I used to do paper journals, well, I did for the three long trips I took  (only one by bike) before my long hiatus with kids. By the time I started bike touring again, the electronic age was upon us. 

I carry an iPad Mini in a drop-proof case and an iPhone. I’ve never been one for composing text on a phone (and I can’t do it at all with my thumbs) but I was surprised to find I wrote most of my recent journal (note to self:  finish the damn thing!) on my phone. Writing on the iPad has become annoying since I got a better phone!  I will continue to carry the iPad for now so I can edit photos I take with my real camera but who knows, perhaps someday I will try photo editing on my phone. I doubt I will do a real tour without a real camera. 

All that said (I’m competing for the long-winded prize), I really like the interaction you can get with posting in real time. It’s possible to ignore the other online stuff but it takes discipline. 

Wayne, do you have any withdrawal symptoms?

I have an easy time adjusting to normal life after a tour. I'm retired and have no dependents. It helps that for the first several weeks after the tour I'm preoccupied with creating my tour journal. Too busy re-living the tour to get deep into news and commentary.

Another point I have made previously is that solo travelers can more easily focus their thoughts on the here and now. Group travelers inevitably get distracted with thoughts about the group.

When we come back home after a tour, I seldom feel as if I have missed anything on the news.

Getting away from the news is absolutely one of the greatest benefits of a bike tour for me - I find it cleansing to remove myself from current events for a few weeks or months.   Like Wayne, I never even turn on the TV in a motel room.  If I see any news, it's only because it's on a TV in a cafe or in the motel breakfast room or such - and even if so, I try to minimize my exposure to it by getting food to go or sitting somewhere out of the way if possible. 

Most of the time I have found that the news is pretty much the same when I return from a tour as it was when I left; there are still political scandals and whatever the latest mass shooting was - unfortunately, the news seems to change little.   Maybe someday I'll return from a bike tour and see this headline; "Man Returns From Bicycle Tour And Finds The World Is A Better Place Now."  Yeah, right...

I rarely turn on the television in a motel. The exceptions are sometimes watching the weather forecast early in the morning before heading out, and occasionally keeping it on for a while to watch some of the local news. Almost all my tours are in rural America far from any major media market, and I think it's sometimes fun to see some of the quirky local news stories on small-market TV stations. The anchors on these stations are sometimes really unpolished and have a very local "flavor", which I find sort of interesting.

National news, though: I have no interest in that at all.

"Almost all my tours are in rural America far from any major media market, and I think it's sometimes fun to see some of the quirky local news stories"

Well, I agree with that sentiment.  While I don't watch TV at all, I really do enjoy small-town newspapers and sometimes find them at the hotel or at a local grocery store.  Those rags are great - I love them!  There are still some local papers out there catering to the news of their community and it's quite informing to see what's going on in the town or county.  Oftentimes they are a once-a-week publication, and sometimes you may even find that YOU are the local news of interest. 

On the Great Rivers South last fall I picked up the local newspaper in Mathiston, MS and discovered that there was a movement to build a 90-mile bicycle trail that passed near the town - that was big news for those folks.  Aside from the family reunions and such, you never know what interesting tidbits you may learn from the local newspapers.  So I guess I do pursue some news while touring - and as the front page of the Monroeville News above depicts, sometimes YOU may be the local news. 

I just went to a dusty old photo album to find and scan this newspaper article about my 1989 BikeCentennial Northern Tier group. I forgot our hosts gave us all matching t-shirts. It was a long time ago!

I had forgotten about this article. Thanks for jogging my memory. You made the top of page 1, but our article was buried on page 20.

Kelly, have a look at Reid's ultra-low and ultra-long recumbent. He's posing with both feet on the pedals, balanced with his left hand on the ground. 66 year old Reid was always first on the road and first to arrive at the next camp.

We were unplugged in 1989. No laptops or cell phones. No national ATM network. To get cash I had to go to a bank teller and get a cash advance from my Visa card. We communicated with home via pay phone and postcards.

Do you remember if that was a homemade recumbent and panniers? I've seen nothing similar.

The bike is home-made using a design sold by Gardner Martin, founder of Easy Racers recumbents in California. The panniers were custom sewn by his wife. The cargo is almost entirely behind the seat, making the bike extremely aerodynamic.

During the descent from from Washington Pass in the North Cascades I was on my Trek 520 in a full tuck going 40+ mph and Reid passed me going 50 mph with a big grin on his face.