Wanderluster: Spontaneous Travel

“The gladdest moment in human life is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Travel on the brain

I must have travel on the brain or perhaps my last post inspired me to go jet setting. Whatever it was, this past week I took a very super impromptu last minute trip. In fact it was so impromptu that less then 14 hours from deciding to go, I was on the road, packed and having somehow managed to book everything I needed to last minute. It was a miracle of miracles, but also extremely outside my comfort zone.

For the record, if you hadn’t figured it out yet, I am NOT a spontaneous traveller. I plan EVERYTHING irregardless if I am traveling solo or with friends. In fact my friends and I will have phone dates or coffee dates to go over itineraries (we also typically split planning, but that is a hack to share for another day) for our trip. I’ll have reservations booked well in advance, as well as packed and ready to go. Heck I have a trip planned the last week of April and I have been half packed since March.

Yes, friends, I am that person who packs months in advance. Usually it is so I can then unpack so that by the time my trip comes around I have everything down to a single suitcase and my computer bag. Of course this does exclude anything I am shooting, but even that is planned weeks if not months in advance, but I digress.

Spontaneous Trip 

Honestly, my type A-ness won’t allow me to be anything BUT a planner. That said, with Mother Nature being temperamental AND the Easter holiday upon us, as well as my aforementioned trip at the end of April, a trip I had been contemplating, though hadn’t booked anything yet, was pushed up and with-in fourteen hours I was booked, packed, and off! I had even made plans tote together with a friend, not once but TWICE during the trip. In many ways it was serendipitous, because she was also free last minute.

There are definitely pro’s and con’s. Be spontaneous was made easier because I went back to a place I know and love and I also had connections that made it easier for me to book things. I know if this had been in the height of summer, I would not have been able to be so spontaneous, mostly because the place I visited would have been packed with people, and everything would have been booked. Knowing your destination is key, and makes it much easier to be so spontaneous. I also realize that for some, that still isn’t spontaneous travel, but we all have to do what makes us comfortable. I also am well aware that two years ago I wouldn’t have even been able to do this and it is a testament to how far we have come with everything going on in the world.

A Different Way To Travel

I can’t say that this will be a new way of travel for me, but it was kind of exciting. There was a certain amount of freedom of just leaving the next day and flying by the seat of my pants as they say. While I did book things, it was fun to be spontaneous and not have that pressure of a strict itinerary I had to follow. I could sit on the balcony, and sip my java, work, and stare at the views. But I also got to explore some new places leisurely. There was a certain amount of freedom to it which I did love.

This mini trip was a great reminder to never stop testing, and ultimately breaking down your walls. I am happy I did something different and new. Will it be a common occurrence? Probably not. I am to type A after all, and I am not sure I could do this traveling outside the country, or even traveling to another place. But perhaps every once in awhile when I get free time, for a weekend get away. Either way, I did it, and I had fun. And that is the most important part, to find the joy even when you are adapting and going outside your comfort zones. I hope you all have an amazing day friends!

Are you a spontaneous traveler or do you plan everything to the minute? Or are you a mixture? Do you ever take a last minute trip?