Does too much research hurt spontaneity?

Umm, self planner and self traveler here - but how much room for 'spontaneity' is there on a 'tour'?
I do agree, however, that trying to familiarize myself too much in a place can create too many pre-conceptions and expectations that can lead to disappointment because little is unexpected or fresh.
I do a lot of book research early on (often a year or more beforehand) to decide what cities to visit and how many days for each. It can also help me decide where to narrow down my lodgings geographically. I use YouTube and DK Eyewitness travel guides during this process as well, as I rely on my eyes to feed my interest gut decisions. I use AirBnB apartments, so tend to book those early as well. Then I don't do anything for months and months. Perhaps 2 months prior, I review what MUST be booked ahead - usually that is train travel for the best prices - but I rarely prebook museums or galleries unless really necessary (Granada's Alhambra); others might just be a few days before. I'll revisit the value of multi day passes or entries and book those only a couple of weeks ahead....or upon arrival. I make sure my interest list is readable and holds the information I need - like correct entry times and costs - organize those into some sort of package, reconfirm all bookings, test pack and go.
I may read books during the waiting time, but they are often historical novels. I have never read or seen daVinci Code, or watch Game of Thrones, so my travels don't take those into consideration (other than sitting on the train terminal steps in Venice looking at the building that was the 'library' in one of the Indiana Jones movies.
I have found that some of my biggest emotional reactions are to places I haven't seen pictures of or read much about...even if 'famous' places. I keep promising myself one day I will just get on a plane with no planning, but there are few places that I haven't done some research on, so even that sort of impulsive trip may not be totally 'virgin'.

As I mature in life, my vacation ideas have changed considerably and I like to now always have plans. With more travelers exploring Europe, I think you are left with little alternative but to make some solid plans and advanced bookings. Having said that, I do like to keep some days open - just to relax and to build in some flexibility. That is why I tend to prefer independent travel. I can come and go as I please and work out an itinerary I know will work for me. I can only do so much research on an area, I tend to get overwhelmed and then I just stop looking at it for several weeks.
Sometimes I even feel slightly guilty if I think I have not done enough research. This makes me worry more when I am planning a trip with friends. I don't want to get something wrong and for them to be disappointed. It hasn't happened yet - but I feel like it could and they would be disappointed in their vacation. I always take notes from this forum on each city I go to for restaurants and tips. Its probably overkill, but this works best for my personality.

Margaret

Interesting question. I don't think I've ever been disappointed by a place or experience because I over-researched, but I have cut a few stops out of my travels because I lost or never got the urge to do/see it after researching or reading about it. Granted, each trip is usually a finite amount of time and so choices have to be made, but I may have skipped a few things that would have been highlights because the research seemed fulfilling enough.

@kaeleku, that's an interesting point.

I'm sure for some people, planning (even that specifically) is part of the fun -- the anticipation. I do also agree there is a fear of missing out. Perhaps they can't travel often or fear they'll never visit again. But yes, a list of what is "best" is often very subjective. To be fair, when I was younger, I thought "France" was the Eiffel Tower and Mona Lisa. Years later, yes, these are nice, but they weren't my favorite memories then and I probably wouldn't see them again today. The best experiences are often non-touristry, sometimes spontaneous, and usually more cultural.

In the case of my first trip to France, my "best" experience could never be found in a book, website, or recommendation: it was being invited into a local's home for dinner just blocks from the Med in Nice. That evening is not only one of the most memorable meals of my life, but my favorite travel experience to date.

I spend a lot of time researching my target areas with the goal of building a list of potential things to do and places to go--always much longer than I will have time for because I like to retain flexibility. What I end up with is a hyper-condensed guidebook from many different sources (including this forum). I refer to those notes to make final decisions while on the road, but I also use the information before arrival to figure out approximately how many nights I will spend in each base city. As the research progresses, the geographical extent of the trip typically shrinks, because I find too much to do at the first few tentatively planned destinations. This year is the second time Paris has hit the cutting-room floor. Maybe next year.

