I'll also add that the idea of a "cross-country" tour ... whether it is across Canada, Australia, or the US (I'm naming larger countries here) ... doesn't really appeal to me. Especially if I would have to stick to a particular route.

I could see doing something like that as a challenge to get across quickly (like maybe a PAC tour), but if I wanted to really tour a country, I'd want to have the flexibility to go wherever I wanted to go.

And that might involve hopping on a plane, bus, or train to get to another part of the country ... or cycling northward for a bit, and southward for a bit ... or staying in one spot for a week and doing a hub-and-spoke tour from there. I figure if you've got the time off, and you've got the finances to fund your trip ... take that time to go places you want to go, see things you want to see.