Touring - Touring for life?

Does anybody know if anyone has gone on a bike tour and never went home. They just stayed out touring on there bike's as a way of life. Maybe found work along the way. Has anyone here ever thought of doing that?

I would love to do it.. I'm not sure my girlfriend would agree though. It would be a dream come true! It'd be fantastic, touring every country of the world, experiencing so many different cultures and meeting so many people! *sigh*

I already did one world tour, and am thinking of doing a second one. A major reason why I have not left yet is exactly the subject of your letter. I think if i go on a second bike tour, I willnever come back. I would just keep touring. I would stop along the way and teach from time to time (college prof, here, among other things). And I am thinking of gettin my CDL/truck driver license, since being able to drive a big-rig is a job in much demand throughout the world. (Welding, for example, is another).

I might add I am not so sure my 2nd world tour would be by bike. I might just load up a backpack and walk. The you could spend months living in the mountains and national parks around the world, and hold down your expenses.

roughstuff

Everyday, as I ride into the parking lot of my job, as I think of my hellish existence in a tiny office at a post-dotcom software company, I consider it. If one day, you see no more posts from me, you will know that at least one man is doing it.

Paul

I always consider it, but I am sure there is a Danish guy who about 15 or 20 years ago went on a 2 week touring holiday and just phoned work to say he wasn't coming back.

As far as I am aware he is still at it, on his umpteenth bike and gets by by casual labour and writing articles for bike mags.

i'll see if I can find anything out.

Yes, there was a link posted a few months ago about a German who has been touring for most of his life. He has been around the world and is now cycling to as many countries as possible. From what I remember, he has never returned to Germany and once while in Europe, he met his family near the German border in The Netherlands. The meeting was enough for him to decide to continue traveling as he found his family to be not too receptive. If I can find the link or story, I will post it.

I recently met a mentally ill man who is “traveling with a bike” I remember seeing him with his placard covered bike on Toronto’s Young Street from 1995 – 2000. He is easy to notice as the placards read “Jesus the light Mission” on them. He was also one of the first persons I seen when I arrived in Vancouver for a cycling tour. Most recently I ran into him cruising the river trails of Winnipeg. (Maybe he is following me) I had a chat with him for about ½ hour, aside from being insane; he was smart enough to spend each winter in Victoria, Vancouver Island! Although he is not a touring cyclist in the traditional sense, while in Toronto I would see him about once or twice a week and never without a bike.

I've thought about it once or twice (particularly after losing my last job). However I've never really had the balls to do it. I think I'd just be worried about finding enough money and work to get by.

Certainly it is very romantic to spend all the life on a bicycle, but it is necessary to be very special person for this purpose. Realy it is not so beautifully as it seems. I do know a person who has left his home, his family, his work for bicycle travels, and now the only thing he can do is riding. This man a realy crazy, and not in good sense, ðó is simply mentally sick, I guess. When he return to Moscow, it's realy difficultly to communicate with him. It is perfectly other psychology, psychology of the tramp, and he can not understand usual people as well as normal people can not understand him.
I believe the normal people should live a usual life, working, living with the family, and bicycle travels are fine addition to this usual life. Otherwise these travel considerably lose the charm.

not sure 'special' is necessarily the word there (anton - you said "it takes a special person....") - we are social animals so spending much of one's life alone isn't really what we were designed for (dna-wise and all that jazz)

that's my tuppence (or two cents) worth anyway

Do I sense a babelfisher? :)

I'm still waiting for someone to give me a universally accepted definition of what a "normal person" is. Seems every person I ask has a different idea on this.

Originally posted by Anton_Kroupenni
I do know a person who has left his home, his family, his work for bicycle travels, and now the only thing he can do is riding. This man a realy crazy, and not in good sense...

Before I left on my world tour I got a very interesting email form a guy who was cheering me along. He said, "roughstuff, after this world tour you don't think you are just going to pick up and return to life as it was before, do you? No way! You are going to be a social misfit; you will have spent so much time alone that you won'tbe able to handle crowds and the human chatter that we call conversation."

Well, in some ways I have to agree with him. I do seem to be really impatient with the topics of conversation that many people around me have. The TV drives me nuts; i can't even stand to be in the same room where it is on. Alot of things folks think is important seems quite irrelevant to me. I've left two decent paying jobs in the last 3 years, not a good idea at my age and with this economy. And as you all know, I have been thinking about hitting the road again by bike...this time, perhaps, for good.

There are worse fates in this world, for sure.

roughstuff

I have to agree with roughstuff, when I got back from my trip cross country I did not like tv, talking about reality tv shows. I am not anti social but certain things don't interest me any more. I guess I know I can handle certain things better now, like this power outage in the north east ,if you are on a bike and camping that's how you live touring. People at my work think I am nuts for not keeping up with pop life and for not having a car. Well if that's crazy well let me be looney.

Here's the link for the site about the German fellow who left for a round the world bike trip and never came back.... :

http://www.bikechina.com/heinzstucke1z.html

As far as I'm concerned, normality is being like everybody else and hence being average.... I should hope that my own life is anything but average... !

