the common factor... being that they all had の意味は？
They each set their own particular criteria; the common factor in their approach being that they all had, unlike many of us who simply enjoy travel or discovering new things, both a very definite objective from the outset and also a desire to record their findings.
上記の文章を日本語に訳していただけませんか？特にthe common factor... being that they all had..の部分がthe common factorが主語で動詞が何にあたるのかなど、文の構造自体がわかりません。
回答
They each set their own particular criteria; the common factor in their approach being that they all had, unlike many of us who simply enjoy travel or discovering new things, both a very definite objective from the outset and also a desire to record their findings.
これは誰かがしゃべっているのをそのまま文章にしたような文体なので、ごちゃごちゃしてわかりにくい文章ですが、つまり言いたいことは
They each set their own particular criteria.
Their approach had the common factor.
The common factor was that
they all had
(unlike many of us who simply enjoy travel or discovering new things)
both
1) a very definite objective from the outset, and also
2) a desire to record their findings.
ということです。