ahiddenbird

What is the most spontaneous, last minute trip you've ever taken? How did it go?

How much planning do you think is a good idea before going on a trip? What is your reasoning? Any planning tips?

How much enjoyment do you derive from planning your trip? Do you think it's weird that I'm going on a trip to Europe next summer (end of June) and I'm so excited that I'm already planning, almost nine months ahead of time? (nothing set in stone yet, just bookmarking and making note of things I might like to do)

thursdaysd

No, I don't think it's weird.

How much planning you do has a fair amount to do with where and when you're going. If the place is too popular, waltzing in without reservations is a bad idea.

MmePerdu

No, I don't think planning 9 months ahead is weird at all. Planning, for me, is as much fun as going. I tend to plan the things that would be difficult if I didn't get, for instance, my first choice of accommodation because of location and I may be going on foot. Or if there's a special place I want to stay and no others like it. Or, to get a discount by booking early such as train fares.

But, for me, I've found it best to not plan myself in too tightly so I have room for some spontaneity. It depends quite a bit on how long you plan to travel. If things fail to go as hoped on an unplanned couple of days during a 2 or 3 month trip it's soon forgotten but those same 2 days can loom large on a 2 week trip. So as I write this I realize that if I were to take a 2 week trip I'd probably plan every day as far as place and accommodation while leaving spontaneity to what I'd do during the course of the days.

MissGronky86

I've been 'planning' my travels since I was 17 I am now 26 and have recently split from a long term relationship (I should have went travelling before we met but he forced me to get my savings together because he knows how much it means to me!), I have no job currently, no flat but lots of determination and now seems like my smack in the face ideal time to go to Europe and do some travel.

I thought when I eventually did decide to travel I would have EVERYTHING down to a T planned.

But it couldn't be further from that, I have booked my flight to Prague have a rough idea of places I wan't to go

Prague
Warsaw/Krakow
Budapest
Zagreb
Munich
Berlin
Hamburg
Amsterdam
Bruges/Brussels

But I have no flights/trains or buses booked to these places all I have is my flight to Prague on 5th November, £5,000, 3 months free time and a hostel booked for the first two nights in Prague! After that who knows!

I plan to be at my relatives in Hamburg for Christmas but again I will take things as they come.

I will see how things go on my first ever travelling solo very much unplanned Europe trip!

I wish you well with your planning x

Kandace_York

Planning can be fun -- as long as you have the time to do it. When you have zero time, but still all the responsibility of making arrangements, it ceases being any fun at all.

It's all relative (and I don't think 9 months ahead is too far, by the way). Best wishes on your trip!

MissGreen

With my first few overseas trips the planning was an absolute highlight. The unknown expectation of the trip made things so much better. I know still enjoy the planning but not as much as in the beginning. I usually just book something 3 or 4 months ahead to make sure I get what I want.

Iowa_Redhead

Most spontaneous trip was to Athens and Istanbul. Within 3 days of finding out that I'd have a second week off in between jobs I had flights, hotels and trip insurance. All other planning was done over the next two weeks and was very minimal. It was a great trip. I would have done some things different if I had more time to plan, but not much and it was a fantastic trip.

I often plan for close to a year since I generally only have enough budgets (money and vacation time) for about one trip a year. The regular population might consider 9 months of planning excessive, but on these forums you're entirely normal!

Have fun with the planning but don't get too wrapped up in planning every minute.

- "Red line bus from front of A palace to B museum runs every 20 minutes, ending at 8:00pm" is useful.
- "Take Red line bus at 2:04pm from A Palace to B museum" is planning too tightly.

I've learned to make a loose plan so that I don't backtrack all over the place and possibly miss out on something I want to see. Once I'm on vacation, I have the information so I know exactly what I'm giving up if I decide to spend more time somewhere and can readjust on the fly without worrying that I'll miss out on something I really wanted to see/do. Sometimes the plan goes completely out the window (but again, with the information at hand I can easily readjust) and sometimes it works out perfectly and I end up following it fairly close. If I think that I'll want 2-4 hours somewhere, I block off 5-6 hours on my schedule so that I have lots of extra time and I don't try to do 15 things in 3 days when I really only have time for 5.