I make as few advance hotel reservations as I dare and only pre-book transportation to save significant money. I pre-purchase tickets for sights only if they are likely to sell out or have long ticket lines. Some destinations do require more up-front planning if you have limited time and/or limited budget: sights sell out in Barcelona, convenient Scottish-island lodgings fill up in summer, hotel rooms spike during holiday periods if you wait too late to book, etc.

I have a box full of travel DVDs (and I think Rick's are the best), but I don't spend too much time with them. I agree that watching too much video reduces the element of surprise. For me they are more a substitute for travel than a planning tool.

I have a strong negative reaction to itineraries planned hour-by-hour. That is not my idea of a vacation. I would rather risk seeing fewer "sights" and allow the flexibility to walk through a medieval town, munch my way through a street market, etc.

Both my wife and I research too much. When we take a guided tour I try and let the research go just a bit because I trust my guide (like the RS Tour Guides) to get us to the must see places and give us some background. In planning our own adventures I've overdone it not just from a "leaving room for spontaneity" stand point, but from forgetting "stuff happens" so you need to leave room for the unexpected. Our first trip to the UK (on our own bringing our son to college) had me reading everything - overwhelmed with jumbled info I nearly ruined the trip. When we returned I wanted to read about what I saw and that's when I discovered Rick Steves - the one travel book I had not read before we left because it didn't have many pictures turned out to be the one that matched my likes and dislikes best. So my feeling is if you like and trust the tour company or reviewer go with their recommendations and skip the videos (their weather is almost always better) and enjoy. We love wandering through grocery stores and chatting up someone local for a quick tip and sometimes that is the best memory. Afterwards, though. it's fun to watch YouTube to see where you have been.

I plan a lot and have a list of options depending on mood, weather, and energy for each place we go. We also tend to have longer stays so there is time to rearrange or to add and subtract as circumstances dictate. I do love a good guided tour where it makes sense -- The Louvre, a wine tour in Burgundy, Pompeii, the Colosseum, Normandy Beaches -- and those must be set up in advance.

Though I read a lot of guide books and articles -- and spend (too much) time here on the Forum -- we tend to watch fewer videos than we did when we first traveled to Europe. Perhaps that helps with the surprise factor.

I also find there are places I can go over-and-ver that give great satisfaction. I can hike in the Dolomites and the Jungfrau Region annually, following the same paths, and still be thrilled. We have gone to The Cabinet War Rooms, Imperial War Museum, and London Transport Museum multiple times and will no doubt go again as there is much to take in.

Anthony Bordain's advice for Paris is to plan as little as possible.

I agree with most of what Kaeleku posted. Our first European trip (72) was with three day notice. Our primary attention was getting a passport so we could go and hardly any time to pack or plan. We sort of hit ground and said, "Now what do we do?" Walk to the nearest TI. It was a great trip. Even today while our planning is greater, kind of a general overview, we still make heavy use of the TI --- But we are very comfortable doing that because we know that it works for us. There are others who love the planning, the spreadsheet, the timeline, and probably are fairly rigid with execution. And I have seen a couple of those folks really fall apart when the plan doesn't work. Our planning has never created disappointment, and we think we have seen a lot of terrific sights and things that we might not have seen if we had a tighter plan. For example -- a few years ago in Edinburgh we popped into a very crowd pub for a quick lunch and beer. Not a seat in the house but an elderly couple (older than us) sitting at a table for four offered the two seats. We spent most of the afternoon with them discussing a whole range of topics. He was a teen during the blitz of London, later a pipe fitter with the railroad, and host of other things. Utterly fascinating to hear their perspectives on their lives and share our experiences and perceptions. Whatever we had scheduled for that afternoon was pushed to the next day. Could not have happened if on a tight schedule. But we have dozens of similar examples of unexpected, certainly unplanned, treasures.

We do lots of preparation, but very little planning. As soon as we decide where our next trip is heading to, we hit the books. Art, history, economy ... Super-guide Francesca Caruso says "The more you know, the more you see," and we've found that to be true. Some background in the history and economy of an area gives us a context in which to place the things we are seeing.

