Newsboy

I gave up on New Year's Eve a long time ago. The "amateur night" aspect of it aside, it finally dawned on me after so many years of TRYING to have a good time that no matter how well-laid your plans, the night seldom if never turns out as memorable as you'd like it to be.

Traveling is much the same way. How many times have you PLANNED a great trip, only to come bck home feeling like you missed something, or never quite arrived, or wasted your time altogether? Reading through many of the threads on this Web site I get the feeling that an awful lot of people OVER plan or at the least, OVER anticipate what to expect of a place rather than just going in with an open mind and discovering it ... for themselves.

As a recent poster commented, "I really wanted to like (fill in the blank) but found it soulless."

Hmm.

Personally, a lifetime of hearing how incredible San Francisco supposedly is set me up for a huge disappointment when I actually went to the place for the first time. I thought it was horrible -- crowded, dirty and way too costly.

On the other hand, a last-minute decision to accompany friends on a car trip to Kansas City early one fall ended up being the trip of a lifetime -- a chance to discover and explore a beautiful, nearly spotless, vibrant Midwestern city I'd likley never have visited otherwise.

Sure, travel requires some degree of planning and research, but to me the most satisifying and rewarding journeys are those that lead me to places I didn't search out, but instead somehow seemed to find me: A perfect small town in Alabama, an untouched barrier island in S.C., a sidewalk cafe on a sidestreet in Brooklyn I just stumbled upon one day and "discovered."

utahtea

I do find the sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised about an area that I'm not that interested in.

Maybe I don't put that much into my expetations..or maybe because we travel mainly to National Parks...it's hard to be let down.

Or maybe it doesn't matter where I'm at as long as I'm with my Dear Husband...it just doesn't matter as long as we are on vacation.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, we always seem to have a good time, no matter where we go.

Utahtea

hdm

I know what you mean. I used to come home and get frustrated when people asked me if I did or saw this or that and I hadn't. Or if I read someone's trip report and found out I'd missed the BEST restaurant or the BEST bargain or the BEST museum. I was so frantic to do and see everything, I often let the things I was actually doing and seeing pass me by.

I've found that I'm happiest when I travel if I just try to 'be in the moment'. I want to sit in that cafe and watch the people, enjoy the lunch, feel the sun on my face. I don't need to see every picture in the museum or bring the perfect gift home for everyone in my family. I want to walk, look, see, eat, sleep, and enjoy my SO's company without both of us getting overtired and cranky.

Our travel plan now is this: unless there's something we absolutely have to get up early for, we sleep in, have a leisurely coffee in the local cafe, take a walk, maybe go to a museum or a church or some special event -- we particularly like markets -- relax before dinner, eat late and slowly, take a walk.

My goal when I travel is to feel as much like I live in that place as possible. I know I'll always stick out as a tourist, my in my heart I just want to shop at the fruit stand and buy a local newspaper to look at in the cafe, even if I can't actually read it!

iamq

"How many times have you planned a great trip, only to come back home feeling like you missed something, or never quite arrived, or wasted your time altogether?"

Honestly, I can't say that has ever happened, but then again I'm going to Maui in two weeks, so there's always a first time.

I don't know what you mean by overplanning and I don't think being well-informed leads to high or unrealistic expecations. Actually I have found just the opposite to be true. I get information from a variety of sources. The more I know about a place, the better prepared I am to meet the place head-on with realistic expectations. To me the planning is the set up. Then I show up, trust my gut and let the cards fall where they may.


-Bill

Dukey

Thinking you might always agree with and enjoy what someone ELSE thinks is "the best" is perhaps part of the problem.

tovarich

Planning a holiday for me is an essential part(and a lot of fun)of it all.Every person has his own preferences and with planning(internet,guide books ...) you can anticipate the things you want to see. You wont be so dissapointed about a hotel if you have already been able to see where you will be sleeping and checked to environment.Of course I always see it through a European point of view. We are no longer enthralled to see a cathedral(buult in the 18th century) when we live in the shadow of a Gothic cathedral.It's a good thing that we do not all like the same things.Having extensively toured the US we are always happy when we are able to include as many National parks as we can.Greetings from Belgium.Paul

hdm

But Dukey, if I seek out and respect travelers opinions on this website before I go, why would I have any less respect for those opinions after I come back? I might not agree something was the best once I'd tried it, but I might have wanted the opportunity to try it.

If you're such a thorough planner that you see absolutely everything you planned to see, ate everywhere you planned to eat, saw every single painting you wanted to see, you're a better man than I, Gunga Din. Never mind travel -- I don't even feel that way when I'm home! There's always something I wish I had time to do or had known about before the opportunity passed me by.

I guess I'm just greedy for all experiences and hate to think I've missed anything. I often have to remind myself, as I've said above, to enjoy the moment and let the others go.