Adventure is Out There - and it's Waiting for You!
Welcome back, friends! Readers! Facebook acquaintances!
You've made it to part 2 of this mini-series on travel. If you missed part 1, you can read that here.
In this post, I am going to talk about the various ways I plan my trips, specifically focusing on last spring break and my upcoming spring break. Since my last post, I have booked my airfare, my accommodations, and have a massive list going of things I want to do/see.
I know. It's pretty exciting.
Throughout my life, I have planned trips in different ways. Some were hypothetical trips my siblings and I planned while looking at a road atlas and taking note of the special locations marked {that's how we ended up at Neil Armstrong's house, by the way}. When I was in college preparing for my student teaching abroad and the various trips that came with it, I consulted travel guides. I still love perusing those in book stores...
But nowadays, I go to the internet. Just like everybody else. But maybe not like everybody else, because I get a lot of my ideas and itineraries from Pinterest. Just about everybody has a blog anymore. It's just so easy! And there are some wonderful people who devote their posts to writing about travel. They write about trips they have taken and really dig into the nitty-gritty: where they stayed, what they ate, etc. I may make some of those posts myself when I get back from this excursion. I also like to find posts written by locals who have either had someone visit them or have just decided to share their knowledge. A lot of times we think of the people who live in a city as being really annoyed by tourists, but I think the bigger issue is that they are annoyed by annoying tourists. You know, the ones who suddenly forget how sidewalks work or who just want to find a McDonald's rather than try something new.
So, without further ado, my planning tips for trips far and near! These aren't necessarily things you have to do, but they are things that I do.
Planning Tip #1: Don't reinvent the wheel! You aren't the first person to have traveled to this place. Unless you totally destroy it, you likely won't be the last. Read up on what other people have done! I am not saying you have to do exactly what those people did, but you might miss out on something fun because you didn't totally do your research. This kind of goes along with tip #5, so you can read on more.
Planning Tip #2: Search for your interests! Again, this doesn't sound like rocket science. Most people travel to a place because they are interested in going there. But what I mean is go beyond that. Do you really love drinking good coffee? Search for "best coffeehouses in Boston." Are you a fan of antique shops? A quick Google search will find you some nearby! Being the book nerd that I am, I like to search for literary tourism. Indie bookstores, unique used bookshops, authors' homes or museums. When I went to Massachusetts, I visited The House of Seven Gables in Salem {the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables}. I visited Orchard House in Concord, where Louisa May Alcott lived when she wrote Little Women. I also drove by Walden Pond {also near Concord} where good ol' Henry David Thoreau was inspired and the Wayside Inn, made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. In Boston, I found a neat statue of Edgar Allen Poe {because some of his work was published in Boston}. And yes, I visited the Boston Public Library, as well as four different bookstores. And I am a better person for it, believe you me.
Planning Tip #3: Food, glorious food! I am not what I would consider a "foodie." I'm not what anyone would consider a foodie, actually. I like good food, and I try not to eat bad food, but I tend to look at food as a necessity and not as art. Everyone is different, so if you're reading this post thinking I'm nuts for going to multiple bookstores {something I enjoy} and also sacrilegious for not considering food art {something you enjoy}, well, then maybe you should think about that. But! I do think when you travel to a place that is known for something, you should try it. I had Boston cream pie in Boston, as well as real New England clam chowder. I did not have a lobster roll, but that's because lobster is expensive. Plus, that's more of a Maine thing anyway. If you're going to Kansas City, eat some barbecue. If you're in Chicago, eat some deep dish pizza. If you're travelling in Hawaii, try some fresh pineapple and coconut. I know there are entire blogs devoted to food tourism, and if that's your thing, I encourage you to check them out. I'm more of a "hey, I'm hungry so I should eat" kind of person. I even hit up a grocery store in Concord and got some breakfast food and snacks so I didn't have to eat out every meal. And that's all I have to say about that.