We read a number of guidebooks, and note particularly interesting sights. We do book hotels ahead of time - spending the night in a closed train station in Poland when our section of the train headed off in the "wrong" direction was an adventure 40 years ago, and made a good story. Sharing a train compartment with two other young travelers, figuring out how to arrange our bodies so we could all get some sleep - that was a lot of fun when I was 20. Now, I'd like to be sure of a bed. We also sometimes book trains, many of which are much cheaper when booked in advance. And for special sights (Borghese Gallery, Alhambra) we'll reserve our tickets.

Other than those, we hit the pavement - or cobblestones - with some ideas of things we'd like to see, but no firm plans. We know what are interests are, and they are varied. We love just setting out on foot to see what we can see. We may say, okay we want to visit the Orangerie while we're in Paris, but we don't set a definite time for it. And if we don't make it, there's always next time! And we allow lots of free time to wander, enjoy local parks and cafés, and make our own discoveries.

We never book restaurants ahead of the trip, although once on the ground we may book a table for that night or the next. But not often.

So I guess we over-prepare, but it works for us. And our plans are always sketchy, but usually based on our prep work.

And, Frank, those are the photos that I remember in my head !

Unplanned encounters. We call our travel "intentional spontaneity". Like Rome. We have a 3 day plan of the areas we want to walk. Like visiting a specific church last year. But on the way out the side door, we spotted a chocolate shop and ate the most delectable limoncello chocolates. I can taste them right now ! THAT beat the darn church that was supposed to be really cool (and a must see) !

We "plan" days in an area of a city or countryside so we don't miss something that we really think would be interesting.

But we KNOW that the stop to take photos of the poppy field was a better highlight than the monastery that we drove to visit.

Without SOME bit of planning or research, you might miss something lovely. But one must stay flexible so you can thoroughly enjoy the unplanned encounters !

We are all different. Some would be very unhappy if they didn't research every aspect of their trip and know exactly what is going to happen and when.

Others like to wing it.

I am in between. I don't go crazy with research. I decide what I am interested in, see if anything needs to be prebooked and then go. I don't want to read extensively about a place, I want to experience it.

My plans are always changeable. In fact, on my last three trips I changed itinerary in the middle--skipping some planned cities and substituting an entirely different place. Or changed length of stay in a place. I don't worry about missing out on something; if I miss it, I miss it. Gives me an excuse to go back.

I also know what interests me and what doesn't. I'm not go to somewhere just because a guidebook thinks I should. And sometimes I go to places that aren't in the guidebooks.

There is so much information online these days that lugging a bunch of guidebooks isn't necessary. I can do so much research while traveling that I rarely know everthing I will do in the next location.

My way works for me. It may not be right for anyone else.

I agree with Frank II. No two travelers are alike, and what works for one shouldn't dictate what others do. Of course, if visiting the Louvre or the Accademia is important to you, you'd be foolish not to plan ahead and skip the line.

My favorite kind of research and preparation is to read some literature set in the place I'm going to. I'm currently reading James Michener's Poland because guess where I'm going next month! I've also planned in advance for things I want to see and do (like buying tickets to concerts and operas), but I do not plan every minute of every day. I just hope I've left enough time for serendipity to be my tour guide.

too much research may have hurt to. Not so much looking up sites,
hours, hotel and travel info, but reading books or watching youtube
features on each city and site to see. It definitely stoked excitement
in the planning stages, but left little for surprise on the actual
trip.

I have never experienced that....ever.

Too much research? Whatever planning I do both online or in books could never replicate what we experience in person. It sounds like you're saying that too much research makes travel unnecessary as you will have already experienced it without setting foot on a plane. Really......how does that work w/r/t attending a play or the opera in which you've read reviews, learned the music in advance (for the opera), and taken the time to research which seats are the best for your budget? How does that work w/r/t enjoying the amenities of a boutique hotel or B&B? Or sampling one of the many coffees in Vienna?

It sounds like your travel lacks being EXPERIENTIAL; it's not doing.

@Continental -- you have me mistaken. Reading travel books and watching youtube clips could never replicate the actual trip. What I was saying is that sometimes, when we plan too much, we leave little room for spontaneity. Also, extensively researching a location -- or watching many movies or youtube videos about it -- takes away some of the surprise.

If I go into a concert knowing the setlist, or into an opera already having watched it on DVD, that takes away some of the mystique. Sure, it may fuel the excitement, but nothing like seeing it for the first time with a fresh lens.

