Planning my life away? No way!
I get a lot of comments from friends (you know who you are!) about how much planning we do for our travel. Check out how we plan different types of vacations here. They are not all positive comments. Sometimes, they are ‘why don’t you just leave it to chance?’ or, ‘I’m sure you’ll be able to find a taxi when you get there’, and my personal favorite ‘where do you find the time?’. Am I planning my life away?
No!
I do this for a living. I run projects day in and day out and really, I’ve never found it a struggle to plan things out – rather, I find it challenging not to do so. Planning now means our vacation is easy-peasy. No stress, minimal surprises of a frustrating kind, and all challenges are easily surmountable! My kind of vacation. It doesn’t mean that they are filled to the brim with activity; nor are they stuffed with museums and plays and expensive restaurants. Everybody is different – we like our trips balanced with high-low activities, where we get some value for money spent, but also allow ourselves open to take advantage of opportunities that come our way.
Why don’t we leave it to chance?
Well, in our experience, chance doesn’t always get us what we want! It won’t get us those sold out concert tickets in Sydney Harbour (thank god we bought them 8 months ahead!); it won’t get us the reservations at the coolest wine bar in town without standing in a long line; and, it means we have to spend our free time on our vacation figuring out what to do and what we can do. And that time is better spent doing what we want to do – exploring, eating and living.
Where do you find the time?
Everyone has priorities. Travel is one of our priorities so we spend time planning ours. It’s that simple. And because we have been doing it for so many years, we are getting pretty good at it! We started expanding our planning to group trips with friends and for friends, and found that was fun and satisfying as well!
It’s like planning and throwing a great dinner party or BBQ and having your friends enjoy themselves – it makes it all worth the effort!
What planning does for us
Planning ahead for our travel allows us to relax on vacation. And right now, all our travel is largely vacation time, so you want to maximize it. If we only have two weeks in a particular country to immerse ourselves, I want to make sure we do everything we can to get the full experience. That doesn’t mean ‘fill our time’; it means planning the right experience for us. Planning also gives us peace of mind. We don’t worry about standing in lines for tickets – because we purchased ahead; we don’t worry about not getting a seat at a great restaurant we have read about – we made a reservation. Also, planning ahead builds anticipation.
What planning doesn’t do
Planning doesn’t mean we don’t have hiccups along the way. We still have time we need to fill, and we still have cancelled events, flights, and problems with our accommodation. No amount of research can be foolproof – it just gives a greater probability of success. We learn from mistakes and apply that knowledge to our next trip. Check out our ‘What to know before you go on a trip anywhere’ to see how we plan for success. We also love learning from others – right now I’m really loving Love and Road, check their blog out!
Live and learn, right?
