planning not to plan
 

i have been thinking way too much into my trip in may, devising all the wonderful antics I will be a part of. But now, I'm thinking about scrapping all my planning. I fly into paris on may 27th and I think I might figure it out when I get there. Anyone have any experience/input with this method of traveling?(i have done europe trips in the past so i already know my way around the major cities)

I did this on my very last-minute trip to Paris last year. I had been two times previously so felt comfortable in the city. I knew I wanted to do some day trips but that was about it. Over 7 days I alternated city days with day trips out and would work out the logistics the night before. It was liberating in a way. Don't know if I would do it for a first-time visit anywhere, though.

thanks for the feedback. i also forgot to mention i will be there for a month.

It depends on what you plan to accomplish.

If you have no expectations, then any method will do.

If you plan to take overnight trips from Paris, visit limited time museum exhibits, dine at hard to reserve Michelin rated restaurants, you might want to make sure your logistics would work out.

Being an opera fan, I would kick myself for not planning, for example, if I discover on June 6th that I could have seen Puccini's "Tosca" at Opera Bastille (on stage until June 5th) if I thought about it and bought tickets beforehand.

I wouldn't travel any other way. I read some posts where time is planned down to the last half hour (there's one close by about London and Amsterdam) and I think how awful to be so constrained. People sometimes even know where they're going to eat on each night of their stay. But imagine - you come across something unexpected! Mega trauma - what do you do about the PLAN. I imagine it must lead to some terrific arguments.

AAAGGHHH.

Of course, you need to have some idea of what there IS so see - a good guidebook and a map usually does the trick.

There is an exception to the above, and that's, like Greg, I always check what concerts, performances I might be able to take in, and would adjust arrival, departure to suit if possible.

Everyone's different, I guess. But why don't you try it this time and see how you go. You may find you prefer the greater sense of freedom and adventure.

Best of luck.

I do like to know what is in the area and know my priorities. I also like to have a dinner reservation or two ( depending on length of stay) prearranged, especially when travelling with my husband or others.

I ALWAYS try to get my entertainment tickets online in advance. Vienna is one place I never worry as I can deal with their "day of event" standing room quite well.

But for a month stay? I have never done that, but I can understand your planning need not be soooo involved in that case.

Lucky you!

I never plan much either other than things I need reservations for. My life is regimented enough so I like to get away from that on vacation. I return over & over to London so it's not like the only time I'll be there.

I understand wanting to cram everything into every free second but it's not how I like to travel. However, different strokes for different folks.

I guess that nothing is black or white. I have traveled with some planing and none, NONE, at all. In those days I only carried a travel book at best and that was it.
Sometimes I relied on asking people for advice for places to eat and very often I asked the manager of one small hotel to recommend us a similar one in the next city we were heading and so forth.....

It had its pros and cons, now wiser, I feel a little planning is needed. Not that I leave home with a list of what to do everyday,where to eat etc. But I make some planning like when visiting such museum there is such and such restaurant nearby that most likely are good choice. Or I check which bus is good to go to that place, or is it good to walk and things like that. I put special care in choosing ahead of time a restaurant for the first day in a new place. Often we have found ourselves in the predicament of getting to a new city and being lost where to have lunch....now I am aware ahead of getting there that nearby we can find this or that place recommended by friends , Fodors, etc.
I does not mean I am not going to ask anyway the concierge for any suggestion and then choosing one.
As I said nothing is black or white. Good luck.

Not overly planning for a month's stay in a place you've already been before sounds good to me.

I love the wander-around-and-see-what-you-find kind of trip in a city I've been to before. There is something so satisfying (to me anyway) and delightful about stumbling across things while exploring rather than checking off items on a list of to-do's. It gives me a real sense of discovery to "find" something unexpectedly as I wander around. I don't like to feel I'm out doing errands - you know, first the hardware store, then the grocery, etc. Sometimes a list of "must sees" can begin to feel like that to me as I attempt to be efficient and plan routes, times and all that. As someone else said, it begins to feel like work.

Even if I "miss" some sight or other, so what? If I was overly rigid in my planning, I would miss the sense of discovery that I enjoy so much - and which is a crucial part of the spirit of travel to me.

Here's a really silly example: one time when DH and I were in Paris, we set out wandering around on foot for the day with the only goal for the day being to eventually get to the Jacquemart-Andree musueum. We stumbled across Printemps and noticed people up on the roof, so we figured if other people could get up there, we could too. Found our way up there and enjoyed the beautiful view of the city it affords. Now you can read about the Printemps rooftop in any guidebook and put it on your list if you want to, but the sense of discovery we felt when we "discovered" it on our own was really fun and added greatly to the experience for us.

