Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
In your day-to-day
life.
Are you one that lovesspreadsheets and planning every
little detail of your day?
You have a routine that you doevery day and you don't deviate
from it.
Or, if you did, you kind offeel a little off kilter.
Or maybe you just like to gothrough life and just kind of
(00:21):
winging it, letting maybe someother people kind of dictate
what you do, where you go.
Maybe you just don't likemaking decisions.
Think about that and what typeof in the realm of, what type of
traveler you are, because often, how we are in our day to day
is going to carry over into howwe approach travel.
(00:43):
So I'm going to talk todayabout the pros and cons to a
planned itinerary of travelversus spontaneous travel, and
ask yourself which one are you?
Welcome to Solo TravelAdventures.
I'm Cheryl Esch, and I probablywould say I'm somewhere in the
(01:06):
middle of that graph.
I do like some planning, but Ialso like to allow some space
and time for my trip to havesome spontaneity to it.
Well, let's dig deeper, though,and talk about there are pros
and cons.
Now.
One way is not better than theother.
There's no wrong or right wayas far as how you approach how
(01:29):
you travel, but I just want toshare.
There are pros and cons forboth, so not that either way is
right or wrong.
Some of it depends on yourpersonality.
What type of person are you?
So, with a planned itinerary,something that you take care of,
whether you do it yourself oryou use a travel agent, or even
(01:51):
maybe a tour group, everythingis planned out for you for the
most part.
This number one positive thingabout doing it that way is that
there is no stress or no worriesabout what you're doing, where
you're going, and in most people, they feel safer this way, in
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knowing where they're going tobe when they're going to be
doing something, and it justgives them a peace of mind, you
know.
So if that's you, you knowplanning, go for it.
This is probably your style oftravel.
Now there's also number twoplanning your trip ensures that
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you get tickets or entrances tosome famous sites.
Often, if we just show up andthere's only a lot amount of
tickets or entrance for acertain thing, we're going to
miss out on that opportunity.
But if you plan ahead, you'regoing to ensure that you get
entrance or you get the abilityto see these things.
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You know there are, of course,certain activities that you
really have to think ahead of.
So my example for me is I'mgoing to Iceland very soon and I
wanted to kind of wing it, butas I was planning, I realized,
for example, if I really wantedto get a chance to go to the
(03:16):
Blue Lagoon, which is verypopular place, that I was going
to need to schedule that and getan entrance ticket way in
advance, which I have secured,because many of them were
actually already sold out, eventhough I did this about two
weeks ago.
So there are definitely that'sdefinitely a positive thing to
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be thinking about right.
Number three another potentialpro is that you potentially get
good deals.
You get better deals if youdon't wait.
Sometimes, as we know, lastminute planning or last minute
decisions can cost us more money, especially in airlines.
But that also could translateto some other things, such as
(04:02):
accommodations, because whenaccommodations start to get
scarce, typically that pricegoes up all right or you miss
out on you know everybody'salready purchased something in
that good deal or budget rangeof things.
So that's a positive in yourplanning.
And number four it gives youthat peace of mind again that
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you could actually share with afamily or friend, exactly where
you will be.
They'll know where you're goingto be, especially if you're
traveling internationally.
It kind of gives us a peace ofmind that someone knows where we
are and by having that plannedout it's easy for you to just
maybe share your itinerary andthey will know day to day where
you're going to be.
(04:45):
Now there are some downsides toplanning everything, especially
planning everything to a T,meaning every single day, maybe
even every single block of time,hour or whatever is planned
with an activity.
Now, by doing that, it kind ofdoes create some stress in a
(05:07):
certain way, in that you feelmaybe rushed in the process of
your travels and feeling likeyou have to kind of get to that
next place.
Oh, we only have this amount oftime, and so it really locks
you in and it kind of gives youlimited or no flexibility in
your travel.
So you can kind of feel astress component when you, um,
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when you do plan and you planactually maybe too much, right.
And number two, you might missout on a hidden or local place
of interest.
Often when we're just, you know, focused or geared to just
going here and here and herenext, we miss out on seeing some
other potential.
