Do you have a set itinerary when you travel?

[Anonymous]

Yes. I travel less than once every five years, so there is always a purpose to my travel. Plus I don't want to sit around a living room staring at people I know with nothing to say. Keeping busy is the way to go.

[Anonymous]

Not a set itinerary but a plan. If we are doing activities like a tour, boat ride, ticketed attraction then yes those are set. Other things like hikes and visiting non ticketed attractions are put on our list and prioritized. Once we are on vacation we can look at our prioritized list a few days out and adjust for weather and wants.

We try and over list our priorities so that we have choices. We don’t always do everything listed but we do the important ones we want to see. Anything we do extra is great. Anything left behind is for next trip.

If we’re on a do nothing vacation like the beach, then no real plan before. Kinda wing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We generally fly by the seat of our pants. We have a list of ideas of what to do and where to eat (99% of the time generated by me) and we figure it out as we go.

We generally do this too. We went to Vancouver for spring break, and each morning we decided our activities for that day. It was relaxing. But there are some crowded destinations where this isn't possible, and for some activities you will need to plan several months in advance.

[Anonymous]

I am sure I over-research my trips (thus why I am on a travel forum!! lol). I do plan an itinerary (which is sometimes a SUPER loose, general plan that really isn't much of an itinerary at all) and so it really differs based on where we are going and who will be there.

I sometimes make general itineraries/plans/activities for each day of the trip but which days we do the plan can be shifted around based on how we are feeling or weather. I try my best not to reserve specific tickets for exact times unless it's required because I don't like feeling pinned into something if we feel like changing it up. I like to allow myself plenty of flexibility so I guess it's more of a list with ideas and then we roll with it.

I have found that it is MUCH harder to plan and actually follow through with activities when you have a large group/multiple family units. It can help in those situations because otherwise you may end up sitting around and wasting a lot of time just trying to figure out what to do that day. It's not as complicated when it's just me and my kids.

If I am traveling alone, sometimes I just have a few very general ideas of what I'd like to do and that's quite literally it. If there's a place I REALLY want to see, I always check the hours first so I'm not surprised but beyond that....I wing it! I will also add that I don't wing it with lodging and I rarely wing it with train transportation as that tends to not go well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, I make a detailed itinerary. We have very few vacations, so we make them count. I do extensive research before each trip, and include activities that each person likes so no one feels left out. It's not go-go-go all the time, OP: planning doesn't have to mean packed schedule! A lot of our desired activities usually require reservations, tickets, bookings, so they need to be scheduled in advance, and the distance of travel to and from our hotel or rental needs to be calculated, to avoid having to stress at the last minute that we didn't plan enough time.

Over the years, I've found that this meticulous planning helps me have a relaxing but interesting vacation.

Are you in the infamous Paris Planner?

PP you replied to. I am FROM Paris, so no, I don't schedule anything when I go there, because that's my hometown. And I don't spend enough time on the Travel Forum to know who you're referring to.

Why are you and another poster so rude?

OP here. I have friends who are planners and they like to have the detailed itinerary. Because I don’t book everything in advance, I have missed out on sold out tickets or scrambling during meals. However, I hate being forced to go to a meal reservation when I’m in bed more. I would rather do room service and lounge by pool or rooftop than trek across town. My friends especially like Instagram worthy meals. I’m going on a girls trip to Asia and my friends have every meal booked. I’m thinking we have 7pm or 8pm reservations at all these swanky places and it will be 7am EST. I know I will get crap for being lame if I don’t want to get dolled up and go to these places.

This is why people plan and book things ahead of time. If your friends have sent you an itinerary, why not pick the things you’re interested in doing and decline the meals you don’t want to attend? Sometimes you have to accept that people travel differently and adapt. They shouldn’t have to miss out on experiences they want to do just as you shouldn’t have hit all the sites when all you want to do is relax.

The internet has made pre-booking a necessity for many destinations. It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

If we’re just going to the beach, no. Otherwise, yes. We don’t usually have things booked (unless required), but we have a detailed plan in cities, national parks, etc based on when certain places are open, maybe watching a sunset somewhere, and maximizing the stuff we most want to see & do. The one thing we don’t plan is meals. We squeeze those in whenever and wherever between doing & seeing all the cool stuff.

[Anonymous]

I've done both. I had a free day in Cologne once and just wandered around and got kolsch, but when I was in Milan for work if you wanted to see The Last Supper or the Duomo Roof, stuff booked up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, I make a detailed itinerary. We have very few vacations, so we make them count. I do extensive research before each trip, and include activities that each person likes so no one feels left out. It's not go-go-go all the time, OP: planning doesn't have to mean packed schedule! A lot of our desired activities usually require reservations, tickets, bookings, so they need to be scheduled in advance, and the distance of travel to and from our hotel or rental needs to be calculated, to avoid having to stress at the last minute that we didn't plan enough time.

Over the years, I've found that this meticulous planning helps me have a relaxing but interesting vacation.

Are you in the infamous Paris Planner?

PP you replied to. I am FROM Paris, so no, I don't schedule anything when I go there, because that's my hometown. And I don't spend enough time on the Travel Forum to know who you're referring to.

Why are you and another poster so rude?

