going to give to a charity fund-raising ride are you really going to donate for a pot of paint and some brushes when I shake the tin from the comfort of my sofa?

[yoda]

When we run out of things to say here we could move over to TBM and start there, because there's an interview with AV in the new issue of that (god help us).

I think he's got a film to promote, or something.

I'd start it myself, but I'm busy finalising the graphic design for my helmet (E&C) AND my boilersuit (AV) because I'm planning a RTW trip on an unsuitable bike (a GS1200 groaning under the weight of every accessory in the Touratech catalogue) wearing unsuitable clothing (a cotton boilersuit with sewn-on patches and stripes).

I expect I'lll fall off at the petrol station (E&C) then get lost on the M25 and leave my money on the ferry (AV).

I'm then going to synergise the best from both approaches and bribe my way though border crossing with fake papers (AV) using titanium teaspoons from my NASA cutlery set (E&C).

I'll then traverse the world so fast I end up with my head up my own arse, because I'll arrive before I've left (that bloke with the R1, whoever he is).

Obviously this all costs, so I've set up a JustGiving page so you can support me while I'm enriching the cultures of the world.

Just go to www.payforrichardsholiday.con

I'll maintain a really dull blog on the way too...

Enjoy!

Did you finalise the £600,000 advance on the book deal though, hate you to miss out on that...

[OB1]

"I'm going out to Africa to paint an orphanage?"

"Why, can't the Africans paint their own orphanage? Can't you just send £20 and they can buy a tin of paint and a brush?"

Never understood it. When I was a teenager, various people said I should consider doing VSO. I looked into it, and unless you have a very specific skill or knowledge all you are doing is putting local people out of a job.

I don't see what is wrong with trying to help: I would rather go over to help a village dig a well or build a school than have our tax money sent over with no mind to where it is going and no paper trail to ensure that it goes where it is needed.

My girlfriend's triplets are now 15 and will be taking their GCSEs this year. Once they have finished their exams, we are planning to take them on a VSO trip in order to instil some perspective into their lives: they live without knowing what an easy life they have and not valuing their achievements. A couple of weeks or a month in a country where nothing is taken for granted might be something that all teenagers from the "developed" world could benefit from.

Back on topic: I've just ordered The Longest Ride: My Ten-Year 500,000 Mile Motorcycle Journey by Emilio Scotto. If you have a look at what he achieved and the bike he travelled on, everyone else pales into insignificance!

Personally, I believe that every journey that is beyond the horizon, that tackles the unknown, that takes you out of your comfort zone, that pushes you just that little bit further than you feel you can go, every trip that opens your eyes to what else is out there is an adventure that we should all embrace and be proud of taking.

[Dazzer]

Whats wrong with trying to do some good??

Doing a trip and setting up a just giving page who does it hurt?? You cant personally take money out of it and people who enjoy reading your blog/ website may give a few quid to a worth while cause. Also there is a VERY SLIM chance that you may get sone help from a company wanting a bit of exposure. Win win for all envolved.

Voluntourism - if the money was there to give a local a job to "paint an orfenage" then there would be no need for voluntourism how ever the likely hood is by going to a place and helping out and probably spending a bit of money with local buisnesses then you may help the local economy and create more jobs.

No one is forcing you to donate or have any envolvement in it.

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Again try to find something out about the person your making the comment about. To clear it up. Before we left we gave almost everything we owned away to the two charities we support. I the cardiac unit at my local hospital who helped my father and brother. Leigh the breast cancer charity who helped here. While on the road we helped the
homeless at a cost of a few thousand to our selves.

To me too many try to make a big thing out of making it out that there doing it for charity when thats only a small part of it and as I said its not everyone. You said it yourself : a slim chance You may get some help out of it ! Surely if your that interested in helping the charity you would ask any company that offer you help to give it to charity instead. So I hope that clears things up . I did'nt say giving to charity or setting up a just giving page was a bad thing, I just think some people do it to be a martyr to the cause .

[FMFox]

I know what your saying but the intial posts on the matter seemed to portray helping charities as a negative.

I have met adventure riders who choose their charities based on what media coveragevthey give them or who their commerical partners are.

I did here some one say to me at an event this year: "I stopped raising money for them because they didnt give me any help in return."

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[Mike101]

I've been rerading this thread since it started. Its been fun watching some people tie themselves up in knots saying this and that.

I thought it was about time i dipped in.

I do not understand why some people seem to think that going on a 'LWR' type thing has to be done on a small cheap bike while roughing it. Does the fact that somebody does it on a big GS mean they are less of a man than the person who uses a C90. Is staying in hotels a sin compared to being in a tent everynight.

Does it really all matter?

Why somebody does it and for what motive is not for me or anybody to judge.

The fact that they get up off their arse and do it...thats the important thing.

I come from the sailing world and we just don;t get this sort of thing there. if a bloke has a bike boat with all the gear to go off around the world....you won't find people saying anything bad. People will admire the boat. Again if somebody goes around the world on a small boat and roughs it..well we say rather him than me.

Why don't we just all sit back and sya a big well done to anybody who does anythig that the averge lump of lard would never do.

Mike

[Elle]

isn't it part of the British culture to find fault with others? :whistle:

[Mike101]

No it's not...wait hang on..did you pay for the 5 or 10 minute argument?

Mike

[stubby]

LWR and LWD are great to watch, and were an inspiration to a lot of people to go out and buy bikes/gear and to ride further, and see more places. I myself am one of those people and I had a great time watching them and using their energy to get my bike moving.

Today, I'm sure the LWR team would cringe re-watching some of their now immortalised tantrums, and perhaps this is why they haven't embarked on a 3rd instalment. At times it did seem silly - Why do you need a huge support crew, doesnt that kill the adventure? Why did you choose a bike that you can't lift if it falls over? Why are you bitching and moaning on an all expenses paid adventure? But they were aware of this and didn't always take it too seriously.

Austin Vince did, and does, something very different. He brings Adventure Travel right up into our faces and says "YOU CAN DO THIS TOMORROW". He is telling us (and showing us) that we don't need sponsorship, a support crew or a huge budget. Things will go wrong, and you fix them yourself with or without help from whoever is around. That's what adventure is. So he is bringing the inspiration closer to us, making it more real, and challenging us more directly.

Some people want to plan and prepare and minimise risk and prefer a guided tour. Some people want to get the bare essentials together and just go, leaving things to chance.

So now I just see LWR as a Foundation Course in Adventure Motorcycling - if someone comes to me and says "I'm going to get a bike and learn to ride", I'll lend them LWR and say "watch this, you'll love it".

I see Austin's films as more like a Full Degree in Adventure Motorcycling, with a gap year in the field and courses in film-making on the side. If someone is ready for something bigger and better with the training wheels well and truly off, I'll lend them Mondo Enduro - and I'll say "watch this - its different but brilliant, but i want it back in 2 weeks so I can watch it again. If I'm feeling generous, I might even lend them Moto Syberia and say "this is the cinematic offspring of mondo enduro, and its crazy good."