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You know gems that are aroundus.
Maybe you see a local cafe orrestaurant that looks really
intriguing, but you've alreadyplanned something else, so you
have to miss out on that.
And number two you might alsojust miss out in general having
a serendipitous meeting withsomebody or have an unexpected
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encounter or experience.
We don't allow that space forthat to happen.
We often will walk right by it.
We won't even know that thatlovely sort of encounter was
right in front of our eyes thewhole time.
So that's the pros and cons toactually planning a really set
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itinerary for your travels.
Let's talk about if you were togo just spontaneously, outside
of, of course, maybe planningyour flight right.
We probably want to get thoseflights, but once you get to
your destination, you're justgoing to wing it.
Number one you do.
The pros of that is that youhave that freedom and you can
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even change your mind.
You can change your plans asyou go along and as you see fit.
Maybe you want to spend alittle extra time in this city
that you really enjoyed insteadof moving on so quickly, because
you have this set plan and youhave to follow that plan right.
Number two spontaneous can, ina sense, be less stressful.
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Having, you know, that wholeidea of having to be somewhere
exactly at a certain time orplace right, and that's, you
know, gives you that freedom, asI mentioned before, to just do
what you want.
And number three, you mighthave more opportunities, with a
spontaneous kind of approach toyour travel, for chance
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encounters or again discoveringsome of the local hidden gems.
Now, there are some downsides,of course, to just being
spontaneous and kind of wingingit when you get there.
One is that you can definitelymiss out on deals.
So you know, a lot of times, asI mentioned earlier, uh,
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sometimes accommodations arelimited.
If you wait too long, like onceyou get there, maybe you run
into where you've come upon acity that is having maybe a huge
festival and you didn't plan onthat, you didn't realize that,
and when you got there therewere no accommodations left, or
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what you did find were likethese really pricey hotels that
really are just not in yourbudget, or you weren't planning
on spending right, but you needa place to stay.
So that is a downfall,unfortunately.
Number two, as I mentioned,your's, uh your choices uh may
be limited, uh, for just a lotof things, not just
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accommodations, but also liketickets to something special,
tickets to, maybe, the Louvre,some.
Some of these things have to bepurchased ahead of time, right?
So you definitely would missout on some of that, right, so
you definitely would miss out onsome of that.
And then, um, another kind ofdownfall of not planning.
You know, without a plan, oftenI find that, um, people meander
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, um and don't really have afocus, and sometimes this is
good, but sometimes it can be awaste of time, possibly, if you,
um, maybe have missed an iconicspot just because you were busy
that day Not that it's not agood thing to walk around a city
unplanned but maybe, afteryou've done that, you realize oh
(09:34):
, I walked by this, but I didn'trealize it right, so, because
you hadn't really done anyresearch or planning, you might
miss some of those opportunities, which is better.
Well, there's no right or wrongway.
And again, going back to, maybe, what your personality is and
what you sort of kind of feel,you know, this is how I operate,
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this is what I need is going tobe the approach to your travel
that you're going to take.
Need is going to be theapproach to your travel that
you're going to take.
Now I make a suggestion, acouple suggestions here.
If you are a new solo travelerand or even just a novice and
you're going maybe on your firstsolo trip, I do highly suggest
(10:18):
you plan as much as you can.
Suggest you plan as much as youcan.
Many people even choose to do atour.
Yes, I know there's some debateout there as to whether, if
going on tour group isconsidered solo travel.
I'm not going to debate thathere.
I recommend it because it'skind of a safe place to go, in
that you are going by yourselfbut you are with other people,
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um, and the trip, in almost allrespects except for probably
your airfare has already beenplanned for you and some tour
groups do allow a little, um,kind of your own time.
So just look into that ifthat's something you're
interested in.
I also suggest leaning more onthe planning side if you're
(11:01):
going to a very populardestination Because again,
you're going to run into a lackof accommodations, you're going
to run into just not havingthose opportunities to see some
of those iconic things and alsoconsider what time of year
you're going Because, forexample, you know Italy.
