A few weeks ago, my husband and I woke up on a Saturday morning and looked out the window and saw it was miserable, grey and cold again.

We could not think of anything we wanted to do that day in the town we live in. Totally on the spur of the moment, we went on the internet and booked a long weekend trip to San Juan PR, packed our bags and left 2 hours later. (Used SITE59)

Friends and relatives thought we were crazy and told us they were never that impulsive and planned months ahead of time before they took a vacation.

So, is anyone else like us and decide to go on a vacation that involves booking a flight out and hotels etc--- IMMEDIATELY?

Nope, never have. Half of my fun is the planning of a trip, and the other half of my fun is finding appropriate care for the pets!

Yes I have one. On time on a Friday evening I decided to fly to FL the next day. And did so. Now it was a Friday night though not a Saturday morning one.

And often on a 2 hour later departure have driven up to Vancouver CA.

And one time on a Wednesday morning decided to go to Hawaii the next morning.

All trips were lots of fun without any of the usual preplanning and organizing stress.

Funny you posted this because we almost did this very thing yesterday! My husband was working until about 3:00 PM and I was home with our three boys. I found a great deal on montereyhotdeals.com for an $89.00 rate and planned a quick overnight trip to the Monterey Aquarium! But, when baby woke up he had a cough and a really runny nose... so hubby took the older boys bowling instead! Next time!

Kind of, but I guess I wouldn't recommend it if you are deciding to go to a place that recommends a visa! I did that recently with my trip to Rio de Janeiro--Not quite "overnight," but less than 2 weeks before the time my friends were planning to go. I had no idea that I needed a visa to enter the country, so it ended up being a mad scramble.

Had it been a European country, however, I'd do it.

Quite a few years ago, when my brother and sister were living in Colorado Springs and I was "orphaned" in Chicago (with my two kids and spouse!), I was sitting and writing an early morning letter (the days before e-mail!)to one of them, and feeling sorry for myself that they were going to be together having a cookout the next day. So at 7 a.m., I picked up the phone, learned I could get a reasonably priced United flight leaving in a couple hours... and I booked it. Spouse was still asleep as I dashed in and starting throwing things in a tote. "I'm going to Colorado," I announced. "When?" he asked groggily. "NOW!" I surprised everyone in Colorado (and myself) and had a great, quick visit.

Another time, seeing an introductory ad for Southwest's service to Houston from Chicago ($89 round trip), I booked four reservations and went home and told the kids at dinner: We're going to Houston for the weekend.

"Why?" they asked. "Because it's $89!" We actually had a good time, went over to Galveston, and ended up returning for a couple more Texas coast vacations in the next few years.

Yep...had a mini-midlife crisis...left a note for my husband on the fridge after he left for work..."gone to Mazatlan; will be back next week". Spent the week spoiling myself rotten, recovered nicely from my "crisis", and went home relaxed, refreshed, and rejuvenated.

Wouldn't recommend such an extreme measure for everyone -- but can report that our marriage survived...we'll be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary later this year.

auntimarie, LOL, good for you! There was more then once I wished I had had the nerve (or the brains) to do that!

I love this thread. Last minute trips IMHO are sooo much fun.

Aloha!

I love this thread too!

A few years back I needed a refresh badly, and booked a solo week in Hanalei w/ air miles and a last minute getaway at a condo for 199.00 for the week.

DH said, Hawaii??? I said, " a week on Kauai will cost me the same (or less) than a week in Door County, WI (We live near Chicago). What's the difference?"

His response... "nothing wrong with thinking "big"... and absence always makes the grow fonder!"

It was a great last minute trip (w/in 1 week) and I'll always appreciate his flexibility. I really needed a solo getaway.

I just love all of this spontanaety! Last June, my best friend and I were feeling bored, so we decided to drive from NE Ohio to Southern Florida to go to the beach. We packed our bags that night, filled up the gas tank in the morning and headed out. We made no reservations and it took us about a week to get down there--took our time and made plenty of side trips to see what we wanted to and just stopped when we got too tired. (Usually at the cheapest motel we could find--just to make it more adventurous you know...) It was the most fun I have EVER had! Probably can never do that again since we have to be "grown ups" now and go to work every day. That was right after college graduation while stil looking for our "real" jobs...We'll always have the memories though.
PS I would HIGHLY recommend this to any other recent grads out there...

