48 States in search of Home

[deadman13]

Wow,well I guess my culinary arts degree doesnt mean anything these days...

No sence in wasting my time with you anymore. If youd have bothered to read the posts, I do have money, just not enough to warrant stay in motels or eat out every night. The kindness part comes from wanting to find people that are still good at heart, not stuck up their own asses or cell phones 24/7.

Primal, thank you. I guess some people dont have anything better to do with their time than flame others for doing something good with thier lives.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by deadman13

Wow,well I guess my culinary arts degree doesnt mean anything these days...

No sence in wasting my time with you anymore. If youd have bothered to read the posts, I do have money, just not enough to warrant stay in motels or eat out every night. The kindness part comes from wanting to find people that are still good at heart, not stuck up their own asses or cell phones 24/7.

Primal, thank you. I guess some people dont have anything better to do with their time than flame others for doing something good with thier lives.

I for one think it will be a hell of an adventure. Being young and healthy will go a long way to succeeding in your venture. With your degree you have the skills to earn extra money on the way. A good cook can find work anywhere anytime if needed. You might even find a place that grabs your heart and says stay a while.

[alanmcorcoran]

Personally, I think one is better equipped to undertake a tough, risky adventure when one is young than later on. When I was 18-23 I was considerably more mentally tough than I am now. I also had a lot less to lose. Back then, I had no wife, no kids, no mortgage, no car(s), no employees, and darn few responsibilities. I also didn't have much money, but I didn't need that much. My eyesight was a lot better, my reflexes were better, my memory was better, I was smarter and I could handle a lot more stress. I'm not a basket case at 50, but I ain't in my prime.

I am a college graduate (Ivy Leaguer!) and I know how to spell, but I often write in a hurry on here, and my typing skills and eyesight are such that I have to go back and edit my posts after I read them. Lots of mistakes. Plus, I did not learn much in college other than how to graduate from college. College can be very beneficial for some jobs, but some of my best sales people never went and are my biggest producers.

When are you leaving deadman? Please keep us informed of your travels. I don't think I am alone in envying you - I'd like to do a similar trip myself and hope to do so before I am too decrepit to enjoy it. And if it all goes down the toilet, at least you gave it a shot. If you end up selling your ass, well, then we all owe Chris an apology, so be strong!

[deadman13]

Haha, I couldn't give my arse away! Rought departure (and poor timing I know, but it makes some sence heading so far south the way I am) if late january. I've promised people I won't leave till after the holidays and my birthday, with is 1/20 otherwise id leave now, its in the low 70's here.

[alantf]

o.k.,different time, different place, different reason, but at age 55, my wife & myself uprooted from England, where we'd always lived, & moved thousands of miles to an island off the coast of Africa. different life style, different culture - even a different language. We simply wanted to get away from what England has become - a country where the criminal has more rights than the victim, where the health service that we have to contribute to through our taxes was falling apart, where our children were leaving school barely able to read or write, where local taxes for such things as trash removal, fire service,police etc. were spiralling out of control. O.k. the circumstances were different - we had a house to sell, so that we could put down a deposit on an apartment, & we both have modest pensions (also, as a retired electrician, I still do odd jobs for folk), but the point I'm trying to make is the "searching for something better."
Six years down the line - regrets? - NOT A ONE!

[music man]

Originally Posted by alantf

o.k.,different time, different place, different reason, but at age 55, my wife & myself uprooted from England, where we'd always lived, & moved thousands of miles to an island off the coast of Africa. different life style, different culture - even a different language. We simply wanted to get away from what England has become - a country where the criminal has more rights than the victim, where the health service that we have to contribute to through our taxes was falling apart, where our children were leaving school barely able to read or write, where local taxes for such things as trash removal, fire service,police etc. were spiralling out of control. O.k. the circumstances were different - we had a house to sell, so that we could put down a deposit on an apartment, & we both have modest pensions (also, as a retired electrician, I still do odd jobs for folk), but the point I'm trying to make is the "searching for something better."
Six years down the line - regrets? - NOT A ONE!