Seznz

Nothing wrong with planning! I am planning a trip next year and another bigger one in 2014. I love planning, I think half of the excitement is in the planning. The only spontaneous travel I do is road trips.

In saying that, one of the things on my bucket list is to go to the airport with my passport and just jump on the next available flight no matter where it went.

suze

I never plan anything more than my dates, airline tickets, and hotel(s )reservations. I don't think there's anything *wrong* with planning detailed daily itineraries, it's just not something I'd personally ever do.

Carolineandthetribe

Love hearing from other super-planners. We're heading to Europe in March - first time in 20 years for me, never been with my husband, and obviously thus our 4 kids have never been. I've been dreaming of it for years, and am just looooooving the planning, reading, scheming, googling!! I've been feeling a little over the top but now that I'm booking accomm and car hire I realise there are others who have booked further ahead than me - many places in Switzerland and Italy already booked out!! My brother can get me discounts at luxury hotel chain but won't discuss with me till December - he says its too early...makes me nervous not being able to bed down London and Moscow accomm!!

thursdaysd

With six of you you might well be happier in an apartment.

ELiz_Travels

Like Suze, I book my flights well in advance, as well as accommodation. Then I like learning about my destination and things I might want to see and do. Anticipation is great fun. However, I never manage to see half of what I had in mind. I find the greatest joy of travelling is in the spontaneous and the unexpected: wandering down a little laneway, chatting with a fellow traveller at a BnB, watching the locals at a tram stop, enjoying a simple meal served by someone proud to be using their limited English. These are things that can't be planned, but won't be forgotten.

El_Guiri

I think both planning and not planning can be stressful. Planning because you'll have deadlines and checkpoints to meet while you travel. Not planning, because there will be the stress of finding your next bed to sleep in. The whole "not planning" your travel thing works a lot better the more money you have. You won't have to worry about your budget as much as say, a college backpacker. Also, some places are better for this than others. In the former Yugoslavia, friendly people will be waiting to greet you at the train/bus stations, ready to offer you accomodation.

Overall I'd say I love the flexibility of not having a concrete plan. Then you can adjust how long you have in a place based off of what you want to do instead of cramming everything into a short place and cutting things out. However, it's the constant battle of time vs. money. When one has time, they often don't have money. And when they have money, they don't have time.

I think it's a good idea to learn about where you're going, what you want to do, and the transportation links between the places, but if you can, hold off on the reservations.

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my travel blog: http://daguiri.blogspot.com/

hetismij2

The most spontaneous trip we ever did was deciding to drive Route 66. DH had a break between contracts so we decided to go for it.
Booked the flight/one-way car hire and two nights in Chicago just 2 weeks before we left. Armed with a couple of guide books with the route clearly described, so we could follow the old route as much as possible, we set off, and had one of the best holidays ever.
Now we have a dog such spontaneity is no longer possible, but we are still not planners when it comes to our trips.

Anita13

My husband and I are completely at odds on this subject. I have always picked a destination, made a reservation and just went. He wants to research everything and plan every minute. I hate it! I feel some of the magic of travelling is finding new and exciting things. Planning it all takes so much of the fun out of it. I have gotten him to slow down a little, but not enough for me!

mlgb

When you're going to a popular place during high season, I don't think it's wrong to book your hotels early, especially for the small, good value places.

However, I prefer to travel off season, and find that I do better by booking only the first few nights hotel and then play it by ear depending on weather, how much I like a place, etc. With the widespread availability of internet sites such as booking.com, hotels.com, and the hotel websites, it isn't so hard to book as you go. You often get better deals when booking less than a week out, or even just as a walk-in.

Of course doing this when you don't speak the language is a bit more difficult, and maybe not recommended!