Did I bite off more than I can chew?

[Friedenreich Xante]

Thank you all for your Kind replies.

First Thing I did yesterday is going to 3 Geminorum which I noticed I missed on my trip. Had to go back 3000 ly but it felt indeed better to have a short term Goal. Was a bit disapointed by the star itself (only 22 solar radius for a supergiant?!?), but it was nice being there. I think I will now just visit some POIs on my way back to the bubble, and then meditate a Little and see what happens. Whatever I choose to do, one Thing is sure, if I'm to go out in the black again, I will plot a route, from POI to POI, and not just go out in a straight line to nowhere.

Also, I fly indeed a Conda. Overequiped, but still 52,66 ly range. I may have a look at the DBX since the range is about the same if not loaded too much (and I sure didn't Need half the crap I took with me!). Being alone in the Conda Bridge is indeed a bit like being alone in a hockey Stadium with no lights. Creepy. Maybe that's why I flew in open multicrew most of the time. Thanks to those commanders who dropped by and chatted with me BTW.

Cheers CMDRs

 

[marx]

Since ships are coming up again, and you mentioned ditching your Anaconda: I would recommend that too. Personally, I like flying small ships, because it makes me feel even smaller out there. Plus I like a bit of a challenge too, and 50+ ly jump range will get you through any region without any trouble.
That said, my recommendations would be:

- Imperial Courier, for a great cockpit view, the best speed, great supercruise handling and screenshot potential - and still 40-45 ly jump range with engineering, though the latter only without an SRV bay.
- Diamondback Explorer, if you don't mind the rather bad fuel scoop / tank size ratio, and it's second to the Anaconda in terms of jump range.
- Imperial Clipper for a great cockpit view, excellent speed with plenty of internals, great supercruise handling and screenshot potential, an excellent fuel scoop / tank size ratio - 40 ly jump range is quite possible.
- Orca for also excellent speed with large jump ranges, great cockpit view.
- Dolphin for pretty good speed while still having large jump ranges, although I'm not a fan of the cockpit view. The ship itself looks oddly adorable to me though, it should have good screenshot potential.

Out of these, the Clipper and the Orca also have a multicrew seat, so with those you can invite some people over.

 

[Wedgetail]

I gotta throw my hat in the ring for keeping the 'conda mainly as it opens up extra entertainment options to keep you interested on the long trips.

Wanna go dune-buggy racing? no worries, gotcha covered
Wanna go zipping through canyons in a fighter? no worries, gotcha covered (just did some this evening in fact, and almost crashed into some proc gen geysers 20klys from sol)
Wanna bounce off a planet and have some shields to soak up the damage? no worries (I'm telling you officer, that moon ran into ME)

Only thing I miss is the super-cruise maneuverability of the DBX and the cockpit view of the asp, but you get used to it.

Even with both hangars and shields, still rocking about 60ly max range (although my last 1000 jumps or so have all been on the order of 5lys )

 

[MrFailfactory]

Self-awareness is a good thing, OP, a thing which most people lack. It keeps us from being unrealistic, but at the same time, it can also keep us from achievement due to self-doubt clouding the awareness. I think you should go do something that you enjoy that isn't Elite, and while you are doing that, think about whether or not this is a goal that you really want to pursue.

If the answer is no, there is no shame in that. You thought about it, weighed the pro's and con's, and made your decision. This goal is a daunting task, and requires a fairly significant time commitment.

If the answer is yes, then here is what I would suggest:

I don't know what your availability is, so I'm just going to use the term "session" to describe it. I think that the best way to do something like this is to set session goals that are appropriate to both your availability, and also in terms of how long (in months) you are willing to commit. Your ship is capable of easily cracking 2k light years per hour, so maybe you start with a session goal of 2-4k light years. Since your ship is theoretically capable of around 3k light years per hour (average jump of 50ly), setting a session goal that is less than that threshold gives you time to scan, take a closer look at planets, fly in the fighter, drive around in the SRV, take some choice screens or videos - basically do things that might interest you at the moment other than jump, scan, scoop, rinse/repeat. I also think you should just reach the goal for each session, find a good place to set down, and then do something else. If you use a method like what I just described, it could help it feel more like a voyage, and less like an onerous grind.

P.S. I, myself, am in a similar situation. I'm parked here at the asteroid base in the Heart Nebula, trying to make a decision. The original plan was to visit the Dynasty camps in the Rift/Conflux/Gap, then decide to maybe visit the core and Colonia before heading home. I had assumed that The Zurara wasn't terribly far from the Rift camps, but I was mistaken, and it looks like it's going to be around a 20k light year detour. So, I am following my own advice (mostly by watching Sons of Anarchy, because Damn), but I'm trying to decide whether or not to take that detour. I am still undecided, as I sit here typing this, but I'm not in a hurry.

Good luck, Commander o7

Riôt

 

[Friedenreich Xante]

I am happy to tell you that I have made the decision to go back home. No regrets. I have enough data to hit Elite anyway. I won't go home in a straight line though, have to see some things on my way back.

If I'm to go back out into the black, however, I will Keep my Conda, unless there will be another ship with even greater jump range in the meantime. Because to me, for Exploration, this is the most important asset. My Exploration style is to go to the most remote Locations. Let's see what I will do with all that remaining jumponium on my way back

And after the multicrew session of yesterday, I don't want to miss MC anymore by using a single-seater. I found a Little landable planet that was basically a Canyon by itself. I boosted my Conda through the big scars of this planet while my holo-crew was zipping around me in my Taipan. We had a ball.