There is an uncelebrated aspect of traveling that I think we should talk more about: planning. The entire online travel community is built upon this premise, yet we rarely talk about it. The act of planning your trip: reading, researching, crafting itineraries; can be an act of tantalizing anticipation. Otherwise, why would there be so many sites (like this one) dedicated to describing past trips, giving readers travel tips, or flashing their latest pics?
The fact is: most of the people reading this will never quit their job and travel around the world. So why are you reading?
The answer is the same as why I read blogs about travel to China or an insider’s look at being a flight attendant. I don’t have any plans in the short term to travel to China or become a airline employee. But it’s interesting to me, to read about other people’s experiences and it informs my own travel decisions.
Right now, I’m planning the next leg of my journey, this time with a home base in Mexico and traveling around South America over the next six months. I’m filled with the same expectation and thrill as I was last spring when I planned my course around Europe. What will it be like? Where should I go? How can I craft a unique and valuable experience that best fits with my interests and travel style? Right now, it’s a blank slate, and it’s wonderfully delicious.
We should celebrate this aspect of the travel experience, especially when research can be even better than the real thing. When I planned my time in Spain, I read about the Rastro Market. I pictured this wonderful open air market, selling jars of spices, handmade crafts, and hand picked flowers. Several people recommended it highly. When my husband and I spent a Sunday morning touring the several blocks of vendors, we found typical flea market offerings. T-shirts, scarves, belts and shoes sold en masse. A few junk faux antique places. Comics and magazines, aged and wrapped in plastic. An airbrush artist that would paint your kids face on a t-shirt. I was expecting a 19th century spice route bazaar, and instead got a modern tourist trap. Am I disappointed? Hardly. I spent 2 months dreaming about it and now I have a story to tell. The fact that I had great expectations was the only noteworthy part of the experience.
The expectation of travel can be a rewarding pursuit in itself. The side benefit is that well-researched trips not only go off smoother, but seem richer. A course in Art History, makes a trip to a famous museum even more interesting as you consider the artist’s history, how they were shaped by their time and the impact they had future generations. Seeing a painting for the first time verses seeing a painting you’ve read about extensively can be a totally different experience.
So now, I’m back to this wonderful phase of travel: the planning. I’m reading books, researching online, learning about the history and imagining how great it will be to finally be there. It won’t be the same as I imagine, it will be worse and better and just plain different. But it’s one of my favorite parts of travel– I’ve even planned elaborate trips I’ve never gone on (I have a Thailand trip all planned out, if I could just get myself that far east).
Want to stretch your travel dollars? Spend a few months planning before your next trip. You’ll feel like you spent twice as long there and learned five times as much.
So what are you planning?
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:44 pm
The act of planning does lead to wonderful anticipatory sensations. You have an idea about the place, but let’s not forget all the wonderful little things you discover “on the ground.” The things that never make it to a guidebook.
When I traveled to Guilin (China) I met a local university student that took me through the backstreets (without the backstreet boys, thank God). I had a massage, given by a man she referred to as “The Master”. He will never be in a guidebook but was a highlight of the trip.
Good luck on your next leg.
Stevos last blog post..happy guoqingjie
October 3rd, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Oh man, I couldn’t agree more! When I was living in the UK and trotting around every weekend to cathedrals or whatever else, I passed my spare time reading guidebooks about - you guessed it - other places! As soon as I know I’m going somewhere for sure, I move on to the next dreaming/planning phase.
Right now I’ve got a big question mark on the radar, because I’m applying for a four-month internship in NYC (starting in January) but have no idea whether I’ll get it. So I bounce back and forth between some serious New York fantasizing and a whole host of other ideas - most of which, as you said, may never actually happen. I’m itching to get back to Europe (Italy, England, Scotland, for a start…) and have also had Thailand and Vietnam on my mind of late. Not to mention Canada’s north which has been calling me for years!
I always find it funny when hardcore ‘traveler not tourist’ types claim they don’t do any planning… To me it really is half (well, maybe three-eighths) of the fun!
Evas last blog post..James Brown - Night Train
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Absolutely!! I’ve said that we will get three years worth of enjoyment out of our one year RTW trip…one year planning…one year traveling…and one year organizing all the pics and stories - and then beyond that is the lifetime of memories! The planning phase is so much fun - for all the reasons you say - because the trip will be just like what you planned, or not at all like what you planned, but maybe a better story for it!!
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I couldn’t agree more.
And I’ve found, since my kids started school, that it pays to relish the planning part of travel because our travel times are usually within school vacation times. Lots of dreaming and planning, less actual traveling.
In answer to your question about what are we planning, well, we’re going to ditch the school-limits come June 2010 and head off on our own RTW. Check out my blog post (the offical ‘trip launch’) here.
wandermoms last blog post..i love legoland
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Let me know when you’re in Chile! I’d love to show you around, or you could even crash on my futon if you’re not scared of strangers.
