On the Road
Security
First let me start out by saying that I have never had anything stolen off my bike and never had a bike stolen or even messed with. How much of this experience is good luck and how much is because of the precautions I take is anyone's guess. I know that most other touring riders that I've talked to have had pretty much the same experience as I've had. My guess is that a lot of my good luck has to do with the fact that I tend to stay away from heavily populated areas and that I typically ride sport bikes which are generally less desirable to thieves. My precautions probably also play a relatively small part. Security is where your touring style and type of luggage intersect. The two main security considerations are the security of your gear and belongings while they are on your bike and the security of the bike itself.
Security of your belongings
When I first started touring I had Ventura bags and a magnetic tank bag. Later, I bought a Leather Bagster tank cover and bag. Now I own a BMW which came with hard panniers and a top box. Even on the BM I still add the Bagster tank bag as I find it very convenient. All things considered there are a lot of advantages to soft luggage. The only real disadvantage is that they offer almost no security to your belongings.
To deal with this problem is pretty simplistic but it works. My general rule is that I am never out of sight of the bike when any soft luggage is mounted. This system works just fine as long as you don't want to leave your bike for more than a few seconds but it can put a big crimp in your style if you want to wander on foot. If you seldom sightsee it isn't a problem.
If you really want to sightsee, do so after getting to your motel, stash my luggage there, and then wander with the bike naked except for a tank bag. I empty my tank bag of everything but the map and maybe rain gear and then take the bag with me as I wander. Extra straps so that it can be worn as a backpack makes it a lot easier to take your tank bag with you.
As for your jacket and helmet, you can either take them with you or secure them to the bike. I have heard of people stealing a helmet by cutting the chin strap on a helmet secured to a bike's helmet lock. It makes no sense to me to do that as it ruins the helmet but it does happen. A better, but still risky, solution is to get a small cable lock and loop it through the sleeve of the jacket and the eye opening in the helmet. This only works for full face helmets. Then, lock the whole mess to the bike--preferably with the lock under the seat. This still leaves you vulnerable to vandals and a determined thief.
For soft luggage that is closed with zippers or some strap systems you can use either cable ties or purpose made luggage locks to secure both the zippers (or strap fasteners or whatever) and the bag's attach point on the bike. If you use cable ties a thief will need tools or a knife (to cut the cable ties) to get into the bags or remove them from the bike. The problem is that you'll also need tools to get into the bags. If you use cable ties, you'll also have to bring a bunch of cable ties. This isn't that big a deal as cable ties are pretty cheap and don't take a lot of space but still, it's one more thing to bring and keep track of.
This will not stop a determined thief or serious vandal, but will stop a casual thief. Purposes built luggage locks are available in luggage stores or the travel section of some stores like Target. The only sure-fire solution is to use lockable hard luggage and never leave the bike without locking everything inside the luggage. For security when eating, I only eat in places where I can see my bike. Since I almost always eat my meals (and sleep for that matter) in small towns this is pretty easy rule to follow. In most small town cafes you can almost always park where you can see your bike. If you can't it's not that big a deal as there are often so few people around that there is not really any need for security. Still, I'm a bit paranoid and never let my bike out of sight when eating.
For the evening at the motel
What you do depends on what type of thief you're trying to stop. There are essentially two types of thief: the professional and the opportunist. Pros want the bike to sell or breakdown for parts to sell. Opportunists sometimes want the bike for themselves but usually want a free ride for a while. There isn't really much you can do to prevent the determined professional except not own the type of bike they're looking for or hiding the bike so that they don't know it's there to be stolen. Professionals usually don't even try to start the bike. They just pick it up, put it in a truck, and haul it away. The really good ones can do this in seconds and make almost no noise.
Professional thieves are usually looking for specific bikes. The most commonly stolen bike these days is any non-Sportster Harley-Davidson. These are stolen for either resale or parts and from what I've read mostly are stolen by pros. Sport bikes and trail bikes can be stolen by pros in urban areas but are mostly stolen by opportunists in both urban and rural areas. Naked and dual sports are seldom stolen and when they are it is the opportunist. As near as I can tell BMW's are almost never stolen.
