Overcoming objections

...no, not mine - everyone else's! "You're going to be lonely, it's not safe, what if???"

I can't tell you how many objections I heard to my planned trip. What I can tell you if you're planning something similar is that you should just ignore them! Just remember, bicycle touring is wonderful. Here's some of what I heard along with my thoughts:

It's not safe

Why is it any less safe than riding from my own house?

There are a lot of crazy (bad) people out there

That may be true, but I really believe that most people are essentially good, and my experience on the road proved this to be true.

You're going to be lonely

Actually I was never lonely on the road. I shared campsites with other bikers and hikers, and talked to a lot of different people in campgrounds, parks, and towns. And the magic of traveling alone is that you are a lot more approachable, and it seems to be much easier to meet people.

You need to take a cell phone with you

This might have been a good idea for emergencies, but I didn't have a cell phone, didn't want one, and knew that there was no coverage in a lot of the territory I'd be covering.

What if...

There were a lot of what if questions. What if something breaks? What if you have an accident? What if there isn't a place to stay? I just figured I'd deal with whatever life threw at me in the best way that I could at the time. And there wasn't anything thrown at me that couldn't be handled!