Old 01-15-10, 12:08 PM
  #12  
philso
vintage tourer
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: japan
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Bikes: '72 bianchi

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my personal advice as to whether to do it or not ; do it. you only have one lifetime to live. there are a lot of rewarding things you can do all throughout your life, but as far as going out to explore the world and find adventure, now is the time to do it while you are young, healthy and single.

but i'd also like to address another point that you bring up, and that is your mom. it sounds like you do care for her and have a positive relationship. since you are here asking us for advice, it sounds as though, in spite of some ups & downs perhaps, you do have a caring family. this relationship is always worth fostering.

in this respect, you might be able to ease the stress all the way around not only for your mom, but for the rest of your family and for yourself too if, instead of making some kind of dramatic announcement and getting people's feelings riled up, you were to ease into it little be little, so to speak. as far as cycling goes, start off with occasional weekend or 3 day rides. this would create a transitional period in which you can find out if this is really what you want to persue and also demonstrate to your folks that you can indeed take care of yourself responsibly. as your trips become more frequent and for longer periods, your family will have the time to adjust and accept.
just remember that they are mainly concerned about your personal safety first, and for your future, and that these concerns are valid.

i have had a lot of experience with the lifestyle you are now dreaming of. I moved out on my own when i was 16, rode my bicycle up to nova scotia at 17 and down into mexico at 18; hitched coast-to-coast about 9 times or so, hopped frieght trains in the northwest, etc. i was also lucky enough to happen upon volunteer work in southern mexico that provided room & board and was entirely interesting and satisfiying. there are a lot of avenues to adventure; just keep in mind that some are otherwise an entire waste of time and others are what make life worth living. my main "adventure" now is raising my own family and being the kind of dad that mine wasn't. i still fit mini adventures in from time to time, though.

earning money while traveling is not an easy thing to do at all. the most likely scenario is that you will have to settle down somewhere for at least a period of months. something to consider is to take a course or two at a community college at the same time. your parents will feel relieved that you haven't entirely abandoned "common sense", and you can pick up a lot of useful things, very cheaply: metal working, languages, cooking skills, theater arts, jewelry making, ...you name it. some of them may even count toward a degree some years down the line.

as far as joining the navy... if you are considering joining because of patriotic fervor, that is all well & good. but if you are considering it because of the educational benefits, i would suggest doing 2 years at a jr. college and then transfering to a state university for the last 2 years. it's not all that hard to work your way through college, come out with a dregree in something you are actually interested in, and not owe anyone a dime. the navy will train you for what they need and think you have an abilty to do, not necessarily what you want. if you are considering the navy for the v.a. benefits, you might want to talk to some vets first and see how happy they are with their benefits.

sorry to have gone on for so long. you will of course find your path in life. i hope it all goes well with you

Last edited by philso; 01-15-10 at 12:12 PM.
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