Dave and I are most comfortable when we have a plan....a basic outline. In 2007, we took a 6 month around the world trip with very few plans. We had our RTW airline ticket and 3 nights accommodations planned when we left the country. We had a great time. We learned we can go with the flow and let a trip unfold. In 2012, we took another long trip and had about 80% of the locations, transportation and accommodations planned before we took off. We had a great time and realized we really do like to plan. We are happy we travel either way.
How do you like to do it?
Do you like having your accommodations planned in advanced?
Tours? Entertainment?
Love to hear how you travel.
Reply to this Love this topic.
Hubby and I are complete opposites and it seems to work out. I'm a total pre-trip planner, and he loves winging it at all times. When it comes to arriving at a destination, we just play by ear, but I like to know that I have some back-up options if our adventuring ever goes sour.
Since we now have to consider our daughter, we do book accommodations in advance and look for back-up kid-friendly activities. Before, I would prefer to book, but hubby wouldn't always and we never ran into a problem. I think it also depends on what country your visiting, for how long, as well as when. If you're going when it's packed, you may want to book ahead. If you're going in the off-season, you probably don't have to book in advance and might get better deals.
I've used a tour guide a few times, which either worked out wonderfully or not so great -- I think it really comes down to personality on that one. Can't wait for our little one to grow a little older so that we can actually "wing it" a bit more, but at the time-being it can be a lot of work having to be fully responsible for a whole 'nother human being. 😉
Reply to this In response to: Msg #197044
The ying and yang of it. I'm glad Dave and I have the same desires so there is rarely conflict.
Most often we make our own arrangements but every time we have used an agent to assist us we have been more than happy and their expertise put us in the right place at the right time.
I do think you can save money in off season whether you plan or wing it.
One reason I prefer to plan ahead is our time off is generally limited and we hate wasting time looking around for a place to stay or a good deal. As they same....time is worth something.
Reply to this Personally, I've oscillated all over the place. I started out planning everything to the last detail. Once I started taking longer trips, that quickly showed its limits. I briefly tried having no plan at all and that didn't provide what I wanted either. Now, the process goes something like this:
1. Create a general outline of where and when, normally in two week or month blocks. If an area is popular, this process can happen over a year in advance
2. Find specific spots that absolutely must be reserved/bought in advance. Staying in Yosemite Valley requires getting reservations the second they become available, so I planned that part of my trip months beforehand. Festival tickets usually need to be bought months in advance. The list goes on and on.
3. For everything else, I leave things pretty flexible and create things as they go. I've ended up dropping things I planned to see because somewhere else proved so fascinating.
Reply to this In response to: Msg #197065
I agree with your comments. When friends ask how we plan our trips I tell them that we pick three things that we really want to do or to see. Everything else is a plus. We think many travelers try to see to much of an area or town and don't take time to sample foods and people watch.
As you say we like a general outline that is fluid.
Reply to this Each of our trips have had an outline plan with particular places of interest or not to be missed places.
When we were camping we turned up on spec and planned two to three days in advance following the overall plan and avoiding busier places and cities as Ian had an absolute hate of crowds.
This trip was started with an overall plan and we pre booked our first flight and accommodation for the first two weeks, this was partly to give Zoe the knowledge that we would have somewhere to stay at night and not worry her whereas I don't mind going with the flow. We have now got into the routine of planning for two weeks at a time, me on the journey and her on the bed and board but, and its been a bit but for us we are limited by the busses as to where we go so it's big towns and cities all the way which does mean we miss out on the off the beaten track places that I have enjoyed in the past.
Certain countries for the future are already planned in a lot of detail, America being one to maximise the amount of time we will have there, but India will go with the flow....... so many plans and places still to cover!
Reply to this I'm torn on this one. On the one hand I love to just go with the flow, as you find the most interesting places and trip ideas while it's happening, and it's very difficult to plan everything online. However, I'm also a massive planner and love having notebooks full of routes and ideas and possible places to stay.
At the moment a lot of our travelling is restricted by time, since we have to work as well, so it often seems better to plan and book it ahead so we know where we will be, and most importantly that we can get back on time! However, I would like to just buy a ticket somewhere sometime and see how things go.
Our next trip is a few days within Thailand (where we live) so I'm trying to take that as it comes a bit, rather than plan too much in advance. We'll see how that goes.
Reply to this For me planning is half the fun. However, that doesn't mean that I follow Plan A. Life rarely goes as planned. I have no problem going to Plan B, C, D... Some people who plan have great difficulty deviating from their plan. Those kind of people should take tours!
Reply to this Like Bob, plan is half the fun. And for me, it's even beyond the fun, it has become a kind of 'must do' for me. As you know engineers are plan freak. For me, every i's have to be dotted. I start with an excel spreadsheet like many of us do. And keep on expanding the sheet with every detail as we go along - the flights, the camps, hotels, boats, buses, trains, cars each activity from A to B, buffer zones to accommodate delays, plan B if A does not work, everything. I am traveling Indonesia this November. I have started planning the trip from May...working out bit by bit every detail. Like Michelle's family, my wife is opposite...easy going, although she laughs at my plan but she depends on it wherever she travels with me. But she hardly comes to boonies with me.
I have been so far fortunate, everything worked like a machine with my plan, well, most of the time, I should say.
Reply to this I have to admit with the introduction of the Internet I've become more of a planner. Plus I work graveyards so I enjoy googling recon to stay awake. I still keep it pretty basic, no research on historical or cultural info, I like to learn while I'm there.
Back in the old days I used to just book a flight and go....
Reply to this To book all the accommodation in advance is good and better option. advance booking save your lot of time. If anyone want to visit <snip>
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Reply to this Plan so as not to waste time and energy getting lost, tired, and frustrated. But of course we all know we can't always stick to the plan when we change our mind when we get there and when the weather does not cooperate
Reply to this I just came back from a 3-week trip to Japan. This one I had to plan carefully simply because it is difficult to find your ways around. With an open train ticket though, you can easily change cities as there are so many options schedule-wise. But once you are settled at your hotel or ryokan (which you need also to book in advance for conveniency-almost nobody speak sur english...) you are free to discover! I do not always travel this way, usuelle more on the free-style, less planning but always with a sort of itinerary!
Reply to this i totally agree with slee4244, preparing carefully before traveling is a safe way and it can avoid wasting your time. If you don't have enough time for preparing, booking a tour is also a good choice.
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