No matter how often I travel, I still get it. The nervous indecision. The clammy palms. The tightness in the chest. Shortness of breath. Feeling overwhelmed. And yes, as I prepare to leave for Scotland in a few weeks it’s here in full force: the pre-travel jitters.
I only know of one cure for the pre-travel jitters: information, and lots of it.
There are many voices in the travel blogosphere that advocate the benefits of spontaneous travel. Just pack a bag, pick a direction, and go, doing little research and pre-planning, simply having a willingness to be adventurous.
That sort of no-holds-barred sort of travel has always intrigued me. The concept of making travel plans on the fly while following my bliss seemed to me the mark of a true adventurer, a badge of badass-ness, if you will.
So over the past twelve months, I’ve done a little experimenting with that instant, fly-by-the-seat of your pants travel. I’ve toyed with limiting the information I receive about my destinations in advance (famously blocking images in my web browser when looking up info for a trip to Savannah, Georgia). I’ve also done the “not-buying-a-guidebook” and arriving at a destination almost completely blind. All the experimentation has done is to teach me–the hard way, you might say–that unplanned travel is not for me.
After all was said and done, I realized the last time I completely, utterly, ridiculously enjoyed traveling was when I’d done in-depth research and planning in advance. I need the planning process. It’s a critical element of the whole travel experience that creates structure which provides the boundaries I need as a solo traveler.
Planning matters because it’s part of my safety strategy. A natural scaredy-cat, I need lists and schedules and such to help me to feel prepared for the uncertainty that lies ahead. Knowing exactly where to go, when to go, and what to do calms my fears and allows me to enjoy the experience.
But all of this isn’t to say that I’m unwilling to go off the beaten path and explore without a plan. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’m not saying I have to follow my plans to the letter, but by creating a plan, I construct a framework that gives me the freedom to go off-plan when travel mojo strikes and I’m given the opportunity to do something completely off the cuff. Plans provide a tether for me, a safety net of sorts and the truth is, I need that. And because I primarily travel alone, having plans to share with my family in advance gives them peace of mind, too.
So here’s to planning. To the compulsive need to have itineraries and check-off lists and follow schedules. And here’s to throwing all of that out of the window when something more interesting pops up in my path.
Are you a planner when it comes to travel, or do you prefer a more spontaneous approach? Why?
Excellent post…again! I am like you, a planner. I plan almost every aspect of my life and it is a sickness really. I LOVE planning though. I am also like you in that although I have the bones of a travel plan, I do not restrict myself to it fully. If I wake up and don’t want to visit a certain place on that days list because something intrigued me the day before, I am not so rigid in my stance that I won’t break away form my to do list. I am flexible but I need to plan. I need to find out as much about the country/city I am heading to. It makes me feel safe and more excited when the time comes.
Also, Scotland?!?! OMG! I cannot wait for your recounts of this country. Wow, I am so excited for you.
Absolutely agreed, Rhona! As I wrote, planning provides a framework, but it’s also important to live in the moment. And yes, Scotland! I’m beginning to get excited as the trips is mere weeks away, now.
I wrote a post a while back about my love of travel planing (http://travelerahoy.com/?p=867). For me planning helps bring my trip to life, planning and researching actually gets me really excited to go. I don’t consider panning to be some sort of rigid structure, like you mentioned it’s more of a framework. I research the basics of my destination, I research a few things that sounds/look interesting but I don’t try to schedule everything. I dream big, but I’m also a realist. I know I might not be able to do everything I want, and I also know be spontaneous has its bonuses as well.
Sigh…that’s the one thing about planning I don’t necessarily appreciate–once you realize through your research how much there is do see at a destination, you want to do everything even though you know you can’t. Ah travel, so much to do, so little time!
I totally agree! I love to plan. I always think not planning means I’ll be on the bus/train/plane out of somewhere and someone will say to me “Oh, didn’t you just love ” and it will have completely passed me by!
OMG, Lou! You’re totally right. I hadn’t even thought about that aspect of it, but it’s happened quite a few times to me (usually has something to do with missing a really good restaurant). Yet another reason to break out the ol’ travel planning binder.
I’m with Lou! If I don’t research and plan ahead of time, I spend the trip terrified that just around the corner from my hotel was, say, a fantastic sci-fi museum that I somehow missed, but would have adored if I’d only known it was there. 🙂 I feel much more secure knowing that I have some idea of what the area attractions are, and which ones I am / am not interested in seeing… plus, like you said, there’s the whole transportation timetable issue, which I absolutely have to have planned in advance.
The only time I’ve really ever stepped outside that comfort zone was when I went to visit a good friend of mine in Brazil for two weeks, and I let him do all the planning, but that doesn’t really count since it wasn’t solo travel! 🙂
It’s funny how I can plan a trip for someone else, but as for me and my solo jaunts, I usually gloss over the planning step. As long as I have a place to stay and the basics, like how to get around, exchange rate and a map, I’m good to go. The rest just kinda gets made up as I go along. Working on becoming a better planner for myself though.
April–I’m impressed….I’m pretty sure I couldn’t travel like that. To be honest, I sorta tried that mode of travel during a recent trip to Belgium, and I found I didn’t like it nearly as much as I thought I would. As others have mentioned in the comments, I think a bit part of planning is the anticipation it elicits. I’m the kind of person who’s a total homebody unless I have something really interesting to leave home for, so that probably extends to the way I travel. I need to know why I’m going and where I’m going before I even set foot outside the front door.
I’m a bit of both actually. In 2001 I left Melbourne bound for Sydney to live there for five months. No planning at all. Just my suitcase, ticket and Lonely Planet travel guide. And I love it. That whole sense of adventure sustained me the whole five months I was there.
That said I was an Australian traveling in Australia so I felt pretty secure and safe. I’m in the early stages of planning an epic trip to South America one day and it’s the complete opposite. I want to know every detail about every city that I want to visit. Essentially like you the information helps me feel secure. But I think that once there if not before hand the travel bug will hit me again like a lightning bolt.
Matt–Congrats on your upcoming trip to South America! Where will you be going? I think your need to plan, plan, plan may also have to do with the fact that you’re venturing into territory where the language and culture are so different from what you’re accustomed to. I’d be interested how that style of travel turns out for you.
It actually depends where I’m going. I’m comfortable enough to be spontaneous within most of the US. Chicago and New York were trips I really had to prepare for, though. Anything outside the US has to be thoroughly thought through, planned and prepared.
Sara–I agree…I think the element of the unfamiliar does have something to do with the need to plan. After all, when you’re leaving the relative familiarity of your home country and venture out into the “unknown” that’s when you’d most feel the need to be prepared. Although I still can’t imagine myself traveling within the US without doing just a leetle bit of planning…
I’m right there with you, Marsha. I find I cannot function if I haven’t done thorough planning before a trip, because I just can’t make spur-of-the-moment decisions about what to do next. I just don’t enjoy my trips as much if I haven’t done my usual thorough planning for them. And to me, the planning process is part of the enjoyment of the trip, too–it builds anticipation.
I’m so learning to love the lists. They help to calm anxieties and mitigate confusion leading up to a trip. I think it’s time to break out my travel binder again.