Do you agree?

We are currently getting ready for a My Way France tour in a few weeks. We definitely have some of the big-ticket stuff on our list, but I would say the majority of our time will be spent wandering around, walking to the scheduled things, lots of time to pop into shops, enjoy the sights, have picnics, etc. I don't like being rushed so I'm trying to avoid timed-events as much as possible (there are a few out of necessity).

I also find I need time to mentally process / decompress after something really structured so that I can remember it in the future. I've been on trips where all the places/activities started to blur together and later on it was really hard to remember specifics. I have a much better time when we have down-time between activities.

I plan to the minute. Then, upon arrival, I throw it away. The planning is my learning experience, so I understand the destination better, not for actual use.

So I agree. Loved the guy. Sad affair. My favorite quote was that the architecture in Budapest was so beautiful it was architectural porn. Favorite show was Romania ... that one got him in trouble.

When I think back on our travels over our 24 years of marriage, the things that I remember most weren't planned. They were things that we stumbled on in some way. That's not to say that when you travel to Paris (or any other place) and don't make time to see or do the things that you've always wanted to do, but I think you have to have some time to just be in the moment and let what happens happen.

To me, AB's quote is an expected statement of a travel snob. I've done an RS tour, I've cruised, I've rented cars and done it myself, I've visited popular sites via tours, or wandered aimlessly by myself and the one consistent thing that keeps happening is I have wonderful discoveries and memories.

Of course everyone has a different travel style that works for them.
For me, independent travel is generally my style.
I do plan out the itinerary in advance .... x number of nights in x town etc. and all the hotels.
I am very picky about hotels and reserving in advance for me has great advantages...price, location, ability to communicate with the hotel if needed, etc.

My trips are usually 4 -7 weeks and I like to allow more time in each place than most people would suggest so I don't have to be rushed. I plan the transport as well and only pre book and site if it is an impacted one. However, for me the sites are secondary. I prefer to wander around and check out the area or city and then decide what we want to do in collaboration with my wife who checks local sources for interesting things to do. So mostly wing it at each location. Sometime the most interesting experiences happen in unexpected places not in any guide book and sometimes unusual things happen at well know sites. Just go with the flow.

So.... lots of logistical planning but beyond that more spontaneity.

I have taken 2 guided tours both last year .Rick Steves Istanbul and a private tour of Romania.
Both tours were quite enjoyable overall but bot were at a pace that was too fast for much serendipity. So I will stick with independent except perhaps in challenging locations beyond Europe.

No right ow wrong way.

We try to have the best of both worlds. We do plan to do and see certain things, and we nail down some things such as hotels, but we also build in some extra time with nothing planned. That gives us the flexability to change and move things around to accomodate the unexpected things we encounter that we want to explore / experience more fully. As someone mentioned above, some of the best experiences have been things that were not planned, but just happened.

I started traveling overseas when I took a job in Saudi Arabia in 1981. Also, lived in Germany from 1987-1991.
We have travelled in every way possible.
Going on your own is great to save money, just using a guidebook and you get a real feel of a place, but you can miss out on a lot as well.
Traveling with a tour group is now our favorite method of travel. We are in our late 70s and can afford nice tours. Also, since more people travel these days, if you go on your own, you must book so many of the key sites. Back in the last century, you could just show up, no problem. On a tour, the tour company takes care of all of that, as well as lodgings, may meals, transport and more.

Do you loose something traveling with a tour group. Yes, but we like the smaller group tours that still find ways to get close to the local ways, visiting a vineyard or have a cooking class, etc.

Still, tours are more efficient with getting from place to place and making the most of the time you are there.

For some tourists, Bourdain wasn't wrong. How many times have we seen posters with an itinerary so jam packed that I doubt they had much time to eat or sleep, let alone have any "free time" to just savour the place they are in?

But we don't travel that way. Yes, we book our transportation and hotels in advance. And now pre-book tickets where timed entry is required. And we do a lot of advance research into things we might like to see and do in each place. But we don't actually schedule more than one or 2 things a day. That leaves us with plenty of time to just wander, or do something spur of the moment. And on the rare occasion when we take a tour, as we will be doing in September, it is with a small group with plenty of free time built into the itinerary and independant stays at both ends.

One last comment on Bourdain's pronouncement- there are actually people who would consider a day at the Eiffel Tower and Louvre to be absolutely magical and wonderful. To each their own.

Does "planned spontaneity" make any sense? I like to have researched enough to know that I can have 4-5 options for free time at any given time, one of which is always "do nothing". Then decide when the time comes.

With all due respect to AB - loved his first book: haven't eaten swordfish since - but his travel show became a business where expenses are covered, assistants do prep work, and he had a personna to maintain. It's easier to find magic when you know you can afford to come back as often as you want. One trip to Paris in my lifetime? Yeah Im going to see the Louvre and Eiffel Tower.

He visited here in KC for a show once, and the local news and gossip were tracking all his doings. He didn't spontaneously find places to visit. Perhaps he found the magic out of public view

His later stuff where he went to "world class restaurants" and ate little humps of foam with a sardeen on top set in the middle of a 14" plate, well that may have led to his demise. But, this one, from 7:45 in until 10:00 is priceless. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17ollavKuNM

Agree with Allan. Right now, we are preferring independent travel, but have also enjoyed cruising (have one booked for 2025), and tours. Just love traveling, any which way. Magic can happen anywhere!

Mr. E, I like your approach:

I plan to the minute. Then, upon arrival, I throw it away. The
planning is my learning experience, so I understand the destination
better, not for actual use.

I am probably somewhere in the middle. I enjoy planning trips, but I also expect plans to change upon arrival.

Looking back on things, some of my most vivid travel memories have been when I have gone completely off script: the day a couple of us decided to head to Naples instead of doing touring the Amalfi coast with the rest of our tour group, or the day a new and wonderful world opened up when we discovered the back door of the Winter Palace in Luxor. Termessos is one of my favorite places in Turkey, and I think my fondness of the place stems at least in part from the almost total lack signage, interpretive material, (and crowds). Having to to figure everything out etches things more deeply into my brain. It seems that my senses and perceptions are sharper when I am responsible for navigating and figuring things out.

At the same time, I have often enjoyed tours and the peace of mind they offer. When my travel companion got sick while we were on a tour of Turkey, I was very thankful that we were on a tour and I didn't have to shoulder the logistics of finding doctors, hospitals, and such.

I do have a few rules for travel:

• Generally, I hate driving, but if I have to drive I try my best to cap it at 300 miles in a day.
• I like to know that I will have a place to sleep at night, and so I nail down my lodging for each night long before the trip. (The one time I tried to wing it was a near disaster.)
• The more I travel, the more I explicitly plan to avoid crowds.

My interpretation of this quote......he doesnt' mean you shouldn't see the sights, but if that is all you do, if you only go from sight to sight, looking at the guidebook and maps in between, if you strictly live by timetables, then you may miss out on a lot. You need to keep your eyes open. You need some flexiblilty to change plans when magic occurs.

Most people on this forum, from my experience, travel this way.

Bourdain's quote struck a chord with me. It's true, isn't it? Sometimes, the most magical moments in travel come when you let go of the itinerary and simply let the journey unfold. Those unexpected encounters, those unplanned detours—they're what make travel truly memorable. It's a lesson I've learned time and time again: sometimes, the best adventures happen when you least expect them.