Leaving is seldom an issue. I always have thoughts of turning around on the second or third day. I’m not far enough from where I started that I couldn’t go back and get in the car to drive home or just ride home or catch the next flight home. By the 4 day, I’m far enough along that going back would take too much time and going forward might get me back sooner. I’ve also settled into a routine by the 4 day.
I had stuff happen that made me want to just abandon the whole tour a few times. On my Brussel Sprout tour (see sig line), I had 4 blowouts on two tires in the first 25 miles and spent the night in a toilet...thankfully it wasn’t an outhouse
I had to beg a ride from someone in the campground back to my car and I just about turned around and went home at that point. I did drive to Shreveport so that I could ride in Louisiana but then decided to go ahead and just shorten my tour. I was very glad I did. Arkansas was a (to me) surprisingly wonderful place to tour.
On my Poking Around the Poconos tour, my first night was on the shores of Lake Erie in late April. The temperature dropped to a record low of 22°F and I had a 40°F summer bag. It was a long cold night. I was about to load up and go back to my car parked at the Toledo airport when I saw my keys flying off into the trees in the beak of a bird. As I was 1000 miles from home and those were my only car keys, there was no going back. Thankfully, my wife was going to meet me in Philadelphia in 3 weeks so she could bring me a key. The only problem was that my bike key was on the same ring. Thank goodness for bolt cutters which I didn’t have.