Planning Tip #4: Splurge where you can! Disclaimer: I am not encouraging travelling without a budget. I am also not good at sticking to a budget, so what do I know? Here's what I mean, though. Weigh the experience against the cost. Some people would say that paying a little bit extra {and I really do mean a little bit} to stay in a bed and breakfast versus a chain hotel is not worth it. Some people {who know me really well} would not be surprised to learn that I stayed in a bed and breakfast in Concord that was built in 1716!!!!! Yeah, that's right. I said it. The room was beautiful, there was no elevator, and there was a tavern downstairs that had ties to the revolution. There's also a story that it's haunted, but I didn't really want to know for sure, so I didn't ask. My point being this: I got to have an amazing experience at a really neat old building because I was willing to pay a little extra. If you want to do the carriage ride around Central Park, just do it! If you want to do some foodie tour of San Francisco, then do it! It's your trip, and I personally think it is not okay to go home with regrets. It is, however, important to come back with some money. Remember the disclaimer, and don't blame me for your mistakes please.
Planning Tip #5: Do. Your. Research! Again, not rocket science. A little bit of research, though, will tell you that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. If that's the day you're in Paris, you won't be going to the Louvre. Sorry, Past Kaitlin and Past Audra. I'm a planner. I love every part of it. My current planning pages include the following information on each location: the physical address, the operating hours, the cost of admission, and what it is near. Like that old proverb says: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You're going to be super annoyed with yourself when you have an order for your trip, but it isn't until you're leaving Site B that you realize Site C was right across the street from Site A. And you're also going to be super annoyed when you finally finish that biography of Samuel Adams you started reading before your trip and learn that the art museum in Boston that more than one local person told you to go to has pieces of Paul Revere's silver work and some of his etchings and you didn't go because of some dumb reason you can't remember anymore. Don't be that person.
Bonus Planning Tip: Read all of the books! This one isn't so much a planning tip as a fun suggestion. I highly recommend reading some books about the place you are going and in multiple genres. Read a biography of someone famous who is from there {perhaps someone whose house you may see}. Read books where that place is the setting. Read books by local authors and about local history. It's kind of a fun way to add something new to your trip. Then you can walk by that statue of the random person and think, "I semi understand why you were important enough to have a statue here. Way to go, person/animal!"
Anyway, maybe you learned something here? Or maybe you were just mildly entertained for the amount of time it took you to read this? Either option is something I am okay with. I hope you will share your planning tips with me, as well! What do you look for when you travel? What hidden gems have you come across by extreme planning {or non-planning!}? Spread the love around, my friends. Hoarded knowledge is not a treasure unless it is shared. Hoarded gold is literally a treasure. Remember that.
You've made it to part 2 of this mini-series on travel. If you missed part 1, you can read that here.
In this post, I am going to talk about the various ways I plan my trips, specifically focusing on last spring break and my upcoming spring break. Since my last post, I have booked my airfare, my accommodations, and have a massive list going of things I want to do/see.
I know. It's pretty exciting.
Throughout my life, I have planned trips in different ways. Some were hypothetical trips my siblings and I planned while looking at a road atlas and taking note of the special locations marked {that's how we ended up at Neil Armstrong's house, by the way}. When I was in college preparing for my student teaching abroad and the various trips that came with it, I consulted travel guides. I still love perusing those in book stores...
But nowadays, I go to the internet. Just like everybody else. But maybe not like everybody else, because I get a lot of my ideas and itineraries from Pinterest. Just about everybody has a blog anymore. It's just so easy! And there are some wonderful people who devote their posts to writing about travel. They write about trips they have taken and really dig into the nitty-gritty: where they stayed, what they ate, etc. I may make some of those posts myself when I get back from this excursion. I also like to find posts written by locals who have either had someone visit them or have just decided to share their knowledge. A lot of times we think of the people who live in a city as being really annoyed by tourists, but I think the bigger issue is that they are annoyed by annoying tourists. You know, the ones who suddenly forget how sidewalks work or who just want to find a McDonald's rather than try something new.
So, without further ado, my planning tips for trips far and near! These aren't necessarily things you have to do, but they are things that I do.
Planning Tip #1: Don't reinvent the wheel! You aren't the first person to have traveled to this place. Unless you totally destroy it, you likely won't be the last. Read up on what other people have done! I am not saying you have to do exactly what those people did, but you might miss out on something fun because you didn't totally do your research. This kind of goes along with tip #5, so you can read on more.
