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I'm somewhere in the middle. On many day rides I often know where I'll go only after I've been there. I love spotting a turn and thinking 'I wonder what's along there' and taking it. On longer trips when I have to be somewhere, I will do a fair bit of planning, but I'm not averse to changing routes along the way if something looks particularly interesting. I have a very forgiving wife who, provided I check in from time to time, doesn't worry too much if I change direction or plans. I'm planning more wanders.
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I do both.. I spend a fair amount of time with topo maps and set a route.. However, I allow for detours if I see a fun road
It was the nice thing about the rally, all those signs saying "trucks don't go here"
"Here's your sign" it's a fun road
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Route rider. I've never liked surprises.
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I truly admire and am somewhat envious of the wanderers. I am a route follower except on those rare occasions when I get lost. Getting lost doesn't cause me any anxiety and I've actually enjoyed it. Still, I'm more of a planner. Just like on those rare occasions when my wife asks me to cook dinner. I better have a recipe in front of me or I'm in a panic. I watch in amazement those shows where chefs put in a dash of this, a pinch of that, taste, then adjust. How much is a pinch? And a dash has to be less, right? But how much less?! Adjust? Exactly how big of an adjustment are we talking about? I wonder if there's a correlation between riders who are wanders and cooks who aren't wedded to recipes.
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I'm most definitely a wanderer. Usually the only definite parameter I have for a road trip is when I need to be back home.
Last summer when my plane broke on day 1 of my flying vacation, I just loaded up the bike and headed for cooler weather. I ended up touring the Colorado Rockies for a week and having a great time. I could have just as easily ended up in Montana or Wyoming.
My biggest wander was after quitting my job in '87. I started off just following the Rockies northward. When all was said and done, I'd visited Banff and Jasper parks in Canada and returned by riding down the west coast from Bellingham, WA down to L.A. It was about 4 weeks on the road and one of the most fun road trips I've done. I hope to do a lot more of those once I don't have a job to return to.
I'm also guilty of airplane wandering. Once on a trip from Chicago back to Phoenix I happened to see a promising weather report while in Kansas. I ended up in West Yellowstone Montana instead.
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We are Wanderers!! We never book a bike trip in advance. We might have a general idea of direction, but we hit the road and then look for accommodations as evening draws nigh!!!!
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For myself, mainly a planner, but have been known to bin the plan and go 'off piste' Only do this if I have plenty of time and the weather is fair though. Don't use a sat nav at all on the bike but carry a local folded map just in case

Sometimes if out for the day will plan the first stop and when I get there decide where next. Thats initial planning and then keeping options open
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I'm the type of guy that likes to roam around
I'm never in one place, I roam from town to town
And when I find myself fallin' for some girl
Yeah, I hop right onto that bike of mine, I ride around the world
Oh, well, I'm the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I'm around
I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name
They call me a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around
Oh, well, I roam from town to town
I go through life without a care
And I'm as happy as a clown
I with my two fists of iron and I'm going nowhere
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(07-26-2016, 08:22 AM)Rebel73_imp Wrote: I'm the type of guy that likes to roam around
I'm never in one place, I roam from town to town
And when I find myself fallin' for some girl
Yeah, I hop right onto that bike of mine, I ride around the world
Oh, well, I'm the type of guy who will never settle down
Where pretty girls are, well, you know that I'm around
I kiss 'em and I love 'em 'cause to me they're all the same
I hug 'em and I squeeze 'em they don't even know my name
They call me a wanderer
Yeah, a wanderer
I roam around, around, around, around
Oh, well, I roam from town to town
I go through life without a care
And I'm as happy as a clown
I with my two fists of iron and I'm going nowhere
LOL ...good one!