This is a reflective question for us slightly older folk. Baby Boomers, or anyone close to that venerable age.

If you had the opportunity to go back … far, far back … in time and have a quiet, thoughtful chat with your much younger self about cycle-touring, what would your main reminiscences, and/or advice be?

Cover less distance, linger longer, slow down and smell the roses.

Keep a journal, and take lots of photos.  “Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left you”.

Start when you are younger. Take shorter trips if you have less time, but take them.  Cycle more in your everyday life. Keep a journal, even if just point form. Memory blurs and fades with the passage of time. Kids are fun on bike trips, and they enjoy them.

Thanks, Graham.

By way of conclusion, I'd borrow some lyrics from Alan Price:  "Just get out there and do it!"

Cheers, mate.   John

And as for "the wherefore and the why" (with a nod to Mr Lightfoot):

• Save up for a Rohloff hub, and go for low-low gearing.  This will let you tour in the high places of the world. (See last item below on that.)
• For camping gear: Buy quality, or repent at leisure.
• Light, durable, cheap: choose any two. (The item above signals which one to drop.)
• There may or may not be woods around, but if two roads diverge before you, take the one less travelled by. (And of course, read anything by Frost. Diverging roads aside, I recommend "Fire and Ice".)
• Seek ye the high places of the world.  This is why: In the late 1980s, I was hiking with a friend in the Tshimanimanis in Zimbabwe, part of the mountainous spine of Africa. We had stopped for the night in the mountain hut, and after supper, we sat on the verandah with our tea, watching an impossibly large and bright moon rise over the rampart marking the border with Mozambique. My friend said, with a touch of regret in his voice, "Ah, John, I'd be a happier man if I'd spent more time in the high places of the world."

I'm sure there's more, Graham.  But you've done much more of this than I have, so what would you say?

My big mistake when I was younger was focusing on a faraway destination instead of what I see along along the route. Fortunately I have been able to slowly revisit many of the places that I rushed through when I was younger.

Like most young people, my younger self wouldn't listen to advice from an older person.  I was too smart for that.   Like most old people, my older, supposedly wiser, self would offer that advice anyway.  It would have been nice if my younger self had listened to my older self's words of wisdom from the future.  Here is what he might have learned before he learned it himself:

• FUN should be your main goal.
• Don't take yourself too seriously.
• You're lucky to be doing this.  Do NOT complain about anything on a tour (with the possible exception of headwinds.)  Overcome the bad stuff.
• Don't set an alarm.  You're on vacation and sleep is good.
• Say "hi" to people on the streets and trails, and wave to almost everybody else. 
• Develop your own touring style.  You can maybe learn from other tourist's gear lists, routes, daily mileages, hotel and restaurant recommendations, etc., but BE YOURSELF.  You don't have to do everything other bike tourists do.
• Camping is good.  Continue the outdoor experience beyond the day's bike ride.
• Pay attention to all of Steve Miller's advice above.  Especially the part about keeping even the most modest of journals.  I also like the part about touring with kids.  By the time I took up bike touring, my kids were too old to be considered kids.  But I had some great wilderness backpacking experiences with my kids when they really were kids.

John I think these thoughtful posts have covered everything really well. I don’t have anything significantly different to add, other than I’d tell my young self to pedal courageously into the future, and to do what cycle tours I’ve already done; plus some more. Push caution aside, and always be prepared to cycle into the unknown with confidence that I’ll find a way to handle whatever crops up. And there’s no need to over plan cycle tours. 

The points I most agree with are those that advise going slower. I always try to concentrate on enjoying the journey and smelling the roses, but inevitably I morph into a goal driven wannabe speedster obsessed with daily distances. 

inevitably I morph into a goal driven wannabe speedster obsessed with daily distances,

Graham, reckon you can advise your younger self that, with age, "This too will pass." Or, taking time to smell the roses sooner or later morphs into making a virtue out of necessity. 😉

Enjoyable thread, Graham -- thanks for asking the question.

Start when you're young and keep at it.  Don't wait until you've retired.