Planning Tip #2: Search for your interests! Again, this doesn't sound like rocket science. Most people travel to a place because they are interested in going there. But what I mean is go beyond that. Do you really love drinking good coffee? Search for "best coffeehouses in Boston." Are you a fan of antique shops? A quick Google search will find you some nearby! Being the book nerd that I am, I like to search for literary tourism. Indie bookstores, unique used bookshops, authors' homes or museums. When I went to Massachusetts, I visited The House of Seven Gables in Salem {the inspiration for Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables}. I visited Orchard House in Concord, where Louisa May Alcott lived when she wrote Little Women. I also drove by Walden Pond {also near Concord} where good ol' Henry David Thoreau was inspired and the Wayside Inn, made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. In Boston, I found a neat statue of Edgar Allen Poe {because some of his work was published in Boston}. And yes, I visited the Boston Public Library, as well as four different bookstores. And I am a better person for it, believe you me.
Planning Tip #3: Food, glorious food! I am not what I would consider a "foodie." I'm not what anyone would consider a foodie, actually. I like good food, and I try not to eat bad food, but I tend to look at food as a necessity and not as art. Everyone is different, so if you're reading this post thinking I'm nuts for going to multiple bookstores {something I enjoy} and also sacrilegious for not considering food art {something you enjoy}, well, then maybe you should think about that. But! I do think when you travel to a place that is known for something, you should try it. I had Boston cream pie in Boston, as well as real New England clam chowder. I did not have a lobster roll, but that's because lobster is expensive. Plus, that's more of a Maine thing anyway. If you're going to Kansas City, eat some barbecue. If you're in Chicago, eat some deep dish pizza. If you're travelling in Hawaii, try some fresh pineapple and coconut. I know there are entire blogs devoted to food tourism, and if that's your thing, I encourage you to check them out. I'm more of a "hey, I'm hungry so I should eat" kind of person. I even hit up a grocery store in Concord and got some breakfast food and snacks so I didn't have to eat out every meal. And that's all I have to say about that.
Planning Tip #4: Splurge where you can! Disclaimer: I am not encouraging travelling without a budget. I am also not good at sticking to a budget, so what do I know? Here's what I mean, though. Weigh the experience against the cost. Some people would say that paying a little bit extra {and I really do mean a little bit} to stay in a bed and breakfast versus a chain hotel is not worth it. Some people {who know me really well} would not be surprised to learn that I stayed in a bed and breakfast in Concord that was built in 1716!!!!! Yeah, that's right. I said it. The room was beautiful, there was no elevator, and there was a tavern downstairs that had ties to the revolution. There's also a story that it's haunted, but I didn't really want to know for sure, so I didn't ask. My point being this: I got to have an amazing experience at a really neat old building because I was willing to pay a little extra. If you want to do the carriage ride around Central Park, just do it! If you want to do some foodie tour of San Francisco, then do it! It's your trip, and I personally think it is not okay to go home with regrets. It is, however, important to come back with some money. Remember the disclaimer, and don't blame me for your mistakes please.
Planning Tip #5: Do. Your. Research! Again, not rocket science. A little bit of research, though, will tell you that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays. If that's the day you're in Paris, you won't be going to the Louvre. Sorry, Past Kaitlin and Past Audra. I'm a planner. I love every part of it. My current planning pages include the following information on each location: the physical address, the operating hours, the cost of admission, and what it is near. Like that old proverb says: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You're going to be super annoyed with yourself when you have an order for your trip, but it isn't until you're leaving Site B that you realize Site C was right across the street from Site A. And you're also going to be super annoyed when you finally finish that biography of Samuel Adams you started reading before your trip and learn that the art museum in Boston that more than one local person told you to go to has pieces of Paul Revere's silver work and some of his etchings and you didn't go because of some dumb reason you can't remember anymore. Don't be that person.
Bonus Planning Tip: Read all of the books! This one isn't so much a planning tip as a fun suggestion. I highly recommend reading some books about the place you are going and in multiple genres. Read a biography of someone famous who is from there {perhaps someone whose house you may see}. Read books where that place is the setting. Read books by local authors and about local history. It's kind of a fun way to add something new to your trip. Then you can walk by that statue of the random person and think, "I semi understand why you were important enough to have a statue here. Way to go, person/animal!"
Anyway, maybe you learned something here? Or maybe you were just mildly entertained for the amount of time it took you to read this? Either option is something I am okay with. I hope you will share your planning tips with me, as well! What do you look for when you travel? What hidden gems have you come across by extreme planning {or non-planning!}? Spread the love around, my friends. Hoarded knowledge is not a treasure unless it is shared. Hoarded gold is literally a treasure. Remember that.
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