The first time I made a trip with no set plans was when I was living in New Zealand in 1983. I went back to marry Dawn, but I knew in a few weeks it wasn't going to happen; I considered it just to get a work permit, but that's not a good reason to marry. Anyway... A friend of mine was getting married up in the north island, I was living in the deep south (a town called Gore) and I decided to go. I bought a bus and rail pass and set out across the country. When I would get to a city in the evening the first thing I did was find a place to stay. I liked the motor camps as they were very inexpensive and I had packed a sleeping bag. Then I would find a place to eat once I got settled and then I would go explore the city. It was great fun, I had many great adventures!
The next trip was in 2004 when I made a trip into California to drive the Pacific Coast Highway. All we had was a flight into LA, a rental car and a flight home from San Francisco a week later. It was another great trip and very relaxing. Later the same year my boyfriend and I at the time, continued the trip from SF to Seattle. I will always look back on these trips with very fond memories.
I think I've kind of lived my life this way. I had no set plans; I took opportunities that came my way. I had some great adventures and have met some wonderful people along the way. Sometimes I think back and wished I would have had more focus to finish college and maybe pursue a different line of work, or as I talked about earlier this week, I sometimes wish I had planned for retirement better. But this journey called life has been good. I've made some mis-steps but also had some amazing adventures along the way. I try not to live with too many regrets.
Have y'all lived by an itinerary?
Has anyone else taken a vacation like the ones I described?
Please, share your thoughts and your stories.
5 comments:
My last vacation was this past December in Chicago. A friend of mine flew into town and we drove down to the Windy City. We didn't have any plans the whole weekend. We just played it by ear and did whatever we felt when we felt it...but seriously, you know me too well, of course I had the entire weekend planned down to the last detail...
Lunch in Cannon with Scott, dinner at Bandera on Friday, shopping on Michigan Avenue and the Art Institute on Saturday...John Hancock Observatory...Nordstrom so someone could get a "cool" car coat...the only non planned items were the couple of trips to the local watering hole and the unexpected event Sunday morning before we left. Other than that, it was da bomb!
I think you remember the trip very, very well, you are such a good friend to allow me to drag you around for 3 days...
I would love a holiday without an having the whole thing structured. Most of the time I have everything ready, from where to stay to what to do/where to eat etc. I've tried nudge my Someone to 'let's wing it' but he is fearful of that, so no 'let's stop when we are tired' finds.
However, next month I am in Hawaii, and I don't plan to structure anything but my courses. If I end up doing nothing so be it. I am looking forward to this.
I used to be rather, er, anal, about planning out everything I/we had to do on a trip. Then something snapped or clicked, and now most of the time I just happy if I make it to our destination.
I've driven all or part of the 4500 miles from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland many times (twice solo, with my children, with my mother, twice as a child with my family...) Most of the time as an unstructured or unplanned event... love the freedom of a road trip!
Greg and I like to travel semi-itinerary free. We spent 18 days in Hawaii and I planned our mornings but the afternoons and evenings were "come what may". That worked out wonderfully. We spent 4 days in San Francisco in 2008 and other than our wedding at City Hall, the time there was completely unplanned and we loved it.
I think it's the best way to go, otherwise you become a slave to your planning, and it may turn out your planning wasn't so good.
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