The most secure thing you can do for your bike is get a high strength chain and lock your bike to an immovable object like a light post, building support (concrete or steel, not wood), a big tree, or the like. The next best is to lock your bike to another bike with such a chain. Chains of this type (something that takes a torch or extreme power cutting tools to get through) are very heavy and it's usually not practical to bring something like this on a trip. If you don't secure your bike to something immovable, there's really nothing you can do to prevent someone from simply picking up your bike and dumping it in the back of a truck. If you can't make the bike immovable the next best thing is to make it so that the bike cannot be pushed. This can often stop the opportunist. The choices are a chain or cable lock, a high strength U lock, or a disk lock.
There are also alarms. If I did get an alarm I'd be sure to get one with a motion detector and a remote pager. In many cases when you are touring and staying in pubs the publican will be more than happy to offer their lock up garage or storage area behind gates etc. One of the many benefits of staying in pubs.
Dealing with the Weather
This section talks about the general principles of dealing with extreme weather conditions. It covers hot, cold and rainy conditions. I also recommend a wide variety of clothing options to help deal with these conditions. As your budget allows, you may own a variety of motorcycle clothing. For day trips you can take just that perfect piece of clothing for conditions on that particular day. On tour you won't have this luxury. You'll need to carry with you all the gear you'll need for whatever conditions you encounter. If conditions change and what you need is not somewhere on the bike, you're screwed.
When I tour I bring gear for a range of temperatures and assume that it could be raining continuously (as in 24 hours a day). I do this no matter where I'm going and no matter what the time of year. I seldom have taken a trip where I didn't use every piece of riding clothing that I brought at least once. You can't bring every piece of gear that you own so you need to make sure that the gear you do bring is as flexible as possible.
Normal Temperatures
Helmet
As I've said elsewhere, I always wear a full face helmet. A full face helmet is warmer when it's cold out and shades more of your face from the sun when it's hot out. Always ride with the visor down. When people ride with the visor up it's usually because it's hot out and they want better ventilation. If ventilation is inadequate it's because of poor helmet design or there's low speed or turbulent air flow around the helmet. Poor air flow is in turn caused by a combination of bike aerodynamics and helmet position.
Riding with the visor open does not solve the fundamental problem and adds a new one; you're now more vulnerable to hard flying objects. If you have a ventilation problem, you should get a helmet with better ventilation or a bike with better air flow around the helmet. Note that if it's hot enough, you WILL sweat in your helmet. You can't eliminate sweating. If the sweat drips on your glasses or visor the helmet liner is inadequate or out of position or the helmet is too large. Either fix the liner or get a proper helmet.
Visor Fogging
The Fog City visor liner came out a few years ago and it completely eliminates visor fogging in both cold and humid conditions. If your glasses fog the best stuff I've found is Scott's Anti-Fog cloth.
Stinky Helmet Syndrome
Helmets can get pretty a nasty aroma after a two week tour in hot weather. If the helmet liner is not removable you can get rid of some of the nasty odors by stuffing the inside with crumpled newspaper when you're not using it. You can also sprinkle the liner with baking soda. The problem with this is that you really need a vacuum cleaner to remove the baking soda before you wear the helmet. If it really stinks it may take several weeks of the newspaper treatment to get rid of the odor so you'll just have to live with the odor until you get home. At home I always have newspaper in the helmet when it's sitting on the shelf.
Ear Plugs
Wear them. They really help reduce fatigue.
What to wear under the jacket
Wear a long sleeved cotton T-shirt under your leather jacket, even when it's really hot. This makes a big difference in comfort, especially when it's hot. You don't want any bare skin touching the jacket or liner. If you do, it will feel real clammy and yucky. The cotton will absorb your perspiration and then allow it to evaporate. You'll still be hot but you'll be more comfortable.
Gloves
For normal riding in normal temperatures I wear leather gauntlet motorcycle gloves.
Pants
On tour you're better off wearing leather pants. They can cover the greatest range of temperatures and offer the best crash protection. You can wear spandex exercise tights under your leather pants the full size kind that go from waist to your ankles. There is more general information on pants in the "Selecting Riding Gear" section on Riding Pants.
Boots
On tour I always wear leather purpose built riding boots. Even though purpose built boots are awful for general walking around I still wear them on tour because they are more comfortable on the bike and they offer superior crash protection. This means that I bring a second pair of shoes for walking. There is more general information on riding boots in the "Selecting Riding Gear" section on Riding Boots.
Besides being comfortable, touring boots need to be waterproof. You can get waterproof boots two ways. Either get boots designed to be waterproof (or can be made so with an appropriate treatment) or bring some sort of waterproof boot covering. Boot coverings can be either waterproof cloth or rubber over-boots.
