Either because we lack the discipline to sit down and plan or because we are convinced that the benefits of spontaneity outweigh the benefits of preplanning we are only researching our destinations, arranging travel, and booking our accommodations a few days in advance.
We have long debated the trade-off between spontaneity and preplanning. Anyone who has traveled any quantity of time has had an experience of finding a serendipitous opportunity at the last minute; we love these happy surprises. However, we have also all had the experience of finding that we couldn’t do something that we wanted to do because we didn’t plan it far enough in advance.
Without being categorical, I want to say that the benefits to short-range planning outweigh the drawbacks. It’s hard to miss out on anything if you find joy in the present moment, and we’ve had amazing experiences only possible because we are willing and able to change plans at the last minute.
So, our hypothetical month in Mongolia shrank to three days in Mongolia when we felt the urge to spend more time in China and expanded into two weeks in Mongolia when we met another traveling family (hooray!) amenable to bouncing from ger to ger together. We feel profoundly fortunate to be exploring the Gobi desert with these new friends!
And while we’re now in the wilderness—maybe not quite as wilderness as we expected as evidenced by the cell phone signal we still have, but perhaps tomorrow we’ll go deeper into the wilderness and lose that, who knows—our tour coordinator/hostess/mother hen par excellence is back in the city buying our train tickets to Beijing for us. Except not actually to Beijing.
She has informed us, with high confidence and experience that we will save considerable money if we take a Mongolian train from Ulaanbaatar to a small town right at the Chinese border. From there we are supposed to find an unmarked taxi or other private car and cross the border with them. On the far side, we will, hopefully, be able to buy train tickets on a Chinese train to finish our trip to Beijing.
Wish us luck!
How do you feel about the balance between spontaneity and preplanning? How do you typically travel? How do you think you should travel? Can we call you for help if we are stuck at the Chinese border in the middle of the night?
I’m going to defer to your judgment as experts in the travelling field. The only thing I have found is that in Europe buying train tickets ahead is cheaper unless you find a family pack ticket which many countries seem to do which are significantly less money. Also thank god for the internet when it comes to research
That’s a great tip, Maggie, thanks!!
So glad to read your Stories
Described very enormous
Was happy to meet you also , Sagi the Israeli
Thank you! It was great meeting all of you! We decided to extend our trip in Mongolia–thank you for encouraging us!
Sagi, great to hear from you! We thought of you often while off in the desert. Hope you are adjusting to home life well and that your next travels are not far off!
“Opportunity Costs” seem to be coming out in your favor, so far. Sounds like you answered your own question. Anyway, you can’t really know what you missed – only what you’re doing in the moment!!!
As a friend and fellow traveler recently pointed out, we don’t miss anything; we have this experience here and now. And it’s a good one.