Originally Posted by bikingshearer
One advantage of touring solo - I found that when I did, I was a little more open to interacting with the locals. That led to my meeting and talking with types of people I would otherwise never encounter in my life. I regard that is a very good thing. That is not to say that touring with other people is worse. I offer it simply as a possible factor to consider if you are still on the fence after digesting my incomparably brilliant pearls of wisdom.
Just to show how different everyone is, I find that when I tour solo I have far less interaction with people. I am generally a shy person who likes to watch and observe from a distance. When I did my solo trip in the midwest, I have very few interactions with people at all. Basically, no one approached me to see where I was going (go see my search light story on the crazyguyonabike website) for an example. When I rode the Northwest this summer, I was with my daughter and we got approached all the time. I think it had more to do with having a pretty 19 year old woman along then with anything I did
I do find, from a creative standpoint, that I do more - and better - writing when I'm alone. When I'm with someone, I find I spend my time with them and don't talk to my inner voice as much. He tends to sulk when that happens
