Happy Feet

I guess my take is that like 99% of bike tourers out there, it's highly unlikely I will be laying around for days unnoticed because I don't have a gps tracker. For those who are truly "out there" I can see a point, and if people just want something to follow ones progress from an interest POV I see that too, but I fail to see what issue they resolve otherwise other than pandering to people unrealistic fears and need to either neurotically know where someone is minute by minute or be minded by someone for a false sense of security.

Knowing where I am doesn't "help me" more than properly preparing a trip plan, having the equipment needed for conditions and developing a core set of survival type skills. The problem I see, as it has developed with cell phone use in general, is people minimize those points because, if they need to, they will just call for help. People don't take what they need for hiking or even know how to change a spare tire. People on this board have even advocated not taking a tool kit because they will just call a taxi if they break down. You will not be any safer because someone knows where you are every minute of the day any more than if you prepare properly and use a certain degree of caution in how you travel.

When I talk about bike touring with others there are many who ask "are you going with someone else?" to which I reply no. They then seem very concerned that I would travel alone. That is because from their limited experience of not doing so it seems dangerous but from my perspective it is not. I will not cater to their POV by strapping a GPS unit to me so they can feel more secure about my decision. That is their fear and they have to learn to deal with it in the same way that I have to learn to deal with my fears when my wife goes off on a vacation without me. I tell her to have a good time and call when she can but at some point I have to trust she will have the skills to deal with life as it presents itself to her. I have a long history of traveling and acting alone so my wife has developed an acceptance of my abilities or at least, assurance in the size of my life insurance policy.

I also dive quite a bit and probably 90 percent of my diving is solo in remote settings. I am very aware that in those settings there is zero chance of rescue yet that reality does not make what I do any more dangerous than the many divers who frequent more local sites with buddies. The knowledge of no rescue means that I have to prepare and execute my dives properly and operate in a conservative manner, something that other divers neglect because of the false sense of security proximity to others presents them. I tour in the same way.

Will a gps keep me any safer on a bike tour? Not one bit. It will not stop whatever is going to happen to me from happening yet it may make someone less cautious because they "think" help will be close at hand. I prefer to minimize the chance of incident rather than exaggerate the perceived response to incident because my sense is that is where real safety lies. Rather than having a device that will show where I am when I am lost I prefer to have the skills to not get lost in the first place and/or the skills to be able to extricate myself. Most tourers will not be so isolated that a passer by will not see if they are injured as most likely, it will have been a car or road side accident that did it to them.

I could go on and on but my main point is I believe in self reliance and, because that is my belief system, I do not believe in re enforcing someone else's belief that revolves around reliance on others, and I highly doubt someone who wears a gps because it makes someone else feel more secure doesn't also have a bunch of other conditions placed upon their travel. Appeasing neurosis doesn't end it, it only feeds the believe that there is a real reason for concern behind it.

Again, that's just my 2CW and I fully accept that other peoples take may be different.