When there are literally countless places in the world to visit and you’d like to see many of them, how do you decide where you will go next? If you are anything like me, you have a handful of places at the top of your proverbial list. For example, for over a year now, I have said that London and Paris are at the top of my list. And they remain at the top. Yet, I have gone on probably five or six trips since they made their way to the top, and none of those trips were to London or Paris!
I can tell you with much happiness that I do finally have a trip that includes London booked, but it will still be a while before I go. I can also tell you that trip was booked with very specific intent – I was determined on the place and the timing of that particular trip and had decided I would book it even if it meant going alone because I was booking it specifically for my own gratification – As opposed to a trip like many others where I had a traveling companion joining, and we’d plan together to make sure we were on the same page with the timing, costs, etc.
Since there are still many months to go before my trip that includes London, I knew I’d be squeezing in another trip at some point before then. And, since Paris remains on my list, I started looking around for good deals on tours of France that include Paris. Like many other attempts, I did not find any in which the timing, the cost, and the length of the tour worked for my schedule. As if reaching a dead end in a walking maze, I had to turn around and go in a different direction.
While I was searching around on that website, I saw a tab for Africa. After I accepted defeat regarding the tours they offer for France, I clicked on the Africa tab. A drop-down list appeared, and as I scanned it, I saw Botswana.
Now, I don’t know anything about Botswana except that Prince Harry considers it his home away from home. I am a true royal junkie (this plays a role in my desire to visit London) and I watch all the documentaries! I have heard Harry talk about Botswana, and I also read what he wrote about it in his book Spare. My limited knowledge of his love for this place, and my memory of how he described it led me to click on it. Such is the beginning of the rabbit holes I inevitably go down when looking for my next trip to book.
That click led me to a list of tours offered that include Botswana. Because I work (two jobs), I am limited in how many days in a row I can take off. One week is typically the max, although I can sometimes push it a day or two longer than that. The shortest trip offered was eight days in South Africa – or you can extend that same trip to eleven days and have Victoria Falls and Botswana included as part of the tour.
Botswana is my next dead end in the maze I am walking through because eleven days is too long. Once again, I turned around and went in a different direction. I then focused on the eight-day tour of Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. When I saw all that was included on this tour, I started getting an overwhelming excitement about it!
I met a woman on a trip to Italy a while back, and I follow her on Facebook. In fact, aside from my aunt and uncle, she is the only person I know who travels more than I do. Just a few months ago, she was on a South African tour and when I saw her photos, it made me start thinking of considering this as a future trip for myself. It just never occurred to me it would be anytime in my near future.
I started filling in the information on the website as if I was booking the trip so that I could get a final price. This is where you can add things like excursions, travel insurance, flights, etc. to get an exact quote. I selected all the options I wanted, and I was blown away at the cost, in a good way!
This entire process started around 9pm a few evenings ago. I got on the computer just to look around for good deals on trips to France with no specific intent on booking anything just yet. But I’d say by 10:30pm that same night, I had South Africa on my schedule, complete with flights booked! (Thankfully, my boss has since approved my request for the time off!…it was a gamble booking and paying a deposit before my time off was approved. Label me a risk taker!! LOL!!) In a few months, I’M GOING ON A SAFARI IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!! Paris? No. Even anywhere near France? Not exactly. But when you dissect the process, this is often how my next destination ends up being determined.
Of course, this suits my personality. I realize this “style” of travel planning isn’t for everyone. But it is for me. My spontaneity rules over my planner side quite often, and always has. In fact, if time off work and money were no object, I’d take last minute, unplanned vacations all the time!
Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-in-plaid-long-sleeve-shirt-holding-a-map-5966341/