Dreadlocks

So I have been thinking for awhile now that I want to get dreadlocks, some of you might be thinking ew but oh well. I think they are really cool and diffrent/interesting, my plan was to do it this summer but I was talking to one of my friends and she thinks I should do it now, Im not sure but I'm thinking about it. Before commiting to the dreads Im going to do some more reasearch, my main concern is when I dont want them anymore, I've read that you have to shave your head- I would never, or cut it short - possibly so long as I could have extensions, and then there is the option of dread removal cream- thats my choice if it truly works.