Beasts in Jungle

The Beast in the Jungle is a short story by Henry James. John Marcher, the protagonist believes that an unknown “beast” which could pounce at any moment is stalking him.  His fear of the beast causes him to keep others apart lest he endanger them. Engaging wholly with life seems futile, when he believes tragedy will soon take it away. However, the beast is only imagined. The beast represents fear, doubt, and the unknown. What better name for a site dedicated to the adventures of life, where the future is always unknown? We will focus on travel but the unknown lurks in everything from having a child to starting a career. Whatever adventure we undertake we look forward to the full experience. We look forward to the long hot days, and the cool nights, the swarms of mosquitoes and the windswept beaches, the petty frustrations and the joyful harmony. We are Beast(s) because there are two of us and best things are the things that are shared.

While walking serves the same purpose, the mechanical advantage of wheels allows us to carry enough necessary gear to be safe and comfortable for extended travel. We are not looking for a test of endurance, nor are we seeking out hardship, pain or discomfort to wear as badges. We are not supporting a particular cause either. We do want to explore, to experience, and to stop and go whenever we want to. Most importantly, we want to spend our time in the manner we see fit.

We thought of bikes but wanted something unique. Something not quite a bike but not quite a vehicle, so we decided on trikes, often called human powered vehicles or HPV’s. After a bit of research we found that many older people who have back or wrist pain or other injuries prefer trikes. Or people suffering from balance issues related to disease as Chopper’s hero, cycle enthusiast and on-line author Sheldon Brown did in order to keep riding. Although we are young and in good health, there is one thing to learn from the elders – they don’t care what anyone else thinks and they know what’s comfortable. For touring, recumbent trikes appeal to us for the following reasons:

1. Riding on 3  wheels means no need to worry about balance when going steep uphills with heavy load.
2. Riding on a reclined lounge chair spares us from sore necks, sore arms or sore wrists. And most importantly, no more saddle sore. Comfort means happy travelers, and that's what we want to be.
3. Recumbent trikes allow us to travel at our own pace. Slow travel means we have more time to experience what this adventure has to offer.
4. Well-built and durable.
5. Folding trikes fold in half and can easily be loaded into the backs of cabs or checked as check-in baggage, as we may need to take ferries or flights in between landmasses.

For more information, please see the details on our ICE recumbent trike section.

As you have noticed, our route is separated by waters, war zones or boarders which allow no trike crossing. We will take passenger ferries or flights to make our life easier.

The tour is planned to be at least 1 year. But as plans always changes, the tour may be longer or shorter depending on where the road takes us.

As we were going through Asia, this had been the standard frequently asked question. Chopper even had a money sign shown to him in order to find out how much they cost. With everything included, they are about 4000USD a piece.

So far, we rely on our personal funds. If anyone would like to throw some money on us, please get in touch.

No. Both of us worked regular jobs. We had been planning and preparing for this trip for almost 2 years. Chopper's new-gained freedom from debt definitely helped a lot. Financially we have been very responsible and managed to have some savings. Also, for this trip we have a budget of 10USD per day per person. We cook our breakfasts and dinners. We have a tent and we are ready to camp wherever possible. So far, we have managed to have a comfortable traveling lifestyle with minimal sacrifices, such as Chopper's daily cold beers.