Except where you said the part about health services you pay for with your taxes, you just described the United States, to a tee.

[Badbob]

Just some things that came to mind while I was reading these posts.

Post lots of photos and tell your story. I'm serious about this if you want to get lots of people to your web page you need to post on a regular entries. Blogs are good for this. RSS feeds a a tremendous help to your readers.

They keys or any thing south of Miami is way expensive with very little chance of stealth camping.

I've been reading a Blog from an old guy that has been on the road in the US for over 2 years. Winter is tourist season in the keys. This means the prices are higher. It's not very far from Miami to Key West but it can take a long time to get there depending on traffic and other factors. There is only one way in or out so if there is an accident that blocks the road your stuck.

Better to have made the attempt and failed never to have tried at all.

Don't travel interstates or anything highway that I would classify as an interstate wan-to-be. That is unless you plan to go all across the US and never see any of it. Also riding at interstate speeds will destroy you gas mileage. Riding 45-55 mph I can approach 90 mpg and some people can get near 100 mpg. Wide open throttle at 65-70 mph my mileage goes can get as low as 45. There is not a lot of opportunity to stealth camp in a safe place along an interstate.

When riding county and state back roads there are usually gas stations where they cross US highways. Keep track of your mileage and top up way before you hit reserve. If you are concerned about gas availability start looking to top up when you have used about one gallon of gas. This give you plenty of time to look for a good place to stop. When riding back roads this method will give you a rest stop about 1.5 to 2 hours.

Keep in mind that there are places in the US where open gas stations can be 200 miles apart. You will find this mostly in the west but it can happen in the east as well. Try riding back roads across southern Georgia at 2AM on a Monday morning. I don't recommend you try this.

There is nothing wrong with taking two or three years to do this. Find a place you think you might like get a job and hang for awhile to see if you like it while building cash reserve in case you don't like it.

I'm 56 and I think what you are doing is great. I can't do this very well because I have anchors (AKA people I'm responsible for). If you wait until later you will have them to. Along the way you will pick up stuff like mortgages and an accumulation of stuff that you have been convinced that you can't do with out. Do this now while you can.

I have degrees and can't spell worth a damn so I use a spelling checker. Not because I want to avoid being flamed by the grammar police but because it makes things easier to read and I want to get my message across. I don't type worth a damn due to some nerve problems in my arms and I'm lightly dyslexic so you might not be able to read anything I typed if I didn't check the spelling. I spend a lot of time trying to get it correct because I think its worth the effort. Maybe you want to blow them off or just think its fun to irritate the spelling/grammar police. (I've done my share.) Just keep in mind that what you may be doing is irritating the guy that doesn't go back packing any more and would have donated his $500 tent to your cause. Life is full of trade offs. If your OK with the trade offs and giving up free hot meals, a warm bed for the night, gas or any number of possibilities knock your self out. This isn't a flame it's an older guy trying to give you the benefit of some of his life experiences. Even the "good people" you talk about are going to need to be convinced to trust you.

I won't buy you beer. but I might be convinced that you are serious enough about this ride to spring for lunch, gas, or an oil change.

[alantf]

When you mention 90 mph & 100mph (miles per hour), don't you really mean 90 mpg & 100mpg (miles per gallon)?

Signed :- member of the grammar & spellchecker police

(hey. my sh*t don't smell)

[Joho]

I've spent about an hour reading this guys blog:

http://benb-xc-06.blogspot.com/

Looks like he went all around the US on a Honda 750 (maybe it was a 600, but a nice lookin bike nonetheless!) Very very interesting. Seems like he had a lot of money to spend though, and he didn't know anything about motorcycles.

I figure with the GZ, anything that can realistically go wrong should be fixable with basic motorcycle knowledge.

[Chris]

Didn't mean to make anyone mad, especially Deadman.

I wish you luck. I did this kind of thing when I was younger. Now I'm older and wiser, but I did have a good time in those younger days. Perhaps I know more about emergency rooms than you do. I hope you don't find out.
Good luck, keep the front wheel on the ground.

Chris