Why so much "planning"?

Bingo!!

But my plans are usually loose, some one mentioned removing the GPS, I do the opposite, the GPS has found some fantastic little roads for me, I don't generally plot a specific route but put points of interest, or use it to get to that road I found on Google maps.

By spending lots of times with maps the GPS and Google Maps, I have found fantastic roads in NC and Smokey's, small, twisty stuff that makes the GAP look like an interstate, and I have shown locals roads they didn't know existed, they can't figure out how a Yankee from NY, can come down and show then great roads they never found, even though they ride most weekends in the area.

Also found a road in the Alps this year, that has to be the most beautiful place in all the Alps, so obscure that it didn't even show up on the GPS, and most maps of the region!!!

Here is what some research can find you, a 30km dirt road with views like this the entire ride! Could I have stumbled across it, of course, but it wasn't very likely that I would.

I don't have to read any further then the first post to agree with you 100%. People on here will get upset over this. They are the people that need things all planned out before they'll even consider a trip.

IMO, HUGE mistake, but I've been over it many times on this forum. I stop saying this and just continue to read because most jump on me saying I'm in the wrong.

Being prepared, and planning are two COMPLETELY different things.

Exactly. I plan so I have an idea of things I'd like to see. There is a lot of area to cover in this world, and I may not ever return to the same place twice. I usually end up cutting out things because I found some curiosity that led me another direction, but at least I was aware of what I was deciding to skip.

I plan my long trips in outline. I never go down to the level of booking hotels/campsites/breaks for each day but I do plan out my rough route. My trip to the USA in 2010 was a perfect example - I started with an idea, posted here for "local" opinions, got them, fed them into my plan and voila!

Plus, and maybe it's the nerd in me :), but I enjoyed the planning stage a hell of a lot :)

As for the GPS, I bloody love it :) I live a in (very) strange country and it's (the GPS) great for allowing me to ride off in the middle of no where and still be able to find my way home without carrying maps etc (I can't speak the local language either). Turn it off on the way out, turn it back on when you want to head home - awesome! :)

But that's me, it's the way I like to ride. I've known, and know, other bikers who ride more often, for longer, but with a greater degree of planning. They won't leave home without a hotel booked for every night and they have a bloody good time.

Each to their own and don't knock another person's life choices unless it impinges on your own.

I plan, research and plot routes extensively. Then I load it all in the GPS and ignore it. Its more fun that way. There are always a few must do sites to visit, but the route, restaurants and lodging are taken as they come.

+1000

I don't think you're wrong. I think you're exactly right.

I plan where I want to go, but getting there I prep for flexibility on the ride. I try to prep extra time for exploring unknown roads. I have a plan, but it's a plan designed around where I want to go, and when I want to go, and how I want to get there. That, to me, is preparation.

I just finished a ride from Germany to Republic of Georgia and back over several weeks. The best times, the ones I will remember all my life were those that were not part of any plan, things that happened and how I reacted, the people I met then and the actions I had to take to deal with the reality of the trip.

Do the research, enjoy it, make a plan. Then, ride and enjoy as God laughs at your plan.

There were 366 days this year to ride around and smell roses.

For 16 out of 366 days I had a plan -

Seems more like a mission.

Fixt.

Thank you!

The map shows 7 days and 10 hours of the trip.
The rest of the 16 days was spent riding from Milwaukee to Key West, FL and then back home from Prudhoe Bay, AK.

I work out a plan in advance. That makes my wife happy (she doesn't ride). Then I head out and if need be, or the spirit moves me, I change the plan. She's more comfortable if I have a plan and I'm more comfortable when she's happy. I can change the ride; can't change the wife cause she's a keeper.

+ 1. Seasoned travellers, no matter what the mode, seem to plan less but are usually prepared to cope with the unexpected...and have just the right amount of good gear to get them through.

I have learned in the 20+ years of constant travel, that plans work when you have a deadline.

If I had 3 weeks to ride:
I would plan a few places to see
I would plan 10.5 days in a general direction.......like Wyoming and Montana.
Then a return 10.5 days.
Or 2 days to get to Portland and then 12 days to get back to Houston.

That'd be about the extent of it

In 2009 ( I think) I took a couple of weeks and planned for 12 months on the road, it turned out to 19 months. about 14 days to get all consumables on the bike fresh and a few days to get gear, which only 25% of it was not replaced.

it was one un-f'n-believable journey

Why so much planning? Well I can't actually *go* on my next trip for another six months, so what else am I going to do in the meantime?

I recently heard a study that found planning for a Vacation and the anticipation, gives more pleasure that the vacation itself.

Here is the link:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/how-vacations-affect-your-happiness/

Once on the road I am loose, but have to admit that planning is fun, not to the last detail, but just researching the area I will be traveling for interesting roads/things

I just read a study that says that study is crap :)

While daydreaming and planning for vacation gives me a warn feeling, actually doing something makes me hard. Your choice.

++1, I am in limbo on my first "big trip" 7000 miles, 16 states, 27 days. I did little planning and left with new gear, bike etc. I prepared with good gear and high spirits. I would not change a thing, be free enough to hop on and go but prepared enough to handle what the road throws at you.

Man, that's gorgeous!

Click on the link for the Meritime Alps trip in my signature line to see more.