Embracing Spontaneity: The Joy of Last-Minute Travel

Planning travel is essential to enjoying our limited time in our destination of choice, but minimizing those plans can have benefits and make the entire event surrounding our trip more enjoyable.

It has been said that the planning portion of a trip is a significant part of the enjoyment of the event. Before the trip, we have the advantage of discussing it with others: those coming with you, friends, family, and co-workers, for example. We can post on social media and receive recommendations and experiences from others. It becomes a shared event that benefits us long before we depart toward that final destination. This discussion can greatly contribute to the overall experience and enjoyment. Through these conversations, replies, and likes, the books we read, or the online research we conduct, we can visualize how and what this experience could be.

But what happens when we subtract all of that from the equation, and the only thing known is that we are going somewhere? Can that same joy and fulfillment come from minimal or no planning? Can spontaneity result in an unforgettable time?

I was thinking of this as I am currently in this situation. This weekend, Lisa and I will be departing on a direct flight from Halifax to Gatwick in London and as of this writing, we are unsure where we will go from there. We will pack what we need for clothes and necessities for a week, but we don’t have any immediate plans once we arrive in London. We are keeping this as (almost) last minute. As it’s an overnight flight, we’ll probably decide on that second flight tomorrow, two days before departure. We have two requirements: It needs to be a direct flight, and the weather forecast has to be favourable.

To give you an idea of where we are looking at, in no particular order: Barcelona, Geneva, Marseille, Nice, Madrid, Faro, Seville, Palma, Malta, Vienna, Budapest, Istanbul, Athens, Split, Verona, Ibiza, Malaga, Copenhagen, Krakow, and Bucharest. We have already been to other options, including Porto, Lisbon, and Florence, and I have been to Dublin and Lisa to Amsterdam. However, we are not ruling those places out.

Travel is an enriching experience, and the personal satisfaction you can receive from it is substantial. But while detailed planning is worth it, there is something exciting about not having a fixed agenda and, along with that, certain expectations.

The nature of spontaneous travel is experiencing the unplanned. Although I’m one to want to experience those popular attractions, the paths not planned for are where we discover new sites and experiences that could have never come up in our planning. There are plenty of recommendations and lists of the best things to experience in certain areas, but there are always others to discover and make the experience your own.

Another consideration with spontaneous travel is flexibility. It allows us to adapt to changing circumstances and capitalize on them as they arise. No itinerary will enable us to pivot and alter our plans more quickly than a list of must-dos.

Getting on a plane to arrive in a new place with minimal plans will not be for everyone. Some are meticulous planners, and having a plan is enjoyable for many, including myself. But if you can remove the aspect of planning and, as a result, the expectations that come with it, the joy of undertaking an unplanned adventure can be incredibly thrilling.

I’m looking forward to this adventure.