travelaround
Well-known member
I've traveled while having a home to go back to and it always gives me a kind of tension, to be thinking about that place, and is everything okay there, and wanting or needing to go back and re-establish myself there. After a few weeks the pull of home is unavoidable and the vacation is over whether I'm ready for that or not. This time I want to completely leave sticks and bricks behind and have no fixed abode. I want to travel without destinations or end points. I want to be free to explore, to spend as much time as I want in each location, and to not feel like I must be in a hurry for anything except maybe to find a place to park for the night before sunset.
Bears. Another topic. Well, the common black bear, brown bear, or cinnamon bear found in California is usually not going to charge you so long as you stand still and don't aggravate or frighten it. I've been out hiking several times and had one cross in front of me without any harm done. The key is to stand still and look like part of the landscape. If they attack, play dead. You can't outrun them.
I lived in the Klamath National Forest for 13 years and there were no bear attacks in all that time in my area. There were also no cougar attacks. In general, I think the cougars are a lot scarier than bears. I used to hike with a good pocket knife and a loud whistle. A little defensive pre-planning could help. My hiking stick - I could take off the rubber end and there was a little sharp spike there. Always take a hiking stick. That, at least, is something. But in all the time I lived there, I never had to use a weapon... the only animals I had problems with were unfriendly dogs.
Lastly, I'll mention that my mother traveled in RV's for quite a few years. Her decision to stop came due to medical issues - in her case, breaking bones due to osteoporosis. That happened when she was about my age and she spent the last twenty years of her life living in a mobile home park in Rockport, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico. Nice place for Texas vacationers, and a beautiful place for her to live. She passed away six months before Hurricane Harvey.
Bears. Another topic. Well, the common black bear, brown bear, or cinnamon bear found in California is usually not going to charge you so long as you stand still and don't aggravate or frighten it. I've been out hiking several times and had one cross in front of me without any harm done. The key is to stand still and look like part of the landscape. If they attack, play dead. You can't outrun them.
I lived in the Klamath National Forest for 13 years and there were no bear attacks in all that time in my area. There were also no cougar attacks. In general, I think the cougars are a lot scarier than bears. I used to hike with a good pocket knife and a loud whistle. A little defensive pre-planning could help. My hiking stick - I could take off the rubber end and there was a little sharp spike there. Always take a hiking stick. That, at least, is something. But in all the time I lived there, I never had to use a weapon... the only animals I had problems with were unfriendly dogs.
Lastly, I'll mention that my mother traveled in RV's for quite a few years. Her decision to stop came due to medical issues - in her case, breaking bones due to osteoporosis. That happened when she was about my age and she spent the last twenty years of her life living in a mobile home park in Rockport, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico. Nice place for Texas vacationers, and a beautiful place for her to live. She passed away six months before Hurricane Harvey.
