ISSUE 04 | APRIL 2020
BC: As biking is an expensive passion, how do you
finance your riding passion?
VI: I know this is the primary concern for all the
bikers on how to finance their travels. It is the main
reason that many riders can't afford to travel
abroad. When I was working, I funded my journey,
but after I quit my job, I could only finance my first
solo tour with some part of the compensation
package Later, when I decided to go on the World
Tour, I had to think and find other sources of funds
because I didn't get any income. I did researches to
see what other bikers did and also received a piece
of valuable advice from a friend. Who is very
experienced international rider Pavlin Zhelev from
Motorcycle Adventures. So, what are the possible
solutions for financing your trips?
Riding is freedom of body
and soul, which gives us
self reflection and
connects us with an
invisible line of a shared
passion.
VIOLETA IVANOVA
Merchandising: When your route and your tour
name are ready, you can create some goods to sell,
and in this way, you can get some part of your
budget. You can get your logo on t-shirts, pins,
stickers, cups, or whatever you want and make
people happy to get some cool kinds of stuff and
join your adventure.
Sponsorship: Most of the riders think that this is
the primary way to get money for their tours. But
the truth is that to attract potential sponsors; you
have to have something to offer. They want
something that will help potential sponsors to
attract new customers or develop their products.
My personal experience is that it is easier to get
sponsored motorcycle equipment and gears. For
example, I work in this way with helmet producers,
motorcycle jeans producers, and some motorcycle
shops.
Personal donations: A lot of people can't travel or
can't ride bikes, but enjoy this type of adventure. If
you have the right message and cause, then you
can attract a lot of followers who can support you
with small amounts like donations for fuel and oil.
BIKERS CLUB ® MAGAZINE | PAGE 17
Product reviews: One of the ways to be useful for other
riders and the potential sponsors is to make fair and honest
reviews of motorcycling related products. You can do this
with short videos or written reviews, but first, you have to
get experience with the products.
Photos selling: If you are good at photography, you can try
to take some outstanding pictures and offer them to
magazines or websites.
Articles writing: Same as pictures, if you are talented in
writing and have good ideas, you can sell your articles to
magazines or websites.
These are a few ways to raise enough money for your dream
rides.
BC: What are your low and high phases in life?
VI: I like this expression about real-life like
echocardiography with a sinusoid of ups and downs. It
shows you are alive. I think in my life, downs were much less
than ups. Most of the hardest moments are related to
significant changes in my life, similar to most of the people.
Moving from one country to another, changing the job place.
But at the same time, every bad or low feeling moment is the
source of new inspiration, new ideas, and new opportunities.
When my family and I moved to France, we left behind all our
friends, our parents, and relatives. We didn't speak the local
language and didn't have any friends there. But because of
this, we had to be much more united, supportive, and helpful
to each other. It made our relationships stronger not only
like children and parents but also like friends and partners to
overcome the difficulties together.
BC: How is Bulgaria? Is it motorcycle friendly, especially for
women riders?
VI: Bulgaria is a small country, only 111,000 sq.mt, but we
got almost everything. Different mountains high for climbing
and skiing, sea with beautiful rock and sand beaches,
valleys, big rivers for rafting, lakes, offroad traces in the
hills, good roads. Mountain passes like Shipka, which is
already famous amongst the adventure travelers. It has four
seasons so that you can get different experience riding the
same routes in different parts of the year.
Bulgaria is on the crossroad between Europe and Asia, so it
is easy to get very diverse routes starting from the country.
If you hit up the north, you can ride the most famous pass in
the Europe Transfagarshan in Romania and then continue to
Belorussia and Russia. If you go to the south, you can
explore Greece, North Macedonia, Albania. If you catch west,
then it is the door to Europe, 1,000 km from the Austrian
Alps, and 1,000 km from Italy, and to rest of all Europe. In the
east, you enter Turkey, and just like me, you can reach
Malaysia by road.
Bulgaria is friendly to motorcycle riders and especially for
women riders, because who doesn't enjoy watching a lady
on bike.