OP here. I have friends who are planners and they like to have the detailed itinerary. Because I don’t book everything in advance, I have missed out on sold out tickets or scrambling during meals. However, I hate being forced to go to a meal reservation when I’m in bed more. I would rather do room service and lounge by pool or rooftop than trek across town. My friends especially like Instagram worthy meals. I’m going on a girls trip to Asia and my friends have every meal booked. I’m thinking we have 7pm or 8pm reservations at all these swanky places and it will be 7am EST. I know I will get crap for being lame if I don’t want to get dolled up and go to these places.

This is why people plan and book things ahead of time. If your friends have sent you an itinerary, why not pick the things you’re interested in doing and decline the meals you don’t want to attend? Sometimes you have to accept that people travel differently and adapt. They shouldn’t have to miss out on experiences they want to do just as you shouldn’t have hit all the sites when all you want to do is relax.

The internet has made pre-booking a necessity for many destinations. It is what it is.

There have been hundreds of texts on activities, events, reservations, etc. I stopped responding. I will just pick and choose when I arrive. I have been to this country twice in my twenties, not since I was married with kids. One big difference is that I have 3 younger kids while the other women have older kids and they all have 1-2 kids. The woman who is booking the most is newly divorced and keeps adding nightlife to the itinerary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sure I over-research my trips (thus why I am on a travel forum!! lol). I do plan an itinerary (which is sometimes a SUPER loose, general plan that really isn't much of an itinerary at all) and so it really differs based on where we are going and who will be there.

I sometimes make general itineraries/plans/activities for each day of the trip but which days we do the plan can be shifted around based on how we are feeling or weather. I try my best not to reserve specific tickets for exact times unless it's required because I don't like feeling pinned into something if we feel like changing it up. I like to allow myself plenty of flexibility so I guess it's more of a list with ideas and then we roll with it.

I have found that it is MUCH harder to plan and actually follow through with activities when you have a large group/multiple family units. It can help in those situations because otherwise you may end up sitting around and wasting a lot of time just trying to figure out what to do that day. It's not as complicated when it's just me and my kids.

If I am traveling alone, sometimes I just have a few very general ideas of what I'd like to do and that's quite literally it. If there's a place I REALLY want to see, I always check the hours first so I'm not surprised but beyond that....I wing it! I will also add that I don't wing it with lodging and I rarely wing it with train transportation as that tends to not go well.

I do find it harder to travel with other people. When I'm alone, I have definite ideas about what I want to do, but with others it more like "you choose" then I don't always like doing what they choose. And they often don't like my choices. For the OP who doesn't want to tag along to everything, it would be useful to arrange some time to do things alone in advance, whether that's room service, lounging by the pool or visiting some temple alone.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the type of trip. I do a lot of research so that I have a general outline and backups. I try to not have more than one set time thing / tickets a day. But recently I didn’t want to over book and we said we would wing it on certain days and then tickets were sold out when we got there.

It’s a balance. I so prefer busy trip where I can see and do a lot of things.

[Anonymous]

Mine is planned out. What i personally hate on vacation is making decisions. What should we do today, when do we need to leave that spot, what are some options for supper, etc etc etc.

Yes, sometimes my plan for supper is "walk to main street square nd find a spot there" but what I want to avoid is searching on Google recommendations for spots.

I've also found that the hour by hour plannign helps ME because otherwise i underestimate how long the transition time stuff will take. Blocking it all out to "paper" makes sure that we have time to do what we want. We also though take more of a "sampling" approach to site-seeing where I'll allot a few hours to a thing vs "stay until we are sick of it".

[Anonymous]

^ that's when i travel w/ my family. If i'm by myself (extra day of a business trip), i'll wing it more. But that's because I'm not dead set on doing certain things with that day.

[Anonymous]

With kids I absolutely have an itinerary but it's one scheduled thing a day and a framework we can pick and choose from there like a playground or a park or an attraction that doesn't require planning. Same with meals. Some are reservations and some are just lists of a few options that likely don't require reservations.

With friends it's much more compile what we like and make a list of must did and go from there.

Minute by minute schedules are overwhelming but I don't like the complete chaos of nothing planned and I also really like researching too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine is planned out. What i personally hate on vacation is making decisions. What should we do today, when do we need to leave that spot, what are some options for supper, etc etc etc.

Yes, sometimes my plan for supper is "walk to main street square nd find a spot there" but what I want to avoid is searching on Google recommendations for spots.

I've also found that the hour by hour plannign helps ME because otherwise i underestimate how long the transition time stuff will take. Blocking it all out to "paper" makes sure that we have time to do what we want. We also though take more of a "sampling" approach to site-seeing where I'll allot a few hours to a thing vs "stay until we are sick of it".

How do you cope when it pours with rain on your scheduled beach day or your kid starts throwing up on a certain restaurant day? What kind of destinations are you visiting?

[Anonymous]

Depends where you go and who you're with. If u went with a bunch of girlfriends to Asia I'd provably plan to the hilt too and I'm actualLY Asian and know what's happening there you can always change plans but it's good to make them esp if you're off to a foreign universe which many parts of Asia should be considered as. It's just very different for the typical American if not well travelled.

I often plan things to infinity even with my family when we go abroad with at least one activity per day but I leave a day free and I don't always have places to eat planned out.

I'm a planner though DH more like you but I say at least have a plan so you have a Plan B