Taking a Year to Visit Gengis Khan

In a few years' time I plan to take a year off to travel round Eurasia slowly, hopefully getting to the great spaces of Mongolia. Though exactly where and exactly when is not settled, I am hoping to take wife, two daughters and two best friends to make a two vehicle convoy.

In the meantime we have been doing small work-up trips since my youngest was born, with a round-Europe trip a possibility this year. We intend to gradually make these more ambitious until we decide whether the big trip is realistic or not.

I am keen to take my daughters at the right age to best benefit them and all of us while not affecting schooling too much. My wife remains heathily sceptical, but has been enthusiastic with the camping trips so far. Our best friends are also a major factor, not least because one is a medic, the other a school teacher and both work in child health. Finally you
need plenty of money for these things.

Although our plans for the big trip are non-existent so far, my thinking is to run with a loose itinerary around a small number of places each of us wants to visit, have timetables set by visa's, and climate, run vehicles prepared for most eventualities, have all of us well trained and practiced (first aid, vehicle maintenance, off-road driving, a choice of languages), and that is about it.

I am very much looking forward to sharing ideas and experiences on this forum and if it lives up to the technically authoritative LR4x4.com, it will be a truly valuable resource.

Regardes
Richard

PS Anyone have a robust expedition tent which can be used on the ground and as a roof tent ?

Hello,
we have used a roof tent on the ground as well as the roof,
a friend of mine is selling his roof tent if you are interested?

cheers kieran

Freespirit

I am not in the market for a roof tent yet, but am interested in the roof tent you used on the ground. What type was it ? Was this a one-off event or do you do it regularly, as all the roof tents I have seen are much too heavy to be lifted on and off easily ?

Regards
Richard

Hello,
im not sure of the brand but will find out in a few days,
he came back from a week using it on the route plan for one of our spanish trips, then we were are a pay and play weekend so we lifted it off onto the floor, it took two of us to lift it,
the thing that makes them heavy is the wooden base, canvas top and fitted bed.
i will look for a picture but i have seen several pop up tents ( £30 ) ontop of vehicles all you need is a flat base and somthing to fasten it to, i would suggest a blow up bed to sleep on for the use you are looking for this may be the best option ( looks wise it will always look like a pop up tent ontop of a car ) but simple, cheap and effective

perhaps this may be your best option?
cheers kieran

Mongolia is excellent - people, terrain, sights, experiences - brilliant. Also Kazakhstan is superb, add that to your route if it isn't already I will go back to both places one day.

RichardAllen wrote:

I am very much looking forward to sharing ideas and experiences on this forum and if it lives up to the technically authoritative LR4x4.com, it will be a truly valuable resource.

That's the idea Richard, but like all good things it isn't going to happen overnight. That said, the forum's only a week old, so not a bad start I'd say. With input from folk like yourself (people with an appetite for travel) then I'm sure it will get there in the goodness of time.

yes i have seen the cheep pop up tents on the top of Land Rover and other 4X4 as long as you have a flat board on it or something similar good idea