Kyles last blog post..Group Blogging Topic
October 3rd, 2008 at 9:51 pm
This was such a great reminder.
I am planning to go to El Salvador to visit a friend in December. I planned it so far ahead partly because I am one of your “will never quit their job” readers and need the advance notice. But mostly because I wanted to catch up on my Spanish and give myself a refresher course on what I learned at my Jesuit University about the civil war down there so that I can really garner an appreciation for where the country is today.
Since I am getting there via Guatemala (because it is cheaper to fly there) I recently made plans to stay an extra day here to get a look at Antigua. I can’t wait to keep planning over the next few months!
Susan F.s last blog post..gearing up for my girlfriend getaway
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I agree there can be pleasure in the planning, but also a lot of pressure. I’ve planned dozens of trips for our family (and trust me, we’ve got a LOT of requirements for destinations and accommodations).
I really knocked myself out on our recent 4-week trip to England and Spain, and was totally burned out when it came time to put together a trip to Costa Rica in March.
So I outsourced.
I thought I would feel like a sell-out because, after all, this is what I DO. You know what? I felt great. Of course, it’s too soon to tell if the trip will succeed or fail, but we all face the same planning odds, right?
Sometimes it’s nice to take a break, and just go along for the ride.
jamies last blog post..Friday Finds: Disney at the Great Wall, Stress, and Vegas (Baby)
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Christine-
I really loved your description of the market–the difference between others’ descriptions and your own experience, and the fact you weren’t disappointed– happens to me all the time.
At present, I’m planning (unexpectedly) to leave Mexico a week earlier than expected to return to South Carolina for my grandmother’s funeral. Then it’s back to NYC, where I hope to meet you and Eva in person, and then to Guantanamo Bay for three days. Am reading up on that now.
Julies last blog post..The We Pay Your Rent Contest!
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Maybe I am a little crazy, but travel is my favorite part of travel.
October 4th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I am in my Eleventh month of travel. In the last year I travel Egypt—five months, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, I am currently traveling Turkey.
I have a tentative plan and route for my 5 to 7 year travel epoch, although life is about the moment. A plan can change slightly once that moment arrives, which happened. I ending up house sitting in Beirut for two months over the hot summer, which I would have never had thought of doing until the provision was provided which took place in the moment.
I did actively do research for a year in a half before I departed America, although I am sticking to my tentative plan, because my route is based on my interested in history.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I completely agree. Planning is so exciting!! It’s the time that starts right after you make that decision to go. Looking around, comparing, it’s very exciting. I never thought I’d be one of your “quit your job” types, but never say never!! I loved the planning I did for my upcoming extended stay in Jamaica. And I can’t wait to start planning my 6 month sabbatical for next year. I’m debating South America also, so I’ll be reading your posts very closely!
October 4th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
In my planning process, I also try to read non-guidebook books about the place—fiction, history, etc. I find it balances all the facts of the guidebooks and gives me more of a “feel” for a place. And I just love to read.
Theresas last blog post..Adios Amigos
October 4th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I couldn’t agree more! I constantly ‘plan’ trips, even if I never implement them. I started to read travel literature long before I made my first trip. Now when I travel I often don’t even recognize places or things described by others. And sometimes the story in a book was far more interesting and colourful than the real thing. 25 years ago when I read Ella Maillard’s book “Forbidden Journey” and Peter Fleming’s “One’s Company” I realized for the first time how different traveler perceive and describe the same thing. Both traveled together at the same time from Peking to Kashmir and the descriptions couldn’t be more different at times – it’s almost as if they went on a separate journey. But isn’t that the case with everything we experience? If you ask two people about the same thing they experienced, you get most often very different answers. What I took away from their books was: “I have to go see for myself.” – but, of course, I still didn’t find the time to do it, and then, you can’t really experience nor even see the same thing what others did and saw over 60 years ago. So I keep dreaming and keep that exciting feeling a little longer awake…
Fidas last blog post..My Heart Soars, too!
October 5th, 2008 at 11:57 am
My whole life is one failed travel plan. I was supposed to be in Europe still. where am I now? Thailand? I was going to go to NZ this winter? Am I? Nope.
I am constantly making travel plans then breaking them….then making them again. but it’s so much fun. The anticipation is half the joy.
October 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I do do some planning, and that does build excitement for the trip, but more so, I like to leave some things unplanned. It allows for spontaneity, and meeting up with people I meet, and locals as well. It makes life more exciting. Though of course I do plan out necessities - like places to stay and what not.
October 5th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Amen, sister! Planning is at least half the fun!
