Travel: Spontaneous vs Planned

It kind of made me laugh the other day when I realized how much my "traveling" has changed in the last few years.

Prior to coming to Europe, most of my travels were in Latin America.  And of the 5 countries I visited, I averaged 2.8 weeks in each.  Plenty of time to wander random streets, take looong bus rides to far off cities, and wing it.  Cause if one day is a bust, there's always tomorrow. Also plenty of time to enjoy all the delicious food the country has to offer.  (I found a buffet in Santiago Chile that I liked so much I think I ate there 3 times!  Always by  myself, too. haha.)

Speaking of eating by myself, I didn't mind traveling alone.  It seemed normal at the time.

By myself... at Iguazu Falls.

On those trips I think my focus was more on experiencing the way of life, and enjoying the language, then seeing all the landmarks the country has to offer.  When Matt and I were in Lima, I think learning how to use their bus system was more memorable than any cathedral or museum we went to.  [And their bus system is messed up!!  But we survived.]

Things used to be way more spontaneous.  When Hyrum and I visited Colombia, we took a bus from Cartagena to Santa Marta, and when the bus dropped us off downtown we started wandering around looking for a hotel.  Dragging our suitcase with us.  It was hot, and probably not the best idea.  But we found a hotel, and settled in.  Then we probably asked the hotel how to get to the National Park, which was our whole purpose of flying to the coast.

Our hotel ended up just fine!

Or there was the time Matt and I decided to go to Puno to see Lake Titicaca.  No plan, just winging it.  Our bus rolled in at 4:30 in the morning, and there were a few random people outside the bus station selling tours.  Perfect.  We spent the day on a boat driving around the lake, seeing the floating reed islands.  That night we wandered around Puno, then decided to move on to our next adventure.  The next day we took a 12-hr bus to the Nazca lines.  Flew in a plane.  Saw the lines.  Decided the rest of the town was a dump, so we took another night bus back to Lima and sat in a cold bus terminal from 4 am til 7:30 am, when we could call the person we were hoping to stay with.  Plan B was probably to find an internet cafe and book a $10/night hostel, like we'd been doing most of the trip.  There's nothing like a line of ants crawling across the bathroom floor.

One of our crappy hostels... bare cement walls and sad bedding.

Best spur-of-the-moment day tour I've ever been on.

Now that we're living in Europe I have a very different way of traveling.  We usually travel for 4-day weekends.  No more 4-week trips!  Before we leave, I make sure I know what hotels we're staying in, how we're getting from the airport to the hotel, and what the main sites are we want to see, along with their opening hours and general cost.  As soon as we arrive it's a whirlwind trying to fit everything in.  I still love trying all the local food, but certainly don't get a chance to eat somewhere more than once.  (With the exception of a hot dog stand in Salzburg I've been to twice, of course.)  We don't stay anywhere fancy, but they could all be classified as "hotels".  And I rely way more on travel books, like Rick Steves, than just word of mouth.  No more asking locals which bus stop to take, I just look in my book.

I can't tell if I've changed, or if I'm just responding to a different environment.  Do I over-plan now since there's such a time crunch?  Is Europe just more landmark-centered?  Too many things to see?  Next time I visit Colombia, will I try to make a plan before I go?

Even though I can sometimes be uptight with my planning, I think I actually prefer minimally planned travels.  I'm loving all of our European adventures, but if we weren't living in Germany, I don't know that I'd ever plan a trip to come see these places-- the Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Berlin Wall, Big Ben...  I'd probably be on a beach in the Caribbean, or on a long bus ride through the jungle, or searching online for a hotel with vacancies that night.  Those kind of travels seem to create the best memories.