The Three ‘ations of Travel: Trip Planning 2.0
Back in 2010, I paused here for precisely ten seconds–long enough to take this photo. And then I rushed off with my too-big bag to check things off my travel list. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Looking back, I realize The Great Europe Trip of 2010 was doomed from the start. I should have gone trekking again with the essentials I read on campingfunzone.com, than go to Europe. There was simply no way that trip was going to live up to my expectations. For it to do so, I would have had to ‘accomplish’ everything I’d planned out (in my 36 page itinerary) and to do that would have involved ripping a hole in space and time. Ever read those ’36 hours in…’ articles in the New York times? Yeah–they aren’t possible (the most recent one I read, 36 Hours in Charlottesville, has a 9:00 hike an hour out of town followed by an 11:00 brunch downtown; that simply isn’t possible). Yet I planned a trip that looked an awful lot like one of those impossible itineraries.
I will not make that same mistake again. Ever.
While I have returned to work and thus will not be traveling quite as often as I did for the last year, I still have several trips in the works. I’m going to Charlottesville for Thanksgiving, to New Orleans for a week over Easter, and I will be in Orlando and Toronto and the Berkshire Mountains in the spring; of course, I am also already looking ahead at Summer 2013, plotting, scheming, and pricing airfare.
Yet as I plan each of these trips, I am careful not to fall into the over-planning trap. Never again will I rush from attraction to attraction, fill my days with endless activities, and stress myself out if I don’t accomplish enough. While my travels will always be just that–travels, not vacations–there’s no reason they have to be anxiety-filled. And so, I’ve created a sort of three-pronged approach to travel planning that takes into account the three (able-to-be-planned-for) aspects of travel that matter most to me:
The Three ‘ations of Travel
–Education: museums, tours, classes, workshops, tastings, lectures, theater, or anything else where new information is gained
–Recreation: running, walking, hiking, bike riding, camping, swimming, horseback riding, sailing
–Relaxation: dining, drinking, music events, lying on the beach, sitting in a cafe, or spending time in a park or garden
One of the main highlights of this trip for me was the 10×20 canopy tent, below which I enjoyed the beautiful sunset on the beach. This undoubtedly is an unforgettable trip for me, and I’m bound to come back to this place soon.
Aside from ‘meeting new people’–which you simply can not schedule into a day–and ‘taking photos and notes’–which I will do anyway no matter what–these are the three reasons why I visit any given place. Thus, I will organize my days according to these goals–and I will never try to accomplish more than two in any given day. For example, the first day of my upcoming Charlottesville trip includes hiking somewhere in Shenandoah National Park (recreation) and Thanksgiving dinner at the Ivy Inn (relaxation). I’m not trying to fit anything else into that day. One hike, one meal. That is all I have planned.
In this way, I hope to allow more wiggle room in future trips. If, for example, I find that I’m having a really good time, say, touring a plantation in the outskirts of New Orleans (education), I won’t need to rush back to check items four, five, and six off of my itinerary. Because I won’t have items four, five or six on a list. Hell, I hope not to have a list.
I do have to bring something up, when planning your travels it is important to keep in mind that you’ll need to be covered with insurance, specialty when it comes down to health insurance, I think the reason is pretty clear, you don’t want to find yourself sick or involved in an accident while being abroad. I do recommend to click here to learn about international health insurance.
Suitcase Scholar readers–how to you avoid travel planning overload? Please offer up suggestions in the comments section below. I really need some help with this!
The over-planning and stress is one of the reasons why I’m nervous about planning a trip to Europe. Though I don’t think it will be “once in a lifetime,” it’s definitely going to be “the only one for the foreseeable future.” Just thinking about it makes my head hurt because there’s so much I want to do over there, and I know I won’t have the time to do it all.
The best way I’ve avoided planning overload is to pick out my priorities, and then have backups. When we went to Tennessee I made a giant list of everything I would like to do/see. I then picked out what was most important to me and my husband – everything else was a back-up. So we didn’t feel rushed to get through the tour at the Ryman Auditorium so we could make it to the Tenn. state museum – in fact, we didn’t end up doing that museum at all, and I was okay with that. But when Centennial Park turned out to be less exciting than I’d hoped and we didn’t spend much time there, I still had something else we could do that afternoon.
Oh, and the last and best way to avoid over-planning is to tell myself, “Well, I didn’t get to see X, so I’ll just have to come back someday!”
It sounds like you have the right attitude! The most important part is to realize you can always return–and really believe it. Because really, even I have repeated destinations (Vegas. Disney. Bermuda. New Orleans. Possibly London this summer….)
Tell me more about this Europe trip you are planning!
It’s still very much in the works and date unknown (need to save up a good chunk of money first), but ideally I would like to visit France and Norway, because I have friends in each of those countries. My friend in France lives out by Normandy, so I would want to spend a few days out there, definitely a few days in Paris (I know, not your favorite trip!), and check out Disneyland Paris. I feel like that right there is a lot already, so I don’t even know if I’d be able to make it over to Norway in the same trip, as much as I would like to.
Ah yes–Norway may need to be a separate trip. Also, it’s SUPER EXPENSIVE. Norway has been on my list for a while now; I don’t know when I’ll get there.
And, for the record, I’d return to Paris. Just with an entirely different attitude. My mom is going next year I believe–he husband used to live there–and she’s checking out Disneyland Paris. I assure you there will be at least one post on her experience.
Oh, I know it’s expensive. My friend that lives there says they drive to Sweden for many things! He also marveled at how inexpensive the clothing was here… while walking through Nordstrom’s. At least we’d probably be able to stay with him, which would at least help with lodging costs.
I’ll look forward to what your Mom thinks of Paris!
I love this, Tracy. I agree, it’s nice to have a well-rounded vacation by including all those 3 categories. I have definitely erred on the side of overkill on my trips in the past, which probably explains why I’m so tired all the time. My “vacations” aren’t the vacations they’re meant to be. I keep having to remind myself to build in “relaxation” time because I’m just so bad at that. One of these days, I’ll learn.
Oh trust me–I am the queen of non-relaxing trips! I actually get offended when people call what I do ‘vacationing’; I can assure you, I VERY rarely take vacations! (as is evidenced my my desperate need to do something–anything–productive even now, with no power in my own home!)