Originally posted by Roughstuff
I do seem to be really impatient with the topics of conversation that many people around me have. The TV drives me nuts; i can't even stand to be in the same room where it is on. Alot of things folks think is important seems quite irrelevant to me.


I actually feel the same way about most of these things - and I haven't even done any "round the world" tours yet. Even the relatively short tours I have done have made me realise there are far more important things in the world (and far better experiences) than what happened on this TV show or that Movie last night. I've learned to appreciate things that others would see no beauty in at all.

Anton K,

I believe your assessment of what constitutes a "usual life" is extremely narrow-minded and outdated! No disrespect, but there are a hell of a lot more lifestyle options out there than a wife and kids, working 8 hours a day and then dying of old (or not-so-old) age! If that's what you chose for yourself, then that's fine for you. But in my opinion, these things are optional lifestyle choices that used to be considered "normal" but in fact were just a social condition which, in the USA at least, has far outlived its validity.

Just my opinion.

Regards,

John

I have been out here for two months, camping almost all of it, riding most days, and I don't want to come in out of the cold, heat, mosquitos, or any of it. I'll probably get off of my bike in late September and I'm already dreading it. I do worry, however, that I might end up completely nuts from living in a different mindset than the average WalMart shopping, reality TV watching schlep.

At this point, I would love to tour for life, and am already thinking about how much money it would take to do Prudhoe Bay to Tierra del Fuego.

:p

BTW, roughstuff,

Your website really helped me get ready for my tour (equipment, saftey, camping, etc) so thanks.

Originally posted by arijane
BTW, roughstuff,

Your website really helped me get ready for my tour (equipment, saftey, camping, etc) so thanks.

Hiya hoya heeya hoocchee coochee and thanks. While many websites grovel for publicity and search-engine placement, I let mine slowly gain publicity the best way: word of mouth. According to my Yahoo statistics, I get 70 hits or so a day. Not bad for a non-commercial, research oriented site. My korean war website also gets about 70 per day.

If there are any other questions you have let me know.

roughstuff

My idea of a "tour" is, maybe, a couple hundred mile trip from San Fran to LA, maybe. My idea of a "grand tour" is cross country.

Currently, my life situation (two teenage daughters, etc., etc.) means a "tour" is my commute is from my home to work. An almost-daily "Tour de San Jose", so to speak.

One day ... one day.

i recently decided to take a 200 mile bike trip. i gave notice at my job, bought a bob trailer. made a professional metal sign and custom flag for the trailer. (i had access to a vinyl plotter and the various tools needed for this.) the sign says:

for hire
skilled labor

with an insignia of my liking.. a golden apple with a K in the middle of it with 'ksc' under it.

the 200 miles was easy to cover.. i took it easy and camped in hot springs. and i'd like to keep it up if i can, with various intermittant stops.. we'll see how it goes.

as for the sanity thing.. i've been travelling out of a backpack for a couple years in the past, so i'm sort of used to the solitude and such. and yes, people are right, it changes you. i feel like an alien in the cities. *waves antannae*

however, it seems that people with open minds aren't put off by the change.. or the unusualness that has shown up in me due to lifestyle. they are more intrigued by it than scared. only some people are put off or confused, but i don't care too much.

i'll let you all know how it goes.

The brother of and old friend and his friend (follow me?) decided over a beer to go on a world tour. They left with a couple hundred dollars... after thousands of kilometers, one quit but the other kept on going and is still touring with his girlfriend. This has been going for about 15 years. There's some info (in French) about them by clicking here (http://www.velomag.com/cyclovolcanique/action.lasso?-database=tricycle&-layout=web&-response=accueil.lasso&-op=bw&categorie=bouchard&-maxRecords=1&-sortField=numero&-sortOrder=descending&-search). Their name are Pierre Bouchard and Janick Lemieux. You can find some more info (mostly in French) by running their name in Google.

Here's a better article as to who it started (in French).

http://www.velomag.com/cyclovolcanique/portrait.htm

And next you wonder about wonder frame material and component, think about this (PDF):

http://www.csduroy.qc.ca/projetsrecit/agir/cyclo/cyclotransparents.pdf

This thread reminds me of the following scene from "Pulp Fiction". Touring for life ... or Bum in training; It all depends on point of view. I think I would get weary of touring after a time.




Vincent: "So what you gonna do?"
Jules: "Well, basically, I'm just gonna walk the earth."
Vincent: "What you mean 'walk the earth'?"
Jules: "You know, like Kane in 'Kung Fu'...go places...meet people...get in adventures..."
Vincent: "For how long?"
Jules: "As long as it takes."
Vincent: "As long as it takes for what?"
Jules: "Until God puts me where he wants me to be."
Vincent: "So you decided to be a bum?"
Jules: "I'll just be Jules, Vincent...no more...no less..."

From: Pulp Fiction

having travelled for 3 years solid before on foot / bus, it is tiring. but it is fun and definitely puts you in places that you would not normally be in the midst of simple vacation travel. very educational.

there is a difference between a bum and a transient.

Originally posted by Chris L
I'm still waiting for someone to give me a universally accepted definition of what a "normal person" is. Seems every person I ask has a different idea on this.

