It is one of the reasons why the Bella Vista resident flew to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia on April 29 to begin the adventure of a lifetime.

It's a seven-week, 3500-kilometre motorcycle ride through Borneo and Indonesia.

``Originally I had the notion of riding from Sydney to London, but I would have had to pay $US5000 for an official guide through China,'' Mr Dawson (pictured) told the News before leaving.

He began to research how to ride through Borneo and shared his plan with his neighbour Ken Foster.

``I told him about the trip and he said he was going to come too,'' Mr Dawson said.

``Since then it has taken on a mind of its own.''

Mr Dawson has a BMW F650 Dakar and has been riding since his days as an avionics apprentice.

``I love the solitude, being at peace with yourself. It's like meditating,'' he said.

Mr Foster has also ridden all his life and bought a new Kawasaki KLR650 for the trip.

``Borneo is pretty challenging and some parts of the roads are not mapped properly. There are lots of ferries as well that don't have timetables,'' Mr Dawson said.

The island-hopping itinerary includes using three ferries that operate on only one day of each week but the pair was not sure which day.

It was not the only unplanned aspect of the journey.

The friends have not booked accommodation, do not have camping gear, are taking limited tools and will use Mr Dawson's GPS system on his phone as a map.

``We know where we start and when we'll finish, but it's the stuff in between that's yet to be decided,'' Mr Dawson said, with a smile.

``It's quite out of character for me. I tried working out how much distance we had to cover each day but it was just too hard without maps and an organised route. A man who operates motorcycling tours through Borneo told me to just stop planning and ride.''

The two men see the challenges as part of the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Mr Dawson, the Greens candidate for Mitchell, was also looking forward to seeing an orangutan rehabilitation area, volcanic lakes and gaining an insight into how another culture lives.

``Just getting out of the routine and not knowing where I'll sleep each night will be great,'' he said.

``It will be interesting to see how people get by in more challenging circumstances and make the most of their natural environment, using forest fruits and fishing.''