kmoncrief

ah yes..I am done with the hotels was movinf onto restaurants...and decided wait a minute!!!! last trip to Spain we hated all of the restaurants in Fodors and that a friend suggested. Had the best food where the hotels suggested instead. I think Ill go that route and spend my free time for the next two months playing in the garden intstead of slaving over the computer for the BEST restaurant!!

jmw44

My goodness, Neal, I thought I was the only one around here whose first trip to Europe was with "Europe on $5 a Day"! Three weeks for $700 including the price of our flight! And as naive as any 'innocents abroad' could possibly be. What great memories you've brought back. We sort of tumbled into most of our discoveries, and all of our accommodations were found for us by the train-station desks. We departed from the U.S. with intentions of 'seeing' Munich, Paris, and Rome, and enroute were captured by accidental (usually caused by rail schedules) stays in Berchtesgaden, Innsbruck, and Lausanne. It was wonderful. J.

Neal_Sanders

J, there's a wonderful thread from circa 1998 titled, "If you could do your first trip to Europe all over again..." which has roughly 50 such tales, including my own. You may want to add your own story to that thread.

JudyC

Interesting topics.

Underhill

Neal,

Thank you for starting this erudite topic that has brought the good writers on this site out in force. What a treat!

Certainly the Internet has facilitated our travel information overload tendencies. I like to think of the search for the perfect spot/hotel/restaurant as part of a great mystery that I am continually attempting to solve...but never do.

bevandbill

Neal---in 1962 we used Europe on $5 a day, and stayed at the Hotel Berchielli for ---sob!---$3 a night!

Lexma90

I definitely agree with where you're coming from. With each trip, I feel like I spend more time researching and planning. But I've also decided that planning is half the fun in the trip. Before the trip, I imagine what it will be like - and nothing is ever exactly the way I imagine it. But I think the planning is helping us to avoid some (but not all) of the inevitable low points of a vacation.

Obsessive researching, in the hotel realm, IMO, is best at allowing me to pick the best location for us (we prefer locations where we can do lots of walking) and decent bathrooms. A nice-looking room and/or lobby is nice, but not essential.

In the category of restaurants, while I don't plan every meal in advance, I am able (with the aid of Fodor's, chowhound and tons of other internet sources) to put together a great list of possibilities. On our last trip to Italy last October, we had several fabulous meals at great restaurants that were out of the way; we would never have stumbled upon them in our wanderings. (And a number of them weren't very touristy, either.)

The ability to collect more (and more) information allows me to widen my opportunities for enjoyment on our trips - I just remind myself that not every bit of information is a "must-see" or a "must-do," and that having more possibilities is good!

ira

Hi all,

There is no such thing as too much information.

"Analysis Paralysis" is another thing.

Some people seem to think that there is a "perfect" trip: perfect plane schedules, perfect train schedules, perfect car rental, perfect hotels, perfect restaurants, perfect sight seeing, perfect souvenir shop, perfect gelato.

There ain't.

adamhornets

Much as I love perusing this site, planning my own trips and hopefully helping others, I have to admit it is a comfort blanket. It's almost as if we can blame someone else if something goes wrong or it's not as we expected.

What did people do before guide books?

ira

>What did people do before guide books?<

They hired tutors (out of work asst. profs) to take their children on The Grand Tour.

They still do.

GreenDragon

The point remains thus:

If we didn't ENJOY the planning, we wouldn't be doing it to the point of obsession.

Now it becomes a hobby... "I travel-plan as a hobby." Everyone say it together now... there we go! All better!

Seriously, my grandfather used to say that half the fun in travel is the planning it. And that was way before the internet (though he did love that once it became available.)

It is a hobby, a recreation, an obsession, and a need. Why worry about it? Do it because you LIKE to. Whether you USE the plans you make are another matter. Planning is a way to travel before you do. Looking at pics of hotel rooms, descriptions of restaurants, and details of tours are all ways to travel vicariously, no?

Suki

I missed this thread the first and second time it made its appearance here. Great fun to read so, ttt.

rapunzll

I totally agree. It is so easy these days to overplan! Great topic!