Travel Planning

I am more comfortable when I have a plan. It gives me a feeling of security that whatever I am embarking upon is getting my best effort toward reaching the goal. Travel is no exception.

On the flip side - there is a value to serendipity when it comes to travel and over the past few years I’ve honed my strategy to ‘plan…but not too much.’ Here’s how I go about it. 

• I start a mindmap that will turn into the plan. At first I just put the activities I want to do around the center of the map. References such as AAA tourbooks come in handy but I do a check via the Internet on just about everything. The addresses, costs and notes about each activity are the ‘leaves’  on the map.
• Most of my vacations are skewed to outdoor activities - hiking, gardens, beach combing. However, I always add indoor venues on my list so that I can make a quick change if the weather does not cooperate.
• Then I start grouping. Sometimes the grouping is by day but I have gradually moved to grouping activities that are in close proximity - color coding the indoor ones.
• The result is a one page summary (mindmap) of the things that appealed to me about the location I am visiting. I still need some other reference material but the one page is what is use to make most activity choices.

Now - how does this still allow the flexibility for the wonderful serendipity finds of travel? The key is to have more activities that can possibly be done in the time allowed. Make the choice first thing each morning and adjust. And enjoy the vacation you planned…but no too much.

Gleanings of the Week Ending March 16, 2013

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article.

Are Surgical Robots Worth It? - Evaluating technology is difficult. We want to believe that medical devices are better than what they replace...but they may not always be.

50 Disruptive Companies 2013 - The list from MIT Technology Review

Shell’s New Lens Scenarios - projections for 50 years from now…or even in 2100

30 Literary Cakes

Rebuilding after Sandy: How Assateague Island National Seashore Officials Are Dealing With Climate Change - barrier islands….and infrastructure on them...the islands will change and so will what man puts there

Frank Jay Haynes, A Photography Pioneer in Yellowstone National Park - also take a look at a book published by Haynes available on the Internet Archive

Science of Sinkholes: 20 Percent of U.S. Lies in Susceptible Areas - includes pointers to USGS resources about sinkholes toward the bottom.

Mothers of Invention -- Women who made it happen - I’d known about most of them…but there were a few that were new to me. It’s always interesting to get a quick slice of historical perspective this way.

Uplifting Posters Show One Positive Thing We Can Do Every Day - art of the positive

Get your Shit Together - life and death planning: low effort, high reward

Daylight Saving Time is Rife with Human Suffering - why do we put ourselves through the twice yearly time change?