Look in the mirror. That's what they do to define normal.

Joe
:beer:

After the day I had yesterday, being a bum suddenly has a whole new attraction.

A couple of months ago, I pulled into the parking lot of a local sporting goods store and saw a touring rig leaning against the wall. It had panniers front and rear, a handlebar bag and a loaded BOB trailer. I found the bike's owner washing the glass in the front door of the store. This, it turned out, is how he made his way: riding from town to town and washing windows. I introduced myself. He does not shake hands, but bows in the Japanese style. He calls himself "Kelly." I told him that if he was still in town at supper time, he should come by for a bite to eat. I offered him a shower, a chance to do some laundry and told him he could put his tent up in my yard for the night.

He came by just at supper time, but he had already eaten in a local burrito joint. He'd also begged his way into the local movie theater for a couple hours of entertainment. He was glad of the opportunity to shower and wash his clothes. He said he'd been on the road for about 18 months and really had no home to return to, nor any plans to settle down.

We split a bottle of decent wine and had a good evening of conversation. He is hauling about 200 lbs of gear. He won't pay for a campsite. He says it's against his religion. He marches to a very different drummer, but seems to be a decent and honorable fellow. He is subsisting happily.

There is a part of me that envies him that freedom. I know that I could not live that way though. He had no roots anywhere and no real human attachments.

and where pray-tell is the boyhood hometown of former president ronald reagan? i wonder if i'll meet this cat out and about.

Originally posted by RegularGuy
A couple of months ago, I pulled into the parking lot of a local sporting goods store and saw a touring rig leaning against the wall. It had panniers front and rear, a handlebar bag and a loaded BOB trailer. I found the bike's owner washing the glass in the front door of the store. This, it turned out, is how he made his way: riding from town to town and washing windows. I introduced myself.....




I am quite sure when I leave on my 2nd tour, it will be a perpetual tour. I am able to teach college courses and thought i would stop from time to time, along the way, for a few months here and there to earn some cash. I also thought that getting a CDL/trucker license would be useful, as drivers (esp with US or European experience) are in great demand worldwide.

I financed my first tour out of pocket. Some stock market transactions along the way made a dent in the cost; but in general I save the money I need for tours.

roughstuff

The couple I mentionned above do stop sometimes to give conferences, etc. They are sponsored by outdoor gear equipment manufacturers, they carry a laptop to write articles. So they are not simply on vacation or on some errant journey, their tour is their job. Since they are a couple, they have all the human contact/attach they need. I find them very inspiring.

Originally posted by sakredchao
and where pray-tell is the boyhood hometown of former president ronald reagan? i wonder if i'll meet this cat out and about.

North Central Illinois. He was heading north next, but plans to be south of the mason-dixon line for winter. He also said that he wants to hit all 50 states, so you may indeed meet him.

If you do meet him, ask him in. I can vouch for him.

likely if i invite him anywhere it will be camp, and offer to "pull" him there. this is indeed a good thing to hear.. that there are folk doing this out there. reassuring.

I like all the positive feed back on this post. It got my creative jucies going. My biggest concern wasn't being alone , it was money. How would I earn enough money to support myself while on tour for life. Your reponses gave me all kinds of ideas of what I could do for cash. I pictured myself holding a sign saying "will kidnap mother-in-law for food". Where there's a will there a way

how much does it cost a month to tour? I've only done it in comparable luxury myself...b&b (bed and breakfasts) or campsites...

roughstuff I did like your site too - thanks for that

Originally posted by arijane
I have been out here for two months, camping almost all of it, riding most days, and I don't want to come in out of the cold, heat, mosquitos, or any of it. I'll probably get off of my bike in late September and I'm already dreading it. I do worry, however, that I might end up completely nuts from living in a different mindset than the average WalMart shopping, reality TV watching schlep.
:p

I's them that's completely nuts - not you. They buy what they don't need and sit and let the boob tube entertain them!

Joe

i have a professional aluminum sign on my bike
http://sakredchao.tripod.com/goldapp.htm

i was sitting in my hammock in a park and a woman saw it and asked me about it.. got 9$ an hour. (diverse experience a bonus).i never even stood on the road to try to work in the morning. didn't get to that point. i left with a supply of food and 11$. i came back with 35$. 1 week gone. if i were to repurchase the food i took out with me i would probably be ahead 5 or 10$. that's 1 day of work, and i'm not counting the investments i keep having to make to the bike (but i think those are near to over soon, at least for the time being.)

sort of a test run.. tires are cracked and i wnat more space so i'm coming back to my savings and the internet to research (and probably ask a ton of questions about stuff at the forums here..)

i even started talking to a local bike shop about worktrade for mechanical training.. i'm sort of unknowledgable right now. or i'd rather be more confident i can fix the stuff.

you can do anything you set your mind to.

i'm working on a small wood burning stove (coffee can design).. as well as attempting to develop a simple solar shower that doubles as storage.. (5 gal. bucket and plastic bag maybe?)

if you're worried about how hard it would be.. get a week vacation and do it.. do that a few times and you can probbly get it refined pretty well. worst case senerio, you go home.