It's great to see so many people warming up to the idea of car-free living. I find that although things like shopping and local errands are not difficult by bike, longer-distance travel poses some bigger obstacles. For one, multi-day trips by bike require overnighting. For another, it takes a lot longer to go 100 miles by bike than by car. I can imagine that as car-free living becomes more popular and thus receives more serious social consideration, such problems will get resolved, but it would be interesting to know if others have thought about this topic and what kinds of traveling practices are imagined. What kind of amenities could evolve to support bicycle travel?

Personally, I can picture cycling-hostel chains that sell packages of overnights so people could plan a longer-distance trip affordably. Maybe accommodations as simple as lean-to type structures or user-maintained motels with simple wipe-clean mats, etc. that avoid the costly and environmentally-unfriendly housekeeping practices of fully furnished motel rooms.

Another idea might be to have a robust web app that charts routes, lists amenities, etc. in an integrated way for cycling travel. It's nice that Google maps has bicycle directions but I've found that the routes it provides are often longer than necessary. Probably there is a logic to why they're selected as bicycle routes but I can't figure out what that logic is.

Hopefully, the more popular multi-day bike touring becomes, the more dedicated paths and cyclist-oriented amenities and lodging will emerge along the routes. Please respond and share thoughts and ideas you've had along these lines.