Done this a couple of times.

Right after 9/11 we cancelled my husband's 50th birthday trip to Bali. A few weeks later, I saw a great fare to Japan. Booked it, had a japanese speaking friend book an expensive ryokan, then flew over that weekend! It was fun in that we had nothing planned, so everything went better than expected.

Went to Oregon once on the spur of the moment. I had called Hawaiian Air to ask about FF tickets the next month. They had one that afternoon so I went, and again had a fabulous time!

Not quite as spontaneous as some of you folks, but still a big trip on short notice: A few years ago, hubby and I had booked a sailing charter in the Abacos (Bahamas Out Islands). The day before departure, a hurricane was headed for the Bahamas, and the charter company owner calls me and says we're still welcome to come, but we can't count on sailing.

Not wanting to waste a precious week of vacation, I re-scheduled the Abaco week and got on the computer to see what I could do instead for that week. I then got on the phone with another sailing charter company and booked a boat in the British Virgin Islands (about 10 degrees of latitude south of Abacos, so relatively safe). And I booked a new flight to St. Thomas, and would ferry over to Tortola from there. The next morning, we were off on a totally different vacation -- though it was familiar territory (we even had charts and a cruising guide at home). But my head was spinning.

yes..woke up at 5am, called AirTran, and told my friend to pick me up in FL (from ATL) at 2pm...it was a July 4th weekend...sometimes you just gotta go !

Yes, the kids were sleeping, it was 11:00 pm on a Friday night and we just decided to go somewhere. We threw some clothes and bathing suits in a bag and, in the days of station wagons, made a bed in the back, carried the kids and their pillows out to the car drove all night and by the time they woke up we were in Virginia Beach on the Ocean! We talk about it to this day and it was years ago.

Yes, on many occaisions.

NO Only last minute trip we took was for my father in law's funeral. Not a fun experience.
I wish we could be more spontaneous around here, but life, job, and school take precedence.(For now....)

Summer of 1976. I was eight years old and asking my mother about where she grew up in NY (Brooklyn). After about an hour, she looked at me and said "Want to go?", I said "sure! when?", she said "How about now?". We packed our bags, told my disbelieving brother that we would be back in a few days and headed to the nearest Greyhound bus station for a three night mother and daughter seat of our pants trip to NYC! Visited Coney Island, Radio City Hall, Empire State Bldg, rode subways, ate Nathans, stayed out really late; 1:00am! One of my best memories with my mother that I was able to replicate (this one planned)with my daughter for a surprise trip to Toronto.

I have,like Tuckerde, taken several introductory fare trips. They can be very reasonable and lots of fun, discovering places I may not have normally gone to. It usually takes a week to get going as I like to get hotels and read the reviews before booking.

I've done this a couple of times, but always with road trips. Guess I picked it up from my father. He would wake up on a Saturday morning and, if he felt like getting out of town, would tell my mom to "pack some things, we're leaving." Mom and I (and I think dad, too) never had any idea where we were going. He would just hit the road, pick a direction, and drive until he found a place worth staying at. Those were some great times. (Though driving through Death Valley during July 4th weekend without additional water was probably not the smartest move!)

I've continued this as an adult, with trips to Las Vegas and the border towns of Mexico. Of course, this was back in the days when getting a reasonable, nice hotel in either of these areas was not a hassle!

I miss that sponteneity, but now I have 2 dogs that I have to think about so a little more time is involved in getting away unless I can take them with me.

I absolutely love the long, drawn planning of a vacation. But those short, sudden trips can be a wonderful getaway as well!

All the time in college. During my junior year, a friend & I decided at midnight to drive to Florida. We stayed for 3 nights.

Post-college? Hmm...maybe a couple of spontaneous trips to the Hamptons.