Travel Magic

At 80 we still travel pretty much as our first trip in '72. We do use a couple of last minute hotel apps but for the most part the cell phone is in the bottom of the bag and stays there. Rarely go with reservations beyond first and last couple of nights. Often don't have a return ticket so hard to booking last night hotel. We do used cruises to our advantage but most of our travel is pretty loose. We haven't slept in a train station, yet. Our travel style is what we developed 50 years ago and it still suits us because we have done it so frequently. The world is different so we adjusted as needed. We are not dependent on the cell phone or the internet to the same degree as our sons and younger travelers are. Still use a paper map and compass but not as frequently as before. The GPS function of our phones is handy.

It is what you are comfortable doing. I cannot imagine traveling where everyday is laid out to the hour with advance reservations on trains, hotels, etc. It may cost us a little for our travel style but we can afford it so it works for us. In our opinion we have never had a bad trip.

PS As I continue to think about this maybe it was our first trip that set our approach. We were young faculty members at a large mid-western university when, on a Wednesday afternoon, we were offered two seats on a university charter plane head to London for two weeks. We didn't even have passports. By Saturday night we were in a 707 with freshly minted passports ripping down the runway with no idea as to what we were going to do in London. It worked out.

I’m a traveler who is practical. I’m your age. Don’t believe in magic.

On nearly every adventure I fly solo, non stop from California. I always have a reservation for a first’s night stay. Confirmed and reconfirmed. Paper trail and iPhone confirmation. 9 times out of 10 I have a staff name for reference as well.

I want to recover from jet lag so a good nights sleep upon arrival is important to the enjoyment of my trip.

Having a first night’s reservation for an accommodation allows me time to survey the neighborhood where I’d be staying….nearby cafes, restaurants, pharmacy, laundry, public transport, etc.

I began traveling in the 1970s. Lots of travel magic.

There was a post recently reminiscing on the BandB owners who used to meet the incoming trains, solicit, and escort travelers to their establishments. I remember "the cheapest BandB in Heidelberg" - it was great. Or, the tourist kiosks in the middle of the village with info on available lodging for the night. Made for a great deal of spontaneity.

I would say that is no longer possible, but previous poster, Frank, attests to the contrary!

For me, I no longer trust in the magic. I prefer planned lodgings, an itinerary, and back-up ideas if the plans fail to please me or are disrupted by transit strikes, roadworks, etc, etc. When planning to visit previously missed "bucket list" popular spots, I am one of the first to book the sure-to-sell-out site.

Do I think the planning I now engage in has limited my pleasure in travel? No. I find enough unexpected "adventures" in attempting to execute well laid plans!

I think it is very possible to hope for magic on a trip. I prefer to have a guaranteed place to sleep for each night I am there. Searching for a room everyday is not my idea of a good use of my time, but to each his own. The same goes with distance travel. If I am going from one country to another I want to be sure I have a plan/reservation for long train rides. Other than that, I plan, but have changed many times when, what I thought was going to be an interesting adventure, turned out to be a dud or "out of service" and I quickly looked to plan B. I think it is all about your comfort zone and patience level.

It is a fact though, many parts of Europe are more crowded today than 50 years ago. That will make magic harder to happen.

My suggestion is a basic plan with flexibility. Enjoy your travels.

I see a big change even in the past decade or so. 10 - 12 years ago, my late May and June visits to Paris and Rome were true "shoulder season", no large crowds. No need for advance tickets except the Borghese Gallery (where advance purchase was needed even on my first visit in the late 1970s).

I traveled late spring for several years from about 2010- 2015 - we did everything spur of the moment - Louvre, L'Orangerie, Rodin Museum, etc. I would never attempt the same trips now with expectations to actually be admitted to the museums we easily sauntered into then.

Perhaps Covid had something to do with this - the idea that timed entry makes sense, if not for health safety, for crowd control?

I see the need for pre-ticketing more and more. Barcleona's Parc Guell was sold out for three days during my early March 2024 visit. Really? The place is huge. (I had pre-planned and was admitted easily. I was ushered in right past the "Today Sold Out" sign.)

Along with any “magic” that may make for a super day a nice surprise, you have to be open to the antithesis of magic. But, is it any better than choosing a restaurant and it is so much less than you wanted? Can you weather it in your mind? Or will an opposite appear as a waste of time and money.
We travel in a half and half way. To take advantage of spontaneity, but there is an underlying plan and it is dependent on places and time.
I find that I mostly care to plan hotels, but will leave a lot of stuff, once we are there, to chance and what is up with the day.
One thing to say, is that so so many posts here on the forums are from people who need a plan down to the T. Some have detailed itineraries and even then after all that work are searching for validation. Even so, they are apt to live with high anxiety during their vacation.
It think the posters to this thread are not in that group. And the crux of it is, experience.

Now that I'm older, I wonder, can I still be so spontaneous, traveling
without plans and "far in advance" reservations?

I am even more spontaneous now that I am 66 and the world has become more technologically connected. Bills at home get paid automatically or with a few taps on my phone. No hotel tonight? A couple more taps. Don't know the language? Google Translate. Need some info? Google it or read the guidebook I downloaded on Kindle.

Now, I do plan my trips in detail before leaving home. I know where I want to go and what I want to see. I make changeable hotel and train reservations. Once I'm on my trip I use those plans a suggestions, not absolutes.

jkh

I am in middle as well. I am 79, and travel with 2 knee replacements and a highly repaired shoulder. We like to change towns every 2 days and it is nice to know where we are going to drop our bags. We make reservations in advance through hotel reservation apps where we can easily make changes along the way (about once a trip).

We have plenty of freedom about what we will see and do once we arrive in a town.

When I was in my 30's and had a car I could wing it. Four of us did spend one night sleeping in the car in rural France as we were able to do such things at that age. I did not enjoy using my vacation time to search a room even then.

First of all, thanks for the inspiration of this topic. I am always interested to learn something new from others' ways of travelling, and there can never be too much magic.

I am in my '50's, still working, and have limited time to spend when going anywhere, so I need to have somewhat of a plan in order not to waste time. It is most useful to me to study maps ahead of time so that I have a good orientation of the place where I will be. I also book hotels and transportation ahead of time, but do not go overboard with planning my days. I like to spend time in one place, so I might have one activity per day in mind, but leave the rest to meandering and finding things by chance. Part of the magic of travel is just being there and not needing to see specific things or arrive at a specific time. I have often booked tickets for sites online that are slightly more expensive because they allow entrance whenever I happen to arrive. It's worth the extra money to me.

I have always aspired to be one of those people who has less of a plan and enjoys whatever happens, so kudos to those of you who have embraced the spirit of running with scissors. Whether things work out as planned is sometimes not the real point, and regardless, you will always have a good story.

Our approach is a hybrid one. Flights, hotels, important trains are booked ahead. But we try and stay longer at our destinations in order to explore. Very few sights are booked ahead unless it is something that would sell out ie ballet tickets in Paris this November. We choose an activity or a restaurant for lunch (we snack in lieu of dinner) and then let serendipity lead us as we wander. We are travelling to less frantic places nowadays (ie Rotterdam, Turin, Padua instead of Amsterdam, Lake Como, Venice) which takes considerable pressure off the need to plan and allows for spontaneity.

My husband and I are in our mid 70s and we travel with our son who is 47 and has Downs Syndrome. We also book our flights,lodging, and long train trips. We try to stay at least 4 days at most places and our magic is what we see and do. Our son enjoys the beer in each country and we feel extremely lucky to travel and introduce our son to the places and my husbands many cousins who live in Germany and Switzerland. I think everyone creates their own traveling magic in their own way.