Touring Vs Transportation

I have a question for you "Touring" veterans... How much planning do you put into a vacation?
My Sweetheart :paintnails:and I are going to go from CT to Acadia National park and Cadilac Mountain in Maine next week. Reserved Motel and planned 5 days lodging and some general things to see.

After talking to a buddy who "NEVER" makes reservations, he makes a good point. Am I concentrating so much on the final destination that I miss the adventure and enjoyment of the ride?

His theory is drive and enjoy until you want to stop for the day, eat, rest, repeat.

By creating a destination with a specific arival time I may be short changing myself and miss the beauty of my surroundings for the tunnel vision of getting to the destination.:banghead:

I may change up the vacation a bit and add a sixth day. Possibly come home from Acadia by way of Conway NH. Maybe climb Mt Washington. Spend the night in the Conway area somewhere and then continue along the Kancamagus Hywy, though Vermont possibly stay another night there and then home to Ct.
Doing ANYTHING unplanned and living in the moment is certainly out of my comfort zone.

So here's the question... Do you plan or just "Wingit" excuse the pun?
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If riding just me and the wife I never plan hotel stays we just
ride until we fell we have rode enough, by the way she rides
her on goldwing just came back from wingding 3200 miles in
6 days.

I have to travel on a regular basis for work and of course have to plan things down to the minute. When I travel on the bike I would rather play it by ear and not feel like I have to make it to a certain point by the end of the day. That way if weather or my wife dont cooperate, I dont feel too stressed out.

Scott

I haven't had a chance to "tour" on a bike yet. Looking forward to it though. I might wing it then but for now I always plan and make reservations when the wife and I go on overnight trips. I'm always worried about the place I want to stay selling out. So far, if we go for more than one night, we stay in the same hotel and explore the area having a "home base" to come back to.

Last year we stayed in Kanab, UT and visited Zion NP and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. That was an awesome trip!

When I go on vacation I like to have everything planned as far as where I stay. For me it's just a relaxing feeling knowing where i'm going to be staying and I can arrive at anytime. The ride is first and foremost but it's nice to have a planned destination to end up at. The more I plan and learn about an area the smoother things go I think for me.

But!!!.....taking off to nowhere and just traveling and stopping anywhere does sound like fun. I think it's really two different types of vacation. When I head east someday I think that's the way I'm going to do it.

When I was in my 20s I quit my job and took off on my 79 Honda 750 from LA area and headed up the coast with just camping equip. After 6 weeks and 6600 miles of going up the coast to Washington then down to Boise and up to Lake Louise and Banff in Canada and back to LA camping every night stopping when I felt like stopping, I came back feeling like a changed person. So I would highly recommend this type of traveling.

So actually I think there are two ways to look at it. If you have a destination then make reservations if not then just ride baby!!!

We plan ahead and make reservations whether on a motorcycle or with our RV. I just feel more comfortable knowing we have a place to stay after a long day on the road.

For me and my wife…our best vaca was just going until we/she got tired, saw something to, saw a place to eat or whatever….I can understand the ideal of having a guaranteed place to stay…but don’t loose site of the ideal it is a vaca and there is no time constraints. Now if you have an agenda and only some much time and miles to cover, well that is a different story. Working out of a “ hub “ and returning to the same place each night can limit you, as to the area you can see. What we do is just ride….and when the times comes to head back…get out of the way !!!

We only make reservations on holidays ,at known high traffic tourist locations. Otherwise it's stop when we want to ,which does let you do and see more on the way.

I have been stuck trying to find a hotel room, but I hate having a destination planned except the final one and then its important not to have an arrival date. I tend to ride from about 6am to about 4 pm so I have time to find a hotel in the light and I'm not riding around in the dark hungry and tired trying to find a place. Then I can shower, find a good meal and check out the local attractions in the evening.

The times I've had a person to meet as I was passing through screw up the ride enough that I often don't even tell people I'm riding in their part of the country.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gumby

The times I've had a person to meet as I was passing through screw up the ride enough that I often don't even tell people I'm riding in their part of the country.

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Gumby, what part of the country are you in ???? I need to know, so that when I am riding through that area...

I make sure I do not tell you in advance :icon_mrgreen::icon_mrgreen::icon_mrgreen::icon_mr green::icon_mrgreen::icon_mrgreen: