just keep on going.

[ton]

do you ever want to get on your bike and just ride off and leave everything behind, and i mean everything.
no phone, no problems, no noise, nothing.
just ride and keep on riding.

i wish i fucking could.

[ScotRoutes]

No wife?

[fatbikephil]

Yup. Sometimes I do and its great

[Bearbonesnorm]

I kind of once did that once Tony. Didn't ride off on my bike but did literally leave everything behind.

[Teetosugars]

do you ever want to get on your bike and just ride off and leave everything behind, and i mean everything.
no phone, no problems, no noise, nothing.
just ride and keep on riding.

i wish i fucking could.

Yes.
Been struggling a lot lately.
A hell of a lot.

[pistonbroke]

i wish i fucking could.

[jay91]

i wish i fucking could.

Sometimes ton But normally forget what I was so fed up about after having a good ride

[Escape Goat]

Yes, oh so many times. I crave not having a reception and love, love, love turning off data at the start of a trip, not turning it on until the end at home. Almost the same thing, but I use my phone for my movies and pictures, but no data means, I don't get bothered any which way and can't browse socials.

[woodsmith]

I did. I set off this spring on an open ended roundthe world cycling trip on my ECR. 3 weeks into the trip I was back in the UK 2 days before the first lockdown. . FML.

[jameso]

Yeah, often feel torn between work and conventional life and a longer trip that would have to reject that life at least for the time being, some of it I wouldn't get back. Something I should have done and would have been easier at 18-21 yrs old in hindsight but for whatever reason it didn't occur to me then. I also think an older traveller might have a different perspective and get something else from it.
Seems that for some of us, the more you settle the more you crave that open-ended ride/walk/travel. But if you think it you need to do it, one day - otherwise it's just a load of regret. The fear of that regret might be stronger motivator than the lack of the experience - the 'what if'.

TBH I think for me it would be a case of going until the time was right to come back and I suspect that could be sooner than I think. A few months would probably do it, with the opportunity to repeat in future. Just a case of itching the itch for a while maybe. Whatever we do becomes the norm and wanting to escape from that seems normal in anyone who has that daydreamer side or a rat to feed. That's all assuming it's a travel itch - escaping from something else might be really different. Ton, can you say or do you know what's making you want to go?

[Hamish]

do you ever want to get on your bike and just ride off and leave everything behind, and i mean everything.
no phone, no problems, no noise, nothing.
just ride and keep on riding.

i wish i fucking could.

Yes.

I go away and after a few days am so happy just riding and exploring. I get back after a few weeks and work is unbearable. It takes me weeks to adapt to the crap that is the corporate workplace and I want to be back on my bike. Return to work is made worse by the knowledge that I'm caught in a catch 22 and I can't have one without the other. Without work giving me the 'lifestyle' the trips wouldn't happen... But I do wish I could just ride off and keep riding... Or walking... Or paddling.... Or all three.

I know that it's partly a state of mind and I could just do it... But then there is family. I will shut up now.

[Cheddar Man]

Seems that for some of us, the more you settle the more you crave that open-ended ride/walk/travel. But if you think it you need to do it, one day - otherwise it's just a load of regret. The fear of that regret might be stronger motivator than the lack of the experience - the 'what if'.

I read some really interesting research about exactly this. The very very brief summary is that we tend to regret inaction more than action. They interviewed lots of people of varying ages, and in general found that people regretted what they did for around 4-18 months, depending on what it was obviously. You get over it though is the message.

People regretted what they didn't do for, in many cases, the rest of their lives, which for one particularly sad example was around 70 years when they did the interview! A gentleman who wanted to ask a girl out when he was 17, he didn't then met her again in a nursing home and they both realised how in love they had been at 17, but he didn't ask her out, moved away, and neither of them had ever married, seriously don't read it if you are at a low ebb You don't get over it is the message.

[MuddyPete]

Mike Carter (One Man and His Bike author) just kept going for 3 months around the UK coastline and it changed his life for the better.

Danny Wallace said "yes" to everything for a year ; he wrote a very funny book about it that was commissioned as a film and it changed his life for the better, immesurably (mine too ). Definitely worth a read .

Have you the chance of a sabbatical?
Or perhaps the chance to do more of what you've never done before?

[slarge]

Sometimes I'd love to do this, but I know I'd miss home life, family, Mrs, dogs, etc etc. I have probably got too wrapped up in things rather than life.......

Have a good think about what it is you want to escape from - is it home life / work or is it health issues etc? How would escaping solve those, or would it be a means to a new life somewhere? I don't know many people on this thread (any of you really), but I know of some of you - and you've had struggles and stuff to deal with that could be this sort of catalyst. The current situation with Covid and Brexit just seems to be another thing that seems to push us into the glass prison.

I really agree with the notion that longer term we'll generally regret inaction and not action - is there a way of getting part way to the escape (sabbatical from work, extended holiday (what a crap suggestion!!) etc).

Good luck!! (And if it helps you are definitely not alone!!|)

[ScotRoutes]

I know I'd miss home life, family, Mrs, dogs, etc

Other than not having a dog, this is me. I'm not so unhappy at home that I'd want to leave it all behind for long. Maybe an extended campervan/motorhome holiday with my wife could be done but we also have a daughter and lots of friends here.

[gairym]

I love the romantic notion of simply buggering off into the sunset on a loaded bike with no real goal, destination or route in mind.....other than to enjoy riding my bike.

I usually embrace this to a limited extent on my multi-day trips whenever events dictate a change of my original plan.

