April 13, 2009
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Calgon, Take Me Away
I’ve always been jealous of people who can travel without a plan. They’re free to move about the world however they like because they don’t need a plan. I need a plan. I need to know where I’m going and at least have a general idea of where I will stay. Heck, I’m going to grad school for a degree in Project Management, which essentially means I want to plan stuff for a living. Flying free just doesn’t work well for me.
I’ve had three friends in my life that can truly travel with no plan in mind. I had lunch with one of them today.
Hombre just came back to the States about four days ago after being away for four months. He decided that he wanted to go Central and South America for awhile to practice his Spanish. He visited Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Mexico while he was gone with no itinerary. He stayed in cheap places and with friends (he has a lot of friends down there since after college graduation, he went right to Mexico and traveled all over for about 6 months, until his money ran out).
He was supposed to come back on February 14th but decided that he wasn’t quite ready to come home so he stayed longer (once again, until his money ran out). Now it looks like he’ll stay in the States for awhile and he’s even looking for a job in the DC area versus going home to TX. Yay!
Do you think you could travel without a plan? Where would you go?
Comments (15)
I don’t think there is anyway I could do this. I could not know which day I’m going where – but I have to have a general idea of where I’m going when I travel. It would drive me nuts otherwise.
Wow, it would be pretty nice to do something like your friend did. Hmm, maybe I should go on a tour of America, staying with local Xangans? hahaha
yup I could. any where there is a beach. I would love to go back to Istanbul and just walk the miles there.
I have always had at least a loose plan. But I do think I could be flexible enough to only book a room to stay in for the next place I am going. The problem with traveling in Europe (and I would assume South and Central America) is that there is so much to see and do that is different you always want to stay in some places longer than you expect!
It’s easier to do this if one is single and you live for yourself only? For me, it would be impossible because I have too many commitments.
Nope!
I couldn’t travel to other nations without a plan, mainly because I would need to know what the most important sites to see would be in case I never make it back again. As far as the US goes, I could (and have) take unplanned day trips just to see places in my state or neighboring states that I probably wouldn’t see had I stuck with a rigid plan.
Could never. Way too anal.
G and I traveled without a plan for our honeymoon. We love rad trips and had always wanted to visit Quebec (and we heard that old Quebec City is very Europe-like) so we just hopped in the car and drove for a week, with no hotel reservations and no real idea of what we wanted to do when we got there. We went through Ottawa and Montreal, got lost in both those places, stayed in random hotels, and had many adventures in Quebec City and surrounding towns. Probably not most peoples’ idea of a great honeymoon, but we had a blast! Thats just the kind of people we are, i guess.
And we have a couple friends who did something similar for their honeymoon, but they took off for over a month and went through 4 provinces…Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI. I wish we had time to do that!
Travel? depends. I can have a day about town and the suburbs with a plan. But once I get to places I totally dont know i need plans
I’d go to this super awesome beach here in the Philippines, Boracay… with or without a plan. I can stay there forever.
I prefer to travel with a plan if outside of the country. But if it’s a local tour, anything goes for me.
Life is not interesting if you know what happens next. Not only when going on a trip, some people think that life is similar to a trip. They won’t stay on the same job the whole life. They don’t know what their next job will be. I subscribe to this view of life.
I am basically a project manager…but I did not know you could get a degree in it!
@shortiegirl99 - I like at least knowing which country lol
@Roadlesstaken - He said one reason that he didn’t do the same thing in the States is because it’s so much more expensive here than in Latin America.
@der_lila_Stern - I suppose I wouldn’t have to have an absolute plan but having a general idea at least would be nice.
@icepearlz - I could never leave for that long either because of work and school!
@Rob_of_the_Sky - Yes! I think I would do a lot better in the States without a plan than in another country. I like taking random day trips!
@Persiankitty - I wish I had a lot more time to travel.
@DivineCaesar44 - I think I would be okay with day trips.
@Ritzypuffles - I love places like that!
@icapillas - I’m with you on that one. Wandering around someplace that you are sort of familiar with would be okay by me.
@choyshinglin - Very true!
@youandwhosearmy - Yup, I’m not sure you can do an undergrad degree in it but definitely a Masters. I know you can also get a certificate before you sit down for the actual PMI certification.