Rain Gear
There is nothing special about motorcycle rain gear for touring other than it be comfortable. I prefer two piece suits.
Hot Weather
The Importance of Water
The most important thing to remember in hot weather riding is to STAY HYDRATED. This means that you need to drink lots of water - not coffee, not Coke - water. Gatorade or the other sports drinks are ok but I think that they have too much sugar. I prefer plain water. I've been told by people who know a lot more about physiology than I do that orange juice is also a very good drink for restoring water and a reasonable balance of minerals. I don't know that this is true but it seems reasonable.
Your body removes excess heat by sweating. This seems obvious but I can't believe how many people forget it. If you don't want to sweat stay away from motorcycles and get an air-conditioned car. The evaporation of your sweat removes heat from your body and keeps it from overheating. In order to sweat and cool your body you must have enough water in your system to sweat and that sweat must be able to evaporate enough to have a cooling effect. It is not possible to not sweat if it's hot. Actually, there is one condition where you'll not sweat if it's hot out, that's if you've got heat stroke.
If it's really hot out and you stop sweating STOP NOW. You've overheated and if you don't cool down real soon you will die. Don't ever allow things to get so bad that you get heat exhaustion. It's very difficult to effectively treat heat exhaustion on the road so if you get it you're in deep do-do. The best thing is to prevent it from occurring in the first place. If you keep hydrated and air moving over your body you can take some pretty extreme temperatures but don't push it. If you think that it's just too hot, stop at the next air conditioned motel.
My rule of thumb for adequate hydration is urinating at least twice a day. If you don't have to stop and relieve yourself once in the morning and once in the afternoon (at a minimum) you're not drinking enough water. In addition, the clearer your urine, the better. If your urine is a dark color, drink more water.
What Can You Do About The Heat?
So, what can you do to mitigate the effects of high temperatures? Here are a few hints. Open all the vents on your helmet to get as much air moving through it as possible. This is where the more expensive helmets help because their ventilation tends to work better. The extra air flow will dry out your lips so wear some sort of lip balm otherwise, on tour you your lips will dry out and start cracking and bleeding. You're miserable enough just being hot, you don't need chapped lips too. If you have a tall windshield that significantly reduces the air flow to your helmet the best helmet ventilation system in the world is useless. Keep as much of your body covered as possible. In hot weather I see a lot of riders with T-shirts and their leather jacket strapped to the passenger seat. Skin directly exposed to the sun evaporates water MUCH faster than skin which is covered plus you now are exposing your skin to all that UV light. This will tire you more quickly than if your skin is covered. Furthermore, you're not any less likely to have a crash just because it's hot out and if you crash with a T-shirt and shorts you're in for SERIOUS road rash. The physiology of road rash behaves much like a burn. If you get it over enough of the surface of your body you won't need to worry about the scars because it will kill you.
If you have gauntlet style gloves, put on the gloves first then put on the jacket. Do not zip the closures at the end of the sleeve of the jacket. Since the gauntlet is not covering the sleeve opening you will get some an additional air flow up your arms. It will somewhat compromise the safety function of the jacket but IMO it's a relatively small compromise. You could wear shorter gloves but if you crash your wrists are more vulnerable to scraping.
Wear ankle length spandex tights under your pants. Do this even if you’re wearing jeans instead of leather pants. The tights are much more comfortable. There's not much in this world that's more miserable than the sweat soaked seams of pair of jockey shorts digging into a sweat induced rash on your skin at the end of an 800 km day.
Carry water with you and rig up a way to drink it while you're moving. Some people put the bottle in their tank bag and hook up a rubber tube to act as a straw. Another possibility is to buy a Camel Back drinking system. The Camel Back is a water bag inside a small back pack with a tube running out the bottom (pressure feed) and a cool "bite to open" valve on the end so the water doesn't run out. These are real popular with mountain bikers and are available in most bike shops.
Stop more often for breaks. Stop about every 160 km. When I stop I get fuel (even though I don't really need it) then get some water and sit in the shade for a while.
If you do any touring in the summer months you'll encounter hot weather. I define hot weather as any temperature where you need to worry about dehydration and heat exhaustion. This can happen at any temperature above 29°C although usually you don't have to worry about unless it's above 32°C. When it's really hot out some people like to wear warm weather gloves. I've not yet seen any warm weather gloves that I think provide adequate crash protection so I don't wear them.
