It's funny how timing works. I spent some time writing out this post at lunch, and thinking about a shift in my travel plans as I'm nearing 90 days out. After I finished pinning down my thoughts, a new thread popped up called "Lessons learned when things go wrong" - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/lessons-learned-when-things-go-wrong - The similarity in what we are wrestling with is striking. While that discussion centers on reacting to sudden, live travel chaos, I'd been thinking about how we proactively adapt months in advance when the stable, everyday routines we've relied on are altered.
I'm predictable. For years I've had a predictable, machine-like routine for beginning my travels. I lived near the local train station, so my routine has been elegant and rote; so rote that I've usually scheduled flights on Wednesdays. I would walk the block to the station, catch a Wednesday 6am Amtrak, arrive at DC Union Station around 10am, kill a little time, take the DC Metro to Dulles, and board a 5-6pm flight. It was cheap, low-effort, and required zero overthinking.
External forces altered my comfortable travelscape. Back in January, I scored a great price for airfare for a 10pm departure this October from Dulles. I would just catch my usual 6am morning train to Union Station and have just a little more time to burn. However, when I went to purchase my Amtrak ticket, I fully realized how much the Long Bridge rail infrastructure construction project had warped the schedule. To get to DC on a travel day, the morning train now departs at 4:24am. I wasn't feeling that length of day for a Wednesday travel day. My solution was to book a night at a hotel in Foggy Bottom, so, go to DC on Tuesday morning and fly out on Wednesday, keeping things relaxed.
Then in March I moved, now two miles away from the train station. At the time I purchased the airfare, I had no idea I would be moving. Normally, I am a go with the flow, suck it up kind of traveler. But, walking two miles at 2:30am with luggage and cane didn't excite me, and I have zero trust in the reliability of a 3am taxi or rideshare roll of the dice.
Instead of a late-night check-in or a clunky early morning transit slog, I chose another adaptation. On Monday, I could stay at a local boutique hotel, just blocks from the train station, making a 2 mile gap into a local staycation. And who really gets to stay at their own local hotels? This hotel I've been curious about since it’s tucked right into the edge of the historic area and on the floor above several shops including my regular café.
On Monday during normal daylight hours, go downtown and check-in. On Tuesday, take the early train to DC, check into that hotel, and enjoy a relaxed day in the city. Then on Wednesday, I would head to Dulles, enjoy the lounge and then board my flight.
On paper, this plan seems convoluted. I change environments two days in a row just to solve a 2 mile commute and a schedule shift. There is an evening Amtrak train. I did look at that middle of the road option of leaving Williamsburg on the Tuesday evening train, getting into DC at 8pm, and rolling into my hotel around 9pm. But is that actually enjoyable? Checking into a DC hotel late just to wind down and immediately go to sleep feels like an administrative chore, not a vacation.
I’m looking forward to a pre-vacation vacation. I am not looking for fixes or alternative advice. Mainly, I am just not in a hurry, I am on vacation, and especially since my accident, I don't want to rush from one thing to the next. Instead, I am fascinated by how or why we each make choices as travelers. What is your philosophy on adaptation? How do you tend to deal with changes to keep your timeline? Do you structurally redesign? How do you balance the line between smart risk management and over-engineering?