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I'll just use Italy for anexample.
It is a very popular.
Especially in the summers itgets super busy.
I would highly recommend you doas much planning if you plan to
go in the summer Now, if youplan to go in the off season,
possibly even those wintermonths, you can probably be a
little more free and have thatless planning approach to allow
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yourself, you know, thatopportunity to.
You know, see if you come acrossanything that kind of catches
your eye, that are justexploring with some freedom.
Now again, ask yourself, whichone am I?
I personally am somewhere inbetween and I feel like in
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encountering many other solotravelers that have done they
have a few solo trips undertheir belt, I find that those
people tend to also be somewherein the middle where they have
certain things planned, butthey're going to allow some
space, allow that freedom tomaybe walk around, maybe even a
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day or two extra.
I'm going to not be stressedabout moving on so quickly and
maybe, oh, maybe, I'm going tostay here a little longer versus
oh, maybe I don't like thatplace and so I'd rather spend
more time in X, y or Z, I willhave to say.
Going back to the idea ofplanning with in mind this kind
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of a popular place.
So I have come across.
I do tend to sometimes leanslightly more to spontaneous.
I always always, of course Ibook my flight.
I always book my first nightand usually my last night,
because I usually want to staymaybe near the airport.
So I always have those, but Ileave usually the rest to
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determine once I get there.
However, I am finding in myplanning of my trip to Iceland
and again because it is apopular place, for example, I
missed out on I had had asuggestion from somebody to stay
at this wonderful guest houseand it was down near the Blue
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Lagoon, but a little southeastof it, which is the direction
I'm headed after I hit the BlueLagoon.
Staying at the Blue Lagoon issuper expensive, so I wasn't
staying there.
I found this great guest houseby someone recommending it to me
, but I didn't book it rightaway and when I went back about
a week or so ago, there were nospaces left right, so I missed
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out on that.
So I'm finding that, uh,particularly in Iceland and
there may be other countries youencounter and you may want to
if you're not sure if thecountry you're going to is, um,
you know, popular and that maybeyou should do more planning and
less spontaneous.
Um, you can ask other peoplethat have been there what their
experience was, but alsoconsider the time of year.
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Obviously, what we call highseason is definitely a time when
you probably want to plan,versus the shoulder or off
season.
You might have more flexibilitythere.
So think about it.
Are you a type personalitywhere you like to have
everything planned to a T andyou take your spreadsheet with
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you on your trips?
You have everything printed outor saved somewhere, maybe in an
app or in your notes, or do youjust like to go with the flow
in your travels?
Go with the flow in yourtravels.
Either way is great, becauseyou want to travel the way that
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makes you feel the leaststressed, the most confident and
probably the most safe.
Right Now.
I want to give a shout out totwo wonderful ladies recently
gave me some reviews this month,in March, and I want to just
thank you.
(15:33):
I love them.
I love hearing from people.
A shout out to Sammy B 0, 5 0,7 0 7.
And to novice adventure Thankyou for your review.
I'm actually going to sharethose.
Um.
Sammy B says I love Cheryl'sencouraging and useful
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information for solo travel.
Also, she has a great voice forpodcasting.
Thank you so much for that, um,and I'll be honest, uh, many
years ago I actually didn't likemy voice, but many people tell
me that I used to teach yoga, solike there's that calmingness
that does tend to come out, andso thank you for that review.
(16:15):
And then from Novice Adventureit says Cheryl is such a natural
at sharing her adventures,wisdom and encouragement.
Her calm and soothing, easy tolisten to voice and helpful tips
Pack every podcast with so muchinspiration that I look at
travel in a whole new, excitingway.
She's helping me dream again.
(16:37):
Oh, I love to hear that and Ibet she will for you too.
So, yes, I hope you aredreaming of your next place and
you too can join these ladiesthat left these beautiful
reviews.
It does help out the podcast,so you can go on to Apple
podcast and leave a review ifyou've enjoyed this episode or
(17:01):
any episode in the past.
And sisters, get out there andhave that adventure.