african ellie copyright 2007 TAS
The conversation goes like this . . . "You have to plan everything. (ugh!) I take a trip and lounge on the beach. What 's to plan?" he asked with sarcasm.
"Well there's the date . . . ," you shoot back.
"Why I bet you even plan your spontaneity," he retorts.
"Hmmm, not a bad idea," you say with a smile.
One month of travel or an extended trip that is planned in detail, before the first plane flight, isn't adventurous enough for me. And I am willing to spend some time on the road booking flights to my next destination. It's definitely part of my travels to wander around and stumble upon accommodations or to chat with the locals to find special events, restaurants, or better yet a home cooked meal. However, if I'm bushed after a 16 hour flight and I need to plan, I give myself the comforts of home. That means, optimally, a stay in a hotel with upmarket amenities or at minimum, near by internet access and a phone, that lets me make outgoing calls.
If you don't have the spunk, nor the financial budget or time budget to allow for this pause in action, then . . . let me suggest you do your homework and make some plans before you leave.
Otherwise, your Travel Happy Meter, will dial down to empty, when you're at a homestay, deep in the delta, Mekong, that is, and want to make it to the Bom Oum Touk (water festival) in Cambodia on the full moon. If you don't have your own driver, then get prepared for an eight hour bus trip and a three hour pre-booked speed boat ride into Phnom Penh, oh yeah, but did you remember your twenty odd U.S. dollars for your overland Cambodian visa? Cuz you can't use the one from the Cambodia Visa site, it's for flights only. Sorry to bloody you up a bit. . . . Hopefully, that doesn't compel you to stay put and live vicariously, through the travel channel.
It seems there is no easy answer, to the question to plan or not to plan. . . read more in volume 2.
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