Comments on: What’s Best - Spontaneous or Planned Travel?

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:47:48 +0000

As you say Shakester, planning is huge but being spontaneous is just as huge. It’s just a question of getting the right balance between the two for most of us.

As for total spontaneous travel, I don’t know if I’ll ever get there - I’m too much of a knowledge geek and researcher…once I decide on something, I need to research….even if that only means stopping in at the local info center and picking up all the brochures and maps.

Nia, your Turkey trip sounds like it was a blast…and meeting Aussies and Kiwis is always a great thing on the road…we love to travel and we love to meet people…it’s a win / win situation.

And anyone who hasn’t already read the ‘Sudden Journeys’ at National Geographic Traveler really should head over to the link that Marilyn has supplied — it’s a great collection of adventures and will give you nothing but ideas and dreams of your own.

Happy travels everyone!!

By: Marilyn Terrell

Marilyn Terrell — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:42:47 +0000

I love the half-planned approach. It leaves you open for those serendipitous moments that make a trip memorable. National Geographic Traveler ran a collection of stories called “Sudden Journeys” about the joys of not planning, from some of our favorite writers:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/features/suddenjourneys0705/journeys.html

By: Antonia Malchik

Antonia Malchik — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:52:54 +0000

The first time I traveled totally spontaneously, some friends and I landed at the airport in Istanbul at 1 in the morning. The subway wasn’t working, we eschewed the badgering from cab drivers, so we ended up napping and chatting on the seats until 5 am. We also finally cracked the communal Lonely Planet, which we hadn’t even glanced at before flying out of Scotland.

We traveled all down the west coast of Turkey, barely planning a day ahead and happily following people (mostly Australians and New Zealanders, of course!) who invited us to see what they were seeing and eat where they were eating. Not only was it one of the best trips of my life, but I loved just sitting in the airport and watching the people, sinking slowly into this new culture.

Nowadays I’m a half-and-halfer. I read a lot of books before I go somewhere, and get excited about all sorts of history and building an awareness of a place. But when I go, I just pick up a city map and start walking. Walk, look, eat. Get lost. There’s nothing like getting lost.

By: shakester

shakester — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:27:56 +0000

the Planning is huge, its fun, it extends your travel experience beyond the actual days spen away. With every trip over the last few years I have travelled, I find myself relying less on the guidebook. By no means do I find it dispensable, but i read it much more beofre than during. It comes out most often for a map to see where exactly I am, and to read about the spot I am visiting ( a castle or temple, and the like).

My last trip we used the book very little indeed, and it felt great. I occassionally had the gnawing doubt of ‘am i missing something by not looking up the book in greater detail today?”, but mostly it was all good.

But genuine spontaneous travel I can only see happening in one of two situations:
- when I have a long time -at least a month [which I have not had till now:( ]
- when there are places in my ‘backyard’. Eg. living in New delhi and going to McLeodganj, or living in Hanoi and going to Sapa for a few days.

By: Liz

Liz — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:09:32 +0000

Scribetrotter, sounds like a great way to live and travel. So much freedom to do as you please…oh well, maybe one day…

Pete, the half-planned approach sounds like a pretty good strategy, especially on long distance flights…after 12 hours in the plane, I sure don’t want to have to look for a place to rest my head…

Road trips are best left unplanned and spontaneous…just go where the road takes you.