The Traveler’s Grapevine: Trip Planning Via Word of Mouth

After Bocas del Toro, I wanted to head north into Costa Rica.  I had vaguely planned to head to San Jose, but I had no idea where to go.  Someone told me about Puerto Viejo, a surfing town just a few hours north.  It’s one of the cheapest places to learn how to surf, great hostels and has beautiful beaches.  I was sold.

More and more as I travel, I find myself using the recommendations of other travelers, rather than planning hard travel dates.  I catch a bus on a whim, find myself in a unknown town and wander around until I find a good place to stay.

There was a time when this would have been unfathomable to me.  What no printed maps?  No reservations?  No carefully crafted itinerary that guarantees I’ll spend most of my time running around hitting a laundry list of sites?  But the more that I travel, I notice this shift over time.  Some of my best travel experiences have been when I’ve quickly darted off the planned route, on some recommendation, only to happy surprised on arrival.  If you’re traveling, here are some good reasons to plan on the fly.

1.  Guidebooks, Travel Literature, Magazines (and so on) aren’t written for you. They’re written for a demographic, a general audience and no travel writer can possibly anticipate every perspective.  But when you’re hearing about a place first hand, you pepper your friend with questions… “How strong is the internet there?”  or “If I don’t want to surf, is there still interesting things to do?” or “Will people speak to me in Spanish there?”.

2.  Everything is so positive, until it’s not.  Listen, no one is going to trash Panama City in a guidebook, online or otherwise.  But if you listen to what travelers say, you’ll start hearing the same things… not much to see, a little dirty, some parts are dangerous and overall it’s underwhelming.  You might still want to go, or this candid advice might steer you in another direction.  It’s valuable information if you only have a limited time and don’t want to waste precious travel days being disappointed.

3.  Travel literature doesn’t “emote”. When someone breathlessly tells you about the amazing time they just had in the town up the road, you tend to listen.  Often I’m a little amazed by these stories, because usually the guides I had read were dry accounting of detail, with little to differentiate the outstanding from the ho-hum.

4.  Everything changes. This week it’s raining on the Caribbean coast, but sunny and temperate on the Pacific side.  Having the flexibility travel according to the on the ground conditions can make the difference between sitting in the rain for a week or enjoying near perfect weather.  Beyond weather, local festivals, special events and even how you feel can change where you want to go.

5.  You’re opening yourself to chance. You might find yourself in Guatemala for Santa Semana or in Panama for Carnaval or a tulip festival in Holand.  If you’re blowing past, because of pre-made commitments, you could be missing out on the highlights of your trip.  Allowing chance to drive at least part of your trip, listening to what other travelers are saying, and crafting your journey one step at a time could make all the difference.

How do you travel?  Itinerary in hand, down to the bus schedule or do you work out the details as you go?