Originally Posted by
Flyboy718
My major concern is my safety actually on the road and being hit by a car.
I think that's a completely reasonable concern if you are on a bicycle, period. In my personal world, I don't fear not coming back because after I got divorced, life put me in a place where I don't have any responsibilities to anyone other than myself. I'm sure someone would miss me, but nobody is going to come looking for me if I disappear.
I'm totally willing to take the sort of endemic risk you describe.
I plan to stealth camp when I decide to finally do this. Am I just weird or do you guys have bike touring anxiety sometimes?
So, this is a little outside my lane, and this is the internet, so take this with a pinch of salt.
IMO your concerns are valid, but if I had debilitating anxiety that caused me to not do something I pined to do, I'd get advice from a professional therapist. Maybe two or three. They aren't all good, and even the good ones aren't always a good fit.
It's your life. You only get one. Try to do what you can to enjoy it, and not be an involuntary prisoner of fear.