Cold Weather Riding
Touring in Cold Weather
This section covers general information for cold weather riding. For specific recommendations on what to use on tour see Cold Weather Riding Gear for Touring.
For motorcycle riding, the cold isn't really the limiting factor - it's the lousy traction conditions when you get low road temp and ice are on the roads. If temperature were the only limiting factor no one would be riding snowmobiles in the winter.
What temperature constitutes cold varies among individuals and depends on the amount of wind protection you have on your bike. Cold can be defined as when you have to do more than wear a long sleeved T-shirt under my leather jacket with the liner installed. On an unprotected bike (i.e. no windshield) this happens for some at about 16°C. Below this temperature you may have to do something to keep warm.
Heat will always flow from an area of high temperature to and area of lower temperature. The rate of flow is proportional to the difference in temperature and the thermal conductivity of the materials between the temperature differential. For motorcycling there is an additional effect. You've probably heard of wind-chill factor. Wind-chill is the cooling effect of moving air and it is significant. The faster the air is moving the faster it will cool.
Given the principles, what can you do to stay warm? Keep as much wind as possible off your body as you can. Install a windshield if your bike allows. The more you are protected from the wind the less cooling effect it will have and therefore the warmer you'll be, all other things being equal. If you've been paying attention you've noticed that this is the exact opposite of what I said you should do in hot weather. The best you can hope for is to minimize the bad stuff and maximize the good stuff. It will never be perfect!
Another principle here is that the key to keeping your body warm is to keep your torso warm. If your torso gets too cool it will start restricting blood flow to your extremities (hands and feet) and they will start to get even colder. Therefore, as strange as it sounds, the most important thing you can do to keep your hands and feet warm is to keep your torso warm.
After you've stopped as much wind as you can from passing over your body, the next thing you need to do is wind-proof your body. In general, the outside layer of whatever you're wearing must be covered with a material that will stop the wind. Stopping the wind also means sealing all the openings in whatever is covering your body.
The most important opening to seal the neck opening of your jacket. A relatively large amount of air can flow into the neck opening and cool your torso quickly. Next, cover your neck. Your jugular veins are very close to the surface and have a large flow of blood. Cold air flowing past your neck will quickly cool the blood in the jugulars which will then cool your torso. A neck warmer works well for this. It does two things at once. It will seal the neck opening of the jacket and cover your neck.
The next opening to consider is the end of the sleeves of your jacket. If you don't wear gauntlet gloves, get some. If the gauntlet is cinched tight it will effectively seal the sleeve opening. Next is the waist opening of your jacket. If the jacket has a waist belt tighten it up. If there is no belt and it still leaks air (usually up the back) add clothing underneath. The bulk will usually seal the opening as long as the jacket isn't too big. Next, seal the opening at the bottom of your pants. The easiest way to do this is to tuck the pants inside the top of your boots. This is another reason to wear purpose-built motorcycle boots. They usually have enough adjustability and are tall enough that you can tuck your pants into the top. Of course, this is only effective if your pants are wind-proof.
If all openings in your clothing are sealed and you're still cold, you need to start adding some sort of an insulating material. Good insulators are any material that traps dead air and inhibits the flow of heat. The old principle of layering works well here because layers of material will trap dead air between the layers. Cotton is a decent insulator as long as it's dry - wet cotton has zero insulating ability. Wool is the best natural fiber insulator and it retains most of its ability to insulate when it's wet. Down is probably the best natural insulating material but is so bulky that it's not practical to use on a motorcycle unless you can wear it over your abrasion protection (leather jacket) and under the wind proof layer. Also, down has zero insulating value when wet. Synthetic materials like Polar Fleece ™ Fiber Fill ™ and Thinsulate ™ work well and are less bulky.
Gloves
I wouldn't even consider not wearing gloves - they just give too much protection from small rocks, and the like. Over the years I've tried just about every kind of glove there is and none seem to be perfect. Right now I wear Technic spots gloves. They are the most comfortable and sturdy gloves I've ever had. They have external seams which are much more comfortable when you are wearing them all day. When I require extra warmth my bike is fitted with heated hand grips which work exceptionally well.
Rainy Weather
Rain - the bane of motorcyclists everywhere.
