cyccommute 

First you should probably post this over in the touring forum. Lots of knowledgeable and friendly people over there.

As has been mentioned before, there are lots of different kinds of touring and lots of ways of going about it. Below are broad categories.

1. Gourmet organized tours. These, as mentioned previously, are catered affairs. You just show up and ride. You pay someone else to organize everything. They carry all of your stuff and if you break down on the road, someone is there to make everything alright. Your itinerary is set. You ride from point A to point B to point C...no deviation is allowed! 10 to 30 people tops.

2. Cross state tours. You ride. They carry your stuff. You provide food and accommodations (tent, hotel, brothel, whatever). Just like #1, no deviation is allowed. Great rides if you want to ride with 5000 to 10000 of your new best friends and compete with them for hotels, brothels, showers, whatever.

3. Credit card touring. You ride. You carry your stuff. But you don't have to carry much stuff. You set the itinerary based on where you plan to stay the night. Just hope you aren't in the middle of nowhere when night comes.

4. Group loaded tours (see Adventure Cycling). Small group. You carry your stuff but you carry more stuff because you are sleeping outside most of the time. Share camp duties like cooking, cleaning and carrying the pot. Nightly destinations are set so there is little deviation allowed. You can stop and smell the roses occasionally however.

5. Small group tours or solo tours. You carry all the stuff you need to survive (food can be obtained along the way). You sleep outside or in motels depending on how you feel. If you want to go 100 miles in a day, feel free. If you want to go 10, why not? If you want to go back someplace and see it again what's stopping you? See an interesting museum or shop or brothel. Stop and take a look. No one is waiting on you, do what you please. But... "Everyone has a big but Simone. Let's talk about your big but." (sorry channelling Pee Wee again ). But...solo touring isn't everyone's cup of tea. It is lonely. It can be depressing. It can even be a little frightening. It can also be enlightening. You learn a lot about yourself when you tour solo. You learn you can do and deal with anything. You learn what it is to be lonely...not something we regularly get to experience.

Go over to Crazy Guy on a Bike and read some of the journals (Mine's not bad ). Ask questions of the touring group. Look at the organized rides. Look at Adventure Cycle. Start planning now.