Most people who ask for advice from others have already resolved to act as it pleases them.” – Khalil Gibran.
Of course when I hiked the benches of Mount Ogden in Utah, I wasn’t exactly alone. I always had Peaches or Maggie with me. Peaches would have torn the limbs off of anyone who tried to harm me. But, Maggie, who is shown here, would have been hiding behind me for protection. — Photo by Pat Bean
It All Depends
This is a photo my daughter shot while riding alone in the desert. — Photo by T.C. Ornelas
I’m not a fan of giving advice – or getting it for that matter. I cringe when all but my youngest daughter asks me for advice, especially in areas in which I’ve made mistakes – and that covers a about a jillion areas.
And the only reason I don’t mind giving my youngest daughter with neck problems advice is that I know she won’t take it. I guess she takes after me. I can’t think of hardly any advice given me that I didn’t distain in favor of the hard knocks of experiencing things for myself.
Besides, over the years, I’ve learned that sometimes good-intentioned advice is not in my best interests. The best example is the frequent advice I was always getting not to hike the benches around Ogden alone.
And this is one of the coyotes that have followed her. — Photo by T.C. Ornelas
If I had followed that advice, heeding the fears of others, I would have deprived myself of some of the most soul-filling moments of my 25 years of living in Northern Utah. Knowing this is what keeps me from telling my youngest daughter not to ride her horse along in the desert, where coyotes trail her path.
For some of us, having our alone time in nature, is absolutely necessary for maintaining sanity. It was for me when I had daily newspaper deadlines to meet. And my daughter is a working mother, who raised three daughters and is now raising three boys, including two teenagers among them. Talk about needing to hold onto saneness.
I also didn’t follow the advice of all the financial gurus who told me how much money I needed to retire. Instead I’ve spent the past 10 years, nine of them traveling – alone – full-time in an RV across this vast country, perfecting ways to get by on much less than the gurus claimed I needed.
Recently, I’ve been checking out advice for getting my book, Travels with Maggie, published. Advice for this seems to be just about around every corner — and in the tradition of writing advice, the various suggestions are often contradictory.
But this morning, I read the best piece of publishing advice I have come across since I started researching the issue. It was offered by Chuck Wendig, author of “Kiss –Ass Writer.” The first step, said Chuck, is “write something great.”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better piece of advice, or one that I will try harder to follow.
The Wondering-Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.
Bean’s Pat: Winter’s Heartbeat http://tinyurl.com/nxuqj55 This blog might actually make you not want to chase away the cold.
Pat Bean's blog 
I didn’t heed the advise to not travel to Indonesia alone, nor to not hike the Australian outback alone. This advice came from people, and honestly – people with the experience to know what they were talking about. Ironically, a sign posted on an island in the Coral Sea did manage to halt me in my tracks. It read: ‘This island is home to Death Adders, enjoy your hike.’
For some reason this printed message of advice hit home much harder than any verbal advice. And, of course, I continued on, and of course I was solo, but with much more awareness of my surroundings.
As a fan of Emilia Earhart, I’ll just quote her as saying – ‘Please know that I’m aware of the hazards.I want to do it, because I want to do it.’
By the way Pat, I think Chuck Wendig’s advice is right on!
My think-again moment came when I was hiking alone and two-miles into a four-mile loop trail in Georgia. Right in front of me was suddenly a sign that said Beware of Bears. I sang loudly to myself for the next two miles. I figured my off-key voice would get bears, if there were any around, running in the opposite direction from me. It worked. Seriously, when I think of all the people who played life safe and life ended for them before their time, I’m with Earhart. Thanks for commenting Alex.
I would not be nearly as brave around bears as I am around snakes. I’ll chase a snake down to get a good pic, but a bear? Uh uh! No way!
My father and I have a running joke that Earhart’s last words were probably “Oh, shit!”, and I maintain that I would rather those be my last words over ”Would you pass the remote control?”.
I know you like to use quotes here, and Earhart has some really good ones. Another one of my favorites of her’s is – “Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn’t be done.”
Perhaps I should do a blog on Amelia Earhart quotes. Thanks for the great idea. And how did you know that Oh shit! was my one and only cuss phrase? I don’t own a remote control, but then I guess I would have to have a TV to need one.
LOL! I didn’t know that it was!
And…I happen to not own a TV either. People tend to look at me very weirdly when I tell them that.
So are we the only two people in the world without TVs. I think not, but it might be one of the reasons we connected as we have
I love traveling alone, and pick a compatible person to travel with when I don’t…someone who doesn’t require constant talking. And hiking…well, I’m more concerned about running into injurious people than animals!
I agree. There is simply something special happens when one travels alone. As for companions, I’ve been fortunate. I only have had one I wanted to kill before the journey was over.