Food - Where to Eat On the Road
Everyone needs to eat. On the road you have two choices. You could buy food in a grocery store and prepare it yourself or you can pay someone else to prepare your food. Either way you're essentially foraging for food. You cannot just go to the refrigerator and grab something or drive to your favorite restaurant. While on the move, you'll have to get food wherever you can. In the evening, unless you are staying in a regular hotel, there will not be a restaurant as part of the facility and you'll have to go somewhere else for food. In any case, you'll have to search out a place to eat.
When to eat
Most of us during the normal week eat to a schedule we get up and go to work and have a bowl of cereal at 07:30, lunch at 12:00 and at home, and dinner around 6:30pm. This plan works great on normal days. Whilst on the weekends and when riding this schedule goes out the window. This is a problem because if you don't eat enough food or water you get headaches. Not eating enough food is just about the only thing that gives you a headache and when this happens the only thing that will get rid of the headache is to eat a lot and then wait. Aspirin will not help just food and time (about 8 hours). When riding a motorcycle you have to be alert. To be alert you have to be well nourished, hydrated, and well rested. For most people to stay well nourished you have to have a fairly rigid eating schedule and this schedule is quite different than my normal at-home workday schedule.
On the road I make it a point to eat breakfast but not the first thing in the morning. I get up at about road around 07:30 to 8:00. I like to ride for an hour and then have breakfast some time around 09:00. This avoids the morning rush in most places so I usually don't have to wait very long for the food. You should have a hearty meal for breakfast, not just cereals. Eggs, hash browns, toast, sausage, milk, orange juice -- the works. This meal has everything you need. Obviously if you problems with cholesterol or high blood pressure and as long as I don't eat this way all the time everything is just fine. The point is to have a big meal early in the day. You need the energy. Riding a motorcycle is a fair amount of work. Riding a sport bike is even more work.
For the first couple days of a trip I will stop for a relatively light lunch about 1:00pm (after the lunch crowd). After I've had a few days on the road and my body has become acclimated to the new schedule, big breakfast, and physical stress, I may skip lunch. I will skip lunch if the riding is relatively low stress as with rural low density traffic and straight line riding. If there have been a lot of twisties or other stress like heavy traffic I'll stop for lunch. I don't use hunger as an indicator of whether or not to eat lunch. I go by how tired I feel.
If I haven't eaten any lunch I'll try eating dinner about 5:30pm, before the dinner rush. If I have eaten lunch, I'll eat dinner about 7:30pm, at the tail end of the dinner rush. Aside from simply getting some food, my main goal here is to not stand in line. Since I usually start looking for a place to sleep about 4:00pm, I will have dinner just after arriving at the motel or a couple hours after arriving at the motel. I consider the relative closeness of restaurants when picking a motel or pub.
This eating schedule keeps me well nourished and alert.
Make your own
If you are into preparing your own meals you can eat almost wherever you want. Those who prepare their own food are almost always camping. Even when I camped, I seldom prepared my own meals. It takes too much time and requires that you bring along a lot of extra stuff.
Restaurants
I do prefer good food over bad food and I have opinions about what is good and what is bad food. Cost, within reason, is not as important. I'm perfectly willing to pay more for better food -- up to a point. However, in the sort of restaurants I eat in while on the road, cost is only loosely related to quality.
Given my touring style, I'm usually in relatively small towns when looking to eat. In smaller towns the choices are pretty limited. However, there are places that even I won't eat.
•If there is a choice, I will never eat at any fast food outlet.
•I avoid places such as food chains.
Roadhouses
Roadhouse now days generally have a fast food outlet and fuel station attached and are located outside a town or city. These places are very common and usually a fairly large one story building. They are almost always sitting by themselves just outside of town on the main road through town. Roadhouse food is adequate but nothing more. For the most part, roadhouses seem to be more about drinking than eating.
In-town Restaurants
The restaurants in small towns are made up of a variety of types.
•Pubs that serve food. -- These can be pretty good or mediocre. If you're just looking for simple food these is a pretty good bet. They are typically better than a roadhouse. I think that this is the case because food is a more important part of their business than in a roadhouse. It's hard to judge these places without actually eating the food but the best indicator is the relative size of the eating area in proportion to the bar area (bigger food area is better) and the quality of the furniture
•Cafe's or bakery’s -- This is the most common type of restaurant and the quality will vary all over the place. They are usually OK for breakfast and lunch and dinner is a bit more risky.
