Minimal Planning - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

futboller · 02-07-2006, 10:36 AM

Here's a question for some of the more experienced travellers here...

I'm going to be in Europe for about 6 weeks in May and June, and right now I've planned the beginning and end of the trip fairly specifically (give or take a day for cheaper flights and ferry schedules) but I've left myself a little over 3 weeks in the middle without an itinerary. I very much want to decide when to leave and where to go next on the fly. (A roadtrip I took a few years ago was supposed to be like that, taking exits when the mood struck and such, but the person I was traveling with decided she really needed a route.)

I'm getting an unlimited 1-month Eurail pass (the extra two weeks I won't be in Eurail countries, or I'm traveling by boat/plane arranged seperately) and I'm accepting that I might really use it and get my money's worth or I could find a place I love and stay for a while.

A few people on here, like WorldWideMike and some others, have encouraged me to have a rough itinerary instead of leaving that time open for anything.

What do you think? Should I make some minimal plan or just trust impulsiveness to keep me moving? (If I make a plan I probably won't stick to it, anyway.)

**omisan** · 02-07-2006, 10:44 AM

I like to have some structure in my itinerary and work spontaneously within that... Helps you make sure you get everything you want to do done, while leaving room for spur-of-the-moment stuff. It also can save you money in terms of advance fares, as well as headache when trying to nab accomodations during busy times.

**Tadpole** · 02-07-2006, 01:24 PM

I left last summer with a one month consecutive eurail pass. I only had the first 3 days scheduled and I had my plane tiket for my flight out 5 weeks later. I enjoyed but the only problem was finding space in the Hostels that I wanted to stay in. The bigger hostels booked up fast and you had to reserve at least a week or two to get a spot for a couple nights. This is western europe during the summer so hostelworld.com was packing in travelrs a the best hostels.

We changed the plan to make our plans as we went for the next 2 weeks or so. We had a rough outline of where we wanted to go but no defient plan and the plans changed literally every day for 3 weeks. The more we talked to peopl, the more we decided to add or drop cities. We acautlly added in Itlay half way into the trip.

If you dont care about staying in the bigger name hsotels and higher rated hostels then you will be fine going day by day. A rough rough outline may help just so you know at least which direction you were goin. Our first couple days we just knew were going south.

However, if you want to stay in the bigger name hostels then make a plan for 2 weeks and keep adding onto that as you go so you can be sure you get the hostel you want.

**ajb3000** · 02-07-2006, 02:02 PM

Make some sort of plan, even if it's just looking up what there is to see and do in the countries along (and neighbouring) your expected route. If you did the trip, then came home to find out there was something you'd have loved to see nearby, you'd be gutted.

Last year I planned everything, down to how many days I expected to be in each country, what I wanted to see and where I hoped to stay, but didn't book anything (bar the first couple of hostels), so that I knew I could still be be flexible. This year I'm just deciding on a rough route based on countries I want to go to (visas are an issue).

futboller · 02-07-2006, 08:24 PM

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to keep some directions in mind (south-west then east) and give myself some waypoints. I'm not really into seeing "things," but we'll see how it goes.

**tumblezweedz** · 02-08-2006, 06:30 AM

I try to rough out a general plan - places I know I want to see - usually in a circle route of some kind. When I did my three month trip, I had quite a clear itinerary, but when an opportunity came up to go to Spain and Morocco, I just dropped two weeks out of my intended month in France and went there instead. I had to sacrifice a lot of things I'd wanted to see, but the experiences I had instead more than made up for it. I still had plenty of flexibility to do things with people I met along the way, and was lucky enough to be invited to stay with people (in USSR, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco, France and the Netherlands).

The main reason I like to have a general (though flexible) plan, is so that I don't waste time backtracking - this is less of a problem now, with cheap flights, but if you're on the train, you can spend a fair while travelling, and to me time on trains is less time in place. I love train travel, I just try to plan it for overnights or on scenic routes so that I also get the most out of my time on the ground.

If seeing "things" isn't your bag, think about what you are interested in - any concerts, festivals, etc? It would be frustrating to learn that there was an incredible music festival tomorrow in the city you left yesterday! If, however, you really want the random wandering experience, then by all means take the "jellyfish in the current" approach - that kind of freedom is probably something you won't have a chance to experience again for a while!