I'm currently on a trip from Vladivostok to London, taking my time and doing plenty of detours. My fiancé was with me for the first month but flew home when we got to mongolia. that was a month ago, I'm solo now. my advice is as follow:
1. Do plenty of small trips. even just driving to the south or up north. Sounds easy, but getting used to packing the landy, living in the landy, and maintaining the landy will mean you travel lighter, happier and longer. I lived in the middle east for 4 years before this trip and constantly went exploring and adventuring, but the value is there even in something small. Camping out of the car and setting up camp every day is a major hassle. get it right with practice. Sounds simple but it's so important to have your setup working.
2. Solo isn't all that fun. I've cycle toured a lot - did 3 months in the states and plenty of round europe rides. I can do that on my own and enjoy it. But being in a car the mind drifts a bit and having someone to talk to and enjoy the adventure with is something i honestly didn't think about. But now I'm arranging friends to fly out along the way as passengers. You don't take too many photos when driving and sometimes the memories get disregarded, having someone else there is a good way of sharing the good moments along the route.
3. Breakdowns. I come from a pro sport background, and I'm used to repairing equipment when careers and prize money depends on it. The saying I live by is, "You only need a few of your spares, but you'll never which ones". I'm amazed at what i've had to use and what is still sitting there untouched. Should have packed a clutch it turned out. But it is an adventure and any problem you get into that you can fix, no mater how difficult, just adds to that adventure. Anything else is a disaster. Sitting in Astana waiting for the ****ing mail order company to pull their finger out and send over the clutch kit is a disaster and it's killing my budget. Spares and how to keep your car running are vital. I'd award myself 5/10 for this, and I think I've done quite well!!
4. Remote regions. Don't **** about! I've done two trip in the empty quarter in Arabia and you really do get that sense of dread that if something was to happen you really would be ****ed. We went in pairs, Split the recovery equipment, Carried 10 litres of emergency water, spares & tools, and a starlight phone. The ability to get into another car and get eventually back to civilisation is the difference between a small injury (a burn, sprain, cut, etc) being nothing, or a seriously dangerous mistake.
DO NOT WORRY - You are not diluting the adventure by going in convoy. No matter how big!
At the end of the day the better prepared you are to deal with unpredictable things (convoy, recovery equipment, spares, etc) means you can go a little further and push harder.
When I get back from this trip I may feel differently, but at the moment, I'd team up with another car if I could.
Either way, enjoy!!!