•Conventional restaurants. -- This type of place is a bit less common than the Bars and Cafe's. They are usually only in the larger small towns. These are the best bet for good food and more expensive.
If there are a local vehicles parked in front of a cafe in the morning, you have found the place that the local people go for morning coffee and breakfast. The place may have a crowd because they have good food but it may just be that it's the only place around or it's cheap.
Conclusion
There are no guarantees in where to find decent food in smaller towns. I've had good food in the most unexpected places and had food so bad that I couldn't eat it in supposedly good restaurants. I've tried asking locals but this has not been all that successful. I guess that the people in a lot of towns have just gotten used to crummy food. I've gotten to the point that I just look at the food as part of the adventure and as with all adventure, the good and the bad.
There's at least one myth that needs to be put to rest once and for all. Maybe truck drivers used to know where to find good food but that is most certainly NOT the case today. If you see a lot of trucks parked somewhere all that means is that the place has decent diesel prices and probably has showers (which you cannot use unless you’re a trucker). The food will not be all that good.
Where to Stay
Now I'm not recommending living off the land here. I believe there are some minimum requirements when touring on a motorcycle. A hot shower and a decent bed, a quiet place to sleep. You want to be dry if it's raining and warm if it's cold. That's about it.
You have a couple of choices for sleeping accommodations; Pubs, motels, Guest houses, B&B, Tourist parks and Camping. There are a couple of others such as resorts and Hotels though I reserve these for a different type of holiday.
Camping
There is a fair amount of variation in what different people would consider to be camping. My definition of camping is simple; you are camping is when you are not staying in a motel. This often, but not always, means that you are providing your own shelter, usually a tent. Camping is usually cheaper than motels and can be quite flexible. Your choices range from commercial campgrounds to pulling off the road in an isolated area and pitching your tent.
Now I have not camped whilst on the bike though I do enjoy camping and have all the gear. On the bike I have not camped because it takes more of an effort and you need to carry a lot more gear.
Motels
There are two types of motels. One is the modern chain. The other is the privately owned (mom-and-pop) motel. Actually, most of the chain motels are privately owned and operated under a franchise agreement but they're still not the same as the mom-and-pop type.
If I stay at a motel I prefer the mom-and-pop motels. They tend to be older and are usually not in the best state of repair but I still like them. They are usually in the smallest towns. Most are of the old motor hotel style with each room opening onto the parking lot; usually with your bike parked right in front of the room. I like these motels for three reasons. First, they tend to be in smaller towns. Being in a small town means that there is less crime so your bike is likely to still be there and intact in the morning. Second, mom-and-pop motels are generally much cheaper than the chains. I've paid as little as $35 for a night with TV and air conditioning. More often it's $45 or so. Third, the people running the motel are generally friendlier and helpful. These are people who you can talk to about something besides the checkout time.
The large chains are OK and sometimes you don't have a choice, that's all that's available. The chain motels are usually newer and in a better state of repair. They are more expensive than the mom-and-pop motels but they can still be reasonable in smaller towns and away from the interstate highways. They're more often $60. In my mind the biggest disadvantage of chains is that you have less security for your bike.
Pubs
Pubs are my personal preference. And as with motels there are two types of Pubs. One is the locals and the other is the trendy pub. Most if not all smaller country towns have at least one pub. It is a good watering hole after a long day’s ride and an affordable place to stay. Most have a dinning room for a good meal as well. I have found that the locals pubs to be the pick the hospitality from the publican in all the places I have stayed to be great, they always try to accommodate the bike in a garage or shed if available overnight. The prices have varied from $15 to $30 a night and the conversations with the locals can be quiet entertaining.
Be aware of the trendy pubs as the prices can go up considerably and more often than not on a Friday and Saturday night there will be loud live music until late necessitating in earplug to be able to sleep.
Tourist Parks
Some of the larger caravan parks have along with the usual on site vans, furnished onsite cabins. This is cost effective for shared group accommodation if you don’t mind sharing. The vans do not normally have linen provided so you either need to have your own sleeping bag or pay extra for linen. They can be a little cold in winter also.I would go for the cabin style. They often include linen; have a couple of bedrooms and a common living area with kitchenette. The cost is similar to a motel room but when shared amongst a couple of people this can be reduced. It is good if you want to cater your own food etc but it can often be a hassle to get to the nearest restaurant as tourist parks are generally located on the outskirts of towns.
