Some trips need no more planning than putting gas in the car and choosing when to leave.  Others require coordination with other people and decisions about whose car to take, what route is best, where to eat along the way, and when to return.

Sometimes I take long (more than 250 miles each way) trips alone.  It’s nearly a four hour drive from my home to Richmond Ky, where I go about once a month or so to visit my granddaughter.  I usually go and come back the same day, which makes for about eight hours of driving. It’s a long day, but doable, just gas and go.  I don’t even need to pack a bag.

Less often, I go to Charlotte, NC to visit my daughter, Jamie and her family.  That’s eight hours each way.  I usually go alone and plan to stay over at least a couple of days.  Still, it requires only gas in the car, packing a bag, and choosing when to leave.  The route is always the same when I go alone. Straight along I-40 to I-77 into Charlotte. I’ve been that way so often over the years, it’s almost automatic.  Kind of like a regular commute that requires no thought, just attention to the traffic.

Planning is a little more complicated when others are involved in the trip, but not significantly so.  When one of my brothers joins me on the trip to Charlotte, we usually take their vehicle. Mine is small and they prefer more room.  They like to stop more frequently, like every couple of hours.  When alone, my only stop is between Knoxville and Ashville.  I feed myself and the car, then get back on the road.  Of course, when I pick my grandchildren up in Charlotte and bring them home with me, I stop more frequently on the way back.

These kinds of trips can be spur of the moment.  They aren’t usually, but it is possible and have been occasionally.  I can pack, including a cooler for drinks and fruit, in about 30 minutes.  The stop for gas on the way out of town takes about five more and I’m on my way. These trips are routine.  Sometimes enjoyable, but not really vacations.  Just visiting family, sort of like a long weekend at most.

The fun trips (days of driving, photo ops, hotel reservations, and at least two people), the ones that take me to new places or revisit old favorites, require more thought.  For these, I plan weeks, sometimes even months ahead.  I research points of interest along the way, look for interesting restaurants to eat lunch between overnight stops, pick places to spend the nights, and calculate driving times to allow for photo shoots.

Some people think I over-plan.  They claim to prefer the spur of the moment method, saying that the spontaneity is half the adventure.  I’ve suffered spontaneity.  I’ve spent hours searching for a hotel when there’s a big event going on that I didn’t know about ahead of time.  I’ve wound up eating fast food for days because I don’t know where else to go.  I’ve missed interesting photo opportunities because I didn’t know about them until I saw the sign on the interstate and I got there five minutes after they closed the gate.

Spontaneity is over-rated.  In small doses, it can be fun.  If it goes wrong it can be overcome.  It isn’t usually dangerous, but it can get uncomfortable very quickly.  There’s a reason the old Chinese saying, “May you live in interesting times,” is considered a curse. I prefer planning.  It doesn’t eliminate adventure, it keeps it under control.  I want reservations, neat local restaurants, picturesque locations while the light is just right, predictable driving times, and relaxed evenings. Vacations should be about relieving stress, not creating it.  Besides, planning the trip is half the fun.  It builds the anticipation and allows for dreaming along the way.