And that's always where the most fun is to be found.

There's nothing better than ending a days cycling in a different country to the one you envisage starting the day

But (my current) life doesn't allow for unlimited time away (young family and work I love) AND, more importantly, my situation doesn't (with enough frequency or severity) make me want to leave everything behind with any degree of finality.

I'm a bloke who frequently NEEDS alone time otherwise I go a bit mad.

The fact that I can get sufficient small fixes for my itchy foot means that I don't often feel the clawing need to break free and escape (unlike when I lived in London or the small Yorkshire mining village I grew up in).

The key, for me, came when I realised I needed to be just selfish enough to put myself first (to the extent that there wasn't a build up of resentment, anger and desperation) without being too much of a selfish prick to my family.

Not an easy balance point to find but definitely, in my opinion, worth the time and effort to try and find.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I walked away from everything when I was 34 Tony - A business, wife, home, friends, etc. Was it the right thing to do at the time? Yes. Do I regret it in hindsight? No. However, one thing I've learnt is that the only thing you never leave behind are your personal demons. You can't outrun them and you can't hide from them for more than a short while. Hopefully, that makes sense.

[ton]

read all the replies, cheers fella's.
to be honest i have feck all to moan about, but just seem to get very angry and proper agitated all the time.

we are in a great place as a family, got 2 new grandkids this year, one in february, one in august. only time i am not angry is when i am nursing and playing with them. as soon as they have gone, i am down in the dumps again.
my wife retired last tuesday after 37 years service in her job. i am annoyed that i cant finish yet, when i know i should be full of joy for her. we made plans and i kind of see them not happening. and it annoys the feck out of me.

and the whole pandemic thing has just become a constant white noise in my head, it makes me want to scream. hell, even phone and car adverts on the tv have me swearing and annoyed.

sorry for the rant.

[AndreR]

Sold everything and moved country with nothing more than a backpack 3 times, once with a wife. Glad I did it and would again but found I couldn't outrun my demons either. Still get restless now and with children being grown and out on their own its more tempting than its been in years, especially with Brexit.

Setting a date and planning a trip and looking forward to doing it, actually doing it and then enjoying the achievement at the end of it is the best medicine for me. Then start looking for the next one and so on. There are grim bits in between but I think thats the same everywhere. Working out how to deal with those is the hard bit but once the skills learned it is doable, or it has been for me so far.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I think you're maybe suffering with information overload Tony. There's loads of seemingly stupid things happen every day and many carried out by seemingly stupid people. Their actions are often frustrating but generally there's absolutely nothing we can do about it and that causes stress, anger, etc.

Must better off not knowing about all the stupidness - don't buy a paper, don't watch the news and instead, concentrate your efforts on those things you can directly change or have a positive influence on.

[ScotRoutes]

and the whole pandemic thing has just become a constant white noise in my head, it makes me want to scream. hell, even phone and car adverts on the tv have me swearing and annoyed.

sorry for the rant.

Rant away. I'm seeing (and experiencing) all sorts of reaction to Covid etc. Regardless of how much we think otherwise, it's affecting us in all sorts of ways.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Rant away. I'm seeing (and experiencing) all sorts of reaction to Covid etc. Regardless of how much we think otherwise, it's affecting us in all sorts of ways.

Very true. We all need our freedom perhaps more than we think and Steve used the term 'glass prison' earlier which I think is probably bang on and as Colin says - we may not even know it.

[Cheddar Man]

read all the replies, cheers fella's.
to be honest i have feck all to moan about, but just seem to get very angry and proper agitated all the time.

sorry for the rant.

I hear this a lot in my line of work, and can I just say, very respectfully and with love, it is nonsense? Stuff happens to everyone, and the impact it has on individuals is a known only to the individual. I am a psychiatric nurse, and have been (until tomorrow when I go to a new job) helping people through some of this Covid nonsense from a MH perspective. One of the absolute key things we talk about is that saying 'I haven't got anything to moan about' is really an unhelpful to go about things. If you are going through, and you can quote me on this, 'a significant event, with a feeling of loss', then you absolutely do have something to moan about, and get moaning out loudly to anyone who will listen!

At 4.27 you described having 2 new grandkids (significant event), wife retiring (significant event, you feel you should be able to go too), the whole bloody pandemic (significant event, loss of freedom, security, joy in seeing family, cycling mates in a group.....)

This whole situation is affecting people in ways we never imagined!

Stay well, and feel free to message me if you need to.

[Verena]

The key, for me, came when I realised I needed to be just selfish enough to put myself first (to the extent that there wasn't a build up of resentment, anger and desperation) without being too much of a selfish prick to my family.

Not an easy balance point to find but definitely, in my opinion, worth the time and effort to try and find.

So agree with this. After 23 years of marriage, nearly 21 years of being a mother, still working on this, occasionally with some success

[Mythste]

I'm sorry to hear this Ton.

I think for many people, at least those I've spoken to, this "whole pandemic thing", no matter your take on it, is seeming to be the emotional straw breaking the camels back.

I think it's making people step back and realise that they have been operating at 100% for however long and not allowing any emotional buffer zone for things this far outside of their control.

What's nice, however, is the amount of honest conversations people are having about it these days. I've emotionally fallen off a cliff this last week, but I've phoned a few mates and made a few nice meals for my Fiance (cooking is a good outlet for me).

I hate whining, but I've come to realise there is a difference between having a whinge and a moan, and verbally reasoning out the reason you're feeling the way you are. Good luck mate, and if you need the ear of a judgement free stranger please do let me know.