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Old July 5th, 2014, 08:33 AM   #26
NevadaWolf
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Name: Teri
Location: 39°52'40.7"N 118°23'53.8"W (Northern NV)
Join Date: Jun 2012

Motorcycle(s): 2012 Ninja 250, 102k+ miles -- 2014 CB500X, 42k+ miles

Posts: A lot.
Blog Entries: 16
MOTM Jul '13, Jul '14
For me, once I decided to do it, it just took eating Ramen for way to long to save up the funds. The rest came really quick (routing where I wanted to go mostly).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombiphone View Post
Did you stay in hotels/houses the whole trip? Did you bring any camping gear? Was it generally pretty easy to find some place to rest safely?
Except for two nights spent couch surfing, I did the motel thing the rest of the trip. No camping gear at all. I found it easy to find someplace to rest, either a motel or a nap. But it really does take looking around and judging the area. Is it well lit, are there areas where its quiet but still within calling for help distance, are others just coming and going or is anyone hanging around eyeing the place, etc.

For the motels, once I got tired or decided I was going to stop, I would generally pull into the first chain motel I saw. I largely stuck with chains as I felt they generally have a some predictable room quality. NOT the case but it worked. My personal preference is a bed and a locking door, so when it came time for me to write up my Trip Advisor reviews I was shocked to see places I was rating as Good to be getting 1-star reviews and massive complaints. Either people are over sensitive or my standards are low. It had a bed, a roof, and was inexpensive, good for me! Only in San Diego did I have to keep riding around looking for a place.

For naps, I know my personal warning signs and when I reached those I would pull into a rest area (if around), a quiet park in town, or find a road that took off the highway for a "safe" distance. Safe is all relative, the historical marker pull off was about a hundred feet while a side road was a quarter mile. If somewhere with grass or a table, I stay geared up and stretch out there, using my timer on my phone for a 10 minute alarm. If somewhere I can't lay out, I'll park somewhere well lit but away from other cars (especially semis at night as some leave their engines idling) and just prop myself on the bike for a quick nap.

Since most of my naps were either in rest areas or trucker parking areas or remote side streets, I really did feel safe closing my eyes for awhile. Staying in gear also helped as I am so armored up that anyone looking at me with ill-intent can only see "biker" vs any identifying features that may encourage or discourage whatever they are thinking. For me on this trip, I never had anyone bother me.

I know I am too light of a sleeper in unfamiliar areas, so wouldn't trust myself to get a decent night sleep if camping. As it was I needed a trick to drop to sleep in the motels as quickly as possible (Pavlov's dog type thing, play a single audio book every night for a long time to train my brain that this book = go to sleep). It worked, I was typically asleep within 10-15 minutes of lying down, sometimes sooner.

One of the things I balance the risk/reward is how accessible am I? I like rest areas in that there is a steady stream of others and its well lit so anyone thinking of messing with me is readily seen. However, its well lit and tends to be noisy. The other option is off a random side road far enough from the main road that my reflectors and gear aren't advertising my presence. Its quiet, dark, and very restful. But I am virtually invisible to the rest of the world and no one would ever know if something happens. What do you pick? Where is your personal level of security?

Hope that helps.
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