And, well, sometimes it’s *all* the fun, as has been the case with my RTW trip that I’ve been planning for the past two years but can’t quite get off the ground. (&$*!@ housing market/credit crunch/economic debacle!) I have decided to plan a small trip in November, though, rather than waiting around for some mythical fairy godmother to change things for me. Because I’ve been researching and planning to travel *somewhere* for quite some time now, it’s that much easier for me to hit the road, without having to start from scratch. I’m just pulling the Thailand & Malaysia chapters out of my big geeky travel binder, and off we go!
I totally agree with NewWrldYankee that planning allows for flexibility. In my case, I have a short list of “must-see” stuff, to make sure I don’t miss anything crucial. I leave the order and a lot of the details up to the delicious random chance that happens when you travel with an open mind and heart.
Sonias last blog post..How Well Do You Know Your World?
October 5th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I’m a bit fanatatical when it comes to travel planning. I always seem to overdo it with books, websites, local newspapers, travel discussion boards and guides to the point that I almost get tired of the place before I go! The funny thing is that I almost never have the experiences that I so carefully plan. For me, that really is the fun of it.
October 6th, 2008 at 1:52 am
Planning is one of the greatest parts of traveling. I love the anticipation, the research, the learning about a place before I go. I read a book not too long ago called The Art of Travel by Aldous Huxley I think. He went on at some length about the act of planning a trip. The anticipation, envisioning what you will do, who you will meet, what experiences you will have, all add to the excitement of actual travel. Sometimes it’s the planning stage that’s actually more fun than the traveling stage! (I said it. Some trips honestly can be very disappointing if you don’t have the right mindset)
Thanks for the post. It’s so true, everything we are doing as bloggers is based around people planning to travel, and yet we so rarely get to talk about it.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Yes, planning is half the fun. Also, reading one’s experience can be as good as if you were there. If they have photos to prove it, then it amps up the need to go and be there yourself.
michs last blog post..Books I Must Read Before I Die
October 6th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I worry though, that I will overplan…over anticipate…over expect - and then I will be disappointed by the real experience. I actually am purposefully trying not to look at too many pictures of where we plan to go b/c I want to experience MY experience. It’s trying to balance between planning enough to know what I want to do, where I want to go - but not overplanning so that I can’t enjoy the actual experience.
October 6th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Planning travel is truly one of life’s great little pleasures…heck you can do it even if you never intend to set foot on a plane! I just returned from Nicaragua and thoroughly enjoyed the pre-trip planning, almost as much as the experience itself.
mark_haywards last blog post..Train for Humanity Week Three Update
October 6th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Overplanning– that’s a great blog topic. I think overplanning your specific schedule is the worst way to travel. But I don’t think you can overplan as far as research, reading about the area, learning as much as you can. Then throw out your guidebook and just wing it!
Great feedback everyone!
October 6th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Great post, as usual! I liked your example about the Art History course. That’s one of my favorite things about visiting Europe a few years ago. It was right after I took an Art History class in college and then I visited the British Museum, the Louvre, and Rome (which is pretty much like an open-air museum anyway). I have so many dorky pictures of myself posing with various statues and frescoes and who-knows-what in the British Museum because I was so excited to see that stuff in person.
I do agree that over-planning can be a problem. But when it comes to dreaming and living vicariously (especially now that so many of us can’t afford to travel), there’s no such thing as too much.
October 8th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I want to first off saying that this website is great especially for folks whose passion is traveling. Those who get to do never, sometimes, and all the time but no matter what never stop dreaming about it. Personally, I have been fortunate that I have been traveling since I was little but always 2,3 or 4 week stints. My story is similar to yours, Christine, that I got a great job out of college instead of traveling, then started a company which has been going for the past 5 years but next November is when I have slated to take a year off to just travel. FINALLY!!!
I am starting to begin the planning piece of this adventure. My big question I have for you or anyone that reads this is the opinion of picking several “home base” spots and travel from there or do more of the “back packer” mentality and just go?
Thanks a lot and again…GREAT SITE!
October 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Oh yes, planning for travel is great. It is a peculiar combination of imagination and creativity that, for me at least, translates the “Can I?” into the “When I!”
[F]oxymorons last blog post..Are You A Wedge-Walker?
October 9th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I think the idea that you spend what seems longer in a place by doing some research captures the essence of planning - not strict timetables but building a good apprecaition of the place(s) that you are visiting. A really fine post.
Mark Hs last blog post..Exploring the Incan Wonderland - Part One (Machu Picchu, Peru)
October 14th, 2008 at 3:46 am
Planning is the fun part! Sometimes though, things that doesn’t go the way you planned it works, too.
Jennys last blog post..Australia Driving Directions from Alice Springs to Sydney
October 28th, 2008 at 2:41 am
I think that maybe, this website has saved my life (or at least my future happiness and mental sanity).
Too much to explain in a blog comment? definitely.
More to come in an email to you (someday) I’m sure.
For now, thanks for writing all of this.
nicoleantoinettes last blog post..the universal question