And as I said, I tend to employ the wander-around method in places I've been before - when I've already seen at least the major sights that are important to me and a have some sense of the place.

But everyone IS different and I know some people truly enjoy the planning down to the last detail and the feeling that they have seen everything humanly possible in a given amount of time.

It is of course a balance that everyone must determine for themselves.

Have a wonderful month in Paris!

hi sean,

it is only since joining this excellent forum that I have been converted to the "plan it down to the last minute" style of travelling, particularly for short trips. previously I'd read the guide book on the plane and played it much by ear.

IMHO, in a month, you could still afford to do that, with the exception of hard to book events as others have said; also I would want to check out what opens when so that you time your wanderings appropriately.

who wants to turn up at Versailles to hear how lovely the fountains were yesterday?

regards, ann

There's planning, and then there's planning. There is a happy middle ground for us between being totally ignorant when visiting a new destination and having every day and activity timed to the minute.

Basically we do research and then individually classify sights and activities into 3 tiers:

1. If I don't see/do this while in ******, I will regret it for a long time.

2. I would really like to see/do this, but it won't be a major crisis if I don't experience it this time around.

3. If I happen on this while roaming about I'll drop in. Otherwise I won't concern myself with it.

We just make sure that we take care of the #1s, and stay aware of the second category. Most places we visit, we also leave open some general "exploring" time.

One of the most disappointing vacations was when my spouse convinced me that we should "wing it" totally. We've never gone to the other extreme of overplanning, so I don't know how disappointing that might turn out to be.

Fantasizing, yes. Research, yes. Planning, not so much. I want to know all the options ahead of time, and then I can decide what I feel like doing at the time. I have never reserved restaurants before arriving at a destination; I either reserve that day or the day before, or I just drop in.

I do plan ahead though for concert and theater tickets, lectures and other special events.

Since you will be in Paris for a month, you will have plenty of time to fit in everything you want to do. I think the minute-by-minute plans are best for people on a tight schedule who have a lot of specific things they really want to see and do.

Hi lt,

You aren't planning on not planning having a place to stay in Paris, are you?

(I))

Am I hallucinating or blind? Where in the OP did he mention he's staying in Paris for <b>one month</b>?

He could be visiting for 4 days, or could be for 4 months, who knows?

For first-time visit and short trips, I cannot imagine not doing any sort of planning. I crinch every time I read a trip report here with someone saying that he/she went to ____ museum on a certain day, only to find that it's not open that day.

Once I met someone (relative of a friend), who told me that she didn't plan her trip to Venice at all. When she arrived at the train station, she was shocked to see that there are no streets in Venice - just water everywhere. She went into a panic, as she was used to hailing a cab from whereever airport/train station to her hotel, and she was at a lost of how to get to her hotel from the Venice train station when there were no taxicabs in sight!

I can only imagine the OP arriving at CDG, jet-lagged, and had no idea of how to get to his hotel/apt (unless he is wealthy and takes cabs).

Just like what others have mentioned earlier, I would kick myself if I missed an art exhibition at a museum which I didn't plan on visiting, or not getting tickets to an opera, or stood 3 hours in line because I didn't buy advance tickets ahead of time, or paid 3X as much on train tickets because I didn't get the PREMS fare in advance.

the OP's second post.

Yes, with a month in Paris you can relax. You just posted to make us green with envy! :)

thank you for all the responses, i could see where having at least an idea of where i want to be would be convienient.

sorry actually to clarify i will be in europe for a month, i actually only plan on staying in paris for 1-2 days.

i know i will be spending a week in mallorca, but other than that i am now thinking i will just wander. I did a month in europe 2 years ago so I have an idea of timing and i think not planning, unlike my last trip will be relieving.

yk - your annecdote about a visitor to Venice raised a smile. But that's not an example of lack of planning, it's an example of striking ignorance.

Did said person never read a book, or see a movie, or watch a doco about Venice - one of THE great cities of the world?

It would be like not knowing there was something called the Statue of Liberty in New York; or an iconic Opera House in Sydney; or a memorial to a beloved wife in India called the Taj Mahal, or, or or ...

Stuff like that is generally taken to be part of a planetary foundation of knowledge for those that have the money to travel, don't you think?

Afterall, I've been amazed on many occasions by what people who travel DON'T know about the place they're visiting. I also met someone who thought there were streets in Venice. Ya know, behind all those buildings facing the water. &quot;How do they get things delivered to their house?&quot;

I forgot the best story! While shopping in Hong Kong, my mother met an apparently wealthy woman who was thinking of going to India but only if her husband could get reservations at that big, fancy hotel. Ya know, the Taj Mahal Hotel, where Princess Diana stayed and they took that sad picture of her sitting on a bench.