Sue_xx_yy

Ah, tomassocrocante, trust you to take my sow's ear of a metaphor and turn it into a silk purse. Now I want to go and rent "Summertime" if I can find it at the video shop.....

Actually, I mixed metaphors, what with putting marriage in there. I once said that some people fall in love with a city, even after only a day, whereas some like it well enough after even a few dates but still don't want to consider matrimony.....And then there's 111op, who does 'speed dating' to narrow the choice down to a few favourite candidates....

True, too much speed dating in a single session might be a tad overwhelming. Maybe we could propose it for a topic on "Dr Phil": "Travellers Who Have Trouble Making A Commitment....." (or, to keep things even-handed, "Travellers Who Have Trouble Moving On.....")

And now I really have mashed my metaphors into a confusing mess....

NorCalif

When my kids were younger, I spent a great deal of time iterating and reiterating, "Different people like different things."

Here's an analogy for you:

Some people like to eat at a different restaurant every time they go out to dinner. Others like to try a new dish at an often-attended favorite restaurant. Still others like to always eat the same favorite dish at the same favorite restaurant. Others prefer to stay at home and not go to restaurants.

So? There are experiences to be enjoyed from each of the choices above.

Why the felt need to prescribe, for other people, where and how they should eat (or travel)?

I once spent four relatively long months traveling just in New Zealand (a country about the size of the state of Oregon). I once went to London, Paris, Rome and Venice in three short weeks.

I thoroughly enjoy both kinds of travel. Which I choose at a given time is dependent on many factors ... and not one of those factors is what other people tell me I SHOULD enjoy.

2010

Although not new to travel, I am relatively new to this forum. My DH & I have embraced a travel style that works for us -- one where we plan our trips knowing that we will return some day. In other words, we are not frantic travellers and we enjoy spending more time in fewer places.

In planning our first trip to Italy (Fall, 2008), I relied on information gleaned from guidebooks, internet and this forum, especially for guidance & insights to specific questions I had. Now, "Have I planned too tight of an itinerary?" may not have been a question I posed. But when I asked for advise, I certainly appreciated every response that was based on personal knowledge & experience! Often, they gave me pause to think about other possibilities! Other times, they affirmed my own ideas!

So StCirq, I think it is important to consider the traveller who is asking the questions as well as giving authentic responses based on one's own travel experiences. Posters will come to their own decisions and learn from their experience. Who of us hasn't done that?

Thanks for an interesting post!

2010

111op

To use an investment analogy, I prefer to think of this as diversification rather than "speed dating" when you visit more places and diversify.

It's interesting to think about the gambling aspects of this too.

Suppose you invest in a broad-based index (like S&P 500) vs. one single stock. The S&P 500 is likely to yield more stable returns whereas the single stock can yield huge gains or losses.

However it's quite well known that bold bets are frequently better than timid bets in gambling. This has been explored in the context of the well known "Gambler's Ruin" problem in probability.

So this would argue for making a few big bets.

That's not the way I work though.

tomassocroccante

And as to big bets/small bets - even planning a whole trip in one province is not laying too much on the line perhaps.

The real high-stakes-one-roll-of-the-dice players would be like my friends who came back from their very first trip to Buenos Aires having put a bid on an apartment. They ended up buying it and spending the past two years dealing with renovations and all the disasters and joys possible. Risky, perhaps, but in their usual way they seem to have some out smelling like roses. So there's the other thing: if you can, be lucky!