Again, travel research and preparation is good. Next time, I think I'll just scale back a bit so the place still has some newness and surprise.

Did you find any official sites which helped you out through it? If yes please let me know about it. :)

Yes you can overthink things. Too much information without the wisdom (and experience) of how to use it, can lead to frustration and major mistakes.

With a tour, I just skim the guidebook information looking for tidbits I might find interesting. On an independent travel, I go through a lot of information sources, but not making any plan other than an outline of where we'll be and stay, and let things fall out as they may. Too many variables that impact planning (like weather). And you need to be open to new options and ideas that come up when you are actually there.

To answer the question in the title of the thread, my answer would be no, research does not hurt spontaneity . I don't want to create a minute by minute itinerary, but I want to know what the options are. If anything this adds to spontaneity since if I have 5 things I could do then I play it by ear depending on weather, how I'm feeling, etc. to decide which to do. I like to research several train times (we like to travel by train) so while we are day-tripping if we like a town we can stay later, if we don't we know when the next train out is. And of course sometimes we find new things as we travel that we had not anticipated and happily throw planning to the wind (but that's still while knowing what we turned down to do so).

Someone asked how is there room for spontaneity on a tour? I'm guessing it is from someone who has not taken a RS tour because the tour has from a half to full day free every other day so there is plenty of both guided and free time.

The regrets I have generally is from not doing enough research. For example on a RS tour starting in Chartres it turns out most of the shops are closed on Sun & Mon. Had I done enough research in advance to find this out I could have taken the train out of town to a larger city instead of spending much of an afternoon walking by closed shop doors.

The flip side is going too far, from research to perfectionism. Planning is not the same as control, there will be surprises. A few years back there was a lady on the forum who tried to plan every detail of her first ever European trip down practically by the hour. People tried to tell her she was being a tad ambitious but she was convinced she could do it all. During the trip she posted updates to the forum and ended up reporting she was miserable, the unexpected things that happen in travel (subway line closed for the weekend, food not what she was used to from the US, etc) threw a big monkey wrench in her carefully plotted itinerary.

@Continental -- you have me mistaken. Reading travel books and
watching youtube clips could never replicate the actual trip. What I
was saying is that sometimes, when we plan too much, we leave little
room for spontaneity. Also, extensively researching a location -- or
watching many movies or youtube videos about it -- takes away some of
the surprise.

Again, I have never experienced extensive research taking away ANY of the surprise of arriving at a place I've never been. A video is merely two dimensional. When you arrive, all of your senses are engaged and probably on high alert as it is all new and you're probably so thrilled to finally visit the place you've planning to see for months on end.

Moreover, unless you're on a tour in which your itinerary is micromanaged 24/7, spontaneity happens whether you realize it not. The easiest example is that for all the planning you do, something will indeed go wrong or awry and you'll have to figure out how to respond to it. You'll have new adventures (some great, maybe some not so good) that will enhance the texture and experience of your trip. Those cannot be planned. You might also decide that you want to spend more time at one place and less time at another. Sometimes you have no idea how you'll respond to a museum, restaurant, church, hike, castle, bike ride, cross country ski trail etc and might decide to stay longer or leave much sooner. That's another example of spontaneity happening when you don't expect it.

If I go into a concert knowing the setlist, or into an opera already
having watched it on DVD, that takes away some of the mystique. Sure,
it may fuel the excitement, but nothing like seeing it for the first
time with a fresh lens.

If you love music of a concert or the opera, how can hearing it LIVE whether for the 1st time or the 95th diminish it or be less "fresh" unless the performers or acoustics are subpar? I went to The Marriage of Figaro at the Vienna Opera House and listened to the opera starting at about 5 months ahead of my trip which was when I bought the tickets. I hadn't been to that opera in years and wanted to be as familiar with the arias as possible so as to enhance my enjoyment. That familiarity made hearing the performance live part of my experiential travel that I will always treasure. I've gone to Madama Butterly many times and so often, the performance is set in different eras. So the performance I saw in New York was quite different from the performance I saw at La Scala -- the music wasn't different but the staging and time periods were.