For years, I’ve been in a position to discover locations at my very own tempo. Two days, two weeks, two months, it didn’t matter — I had as a lot time as I wanted. For my part (nonetheless unchanged), once you journey, much less is extra. It’s higher to see fewer points of interest and go deeper than forged a large internet and go shallow. You get to know the individuals and locations higher, and also you gained’t rush, stress, or spend some huge cash on transportation.
Positive, I perceive the will to load up your itinerary once you solely have a few weeks per yr accessible to journey. Who is aware of once you may be round that approach once more?
However I’ve all the time endorsed in opposition to it. You’ll spend an excessive amount of time working round, touring between locations, packing, and unpacking. Heck, I as soon as tried to see most of Dublin in 24 hours, which was simply insane.
In March, I made my first go to to San Francisco as a part of my e book tour. I spent solely 3.5 days within the metropolis and, not like most journeys, after I can keep so long as I need, I needed to cram every part into a really quick time period. I knew I’d solely scratch the floor, however one thing can be higher than nothing.
What did I study from this expertise?
Three days isn’t practically sufficient.
I discovered myself working round to see the foremost sights, squeezing in the most effective eating places, getting exhausted strolling up all these hills, becoming in meet-ups, and total, simply being bored with all the time feeling like I needed to race round city.
Having to sightsee in simply a few days was my very own private hell. Locations develop into such a blur that you simply really feel like you find yourself with solely images as an alternative of recollections.
I walked away from San Francisco with two realizations: (1) I would like to return, as a result of what I noticed of it was superb, and (2) there needs to be a greater technique to expertise short-term journey than working round like a rooster with its head lower off.
My journey to Lisbon gave me a possibility to search out the higher approach. I solely had three days once more, however I used to be decided to not repeat my expertise in San Francisco.
This time, I did it in a different way. This time, I got here with a plan.
No, I didn’t regiment each second of day by day. Journey is about letting issues unfold and occur to you naturally, not rigidly planning your journey.
However I needed to stroll away from Lisbon with out feeling exhausted but in addition with out feeling that I hadn’t seen something.
Having a normal concept of what I needed to see and do earlier than I went allowed me to higher put together, manage my go to, and tempo myself, so I might have some downtime and alternatives to simply drift. I missed lots of stuff the primary time I used to be within the metropolis final yr.
I made a decision that on the primary day I’d wander town heart, go to the historical past museum, and see Sé Cathedral and São Jorje Fort.
On the second, I’d go to the seashore outdoors of city.
On the third, I’d take a metropolis strolling tour supplied by the hostel, go to the lookout tower, and discover just a few different church buildings.
I figured this tough define would give me sufficient to fill every day — however not sufficient to make it too packed.
So how did it work out?
Regardless of being tremendous jet-lagged and sleeping by way of a lot of the primary day, I discovered that making a framework allowed me to verify off most of my record with out feeling I used to be working round like loopy. I used to be in a position to see what I needed to see whereas nonetheless discovering time so as to add in native suggestions.
And whereas I rearranged the order of every part after I bought into city, by breaking apart the times into “bite-sized parts,” I discovered I might discover at a relaxed tempo.
I utilized the identical technique after I was in Madrid just a few days later, to the identical impact. I had 4 days on the town, and I began with a plan.
I made a listing of all of the sights in Madrid that I needed to see after which every day went by way of that record: botanical gardens, meals tour, strolling tour, artwork museums, nightlife, cathedral, and the royal palace. I didn’t get to every part, however I discovered that creating a listing helped set a tempo that made exploring a large and sprawling metropolis in just a few days appear much less overwhelming.
So the takeaway?
In case you are making an attempt to discover someplace new and have solely a brief time period to see it, it’s greatest to go in with a tough itinerary to maximise your restricted time. By doing a little preliminary planning, you may keep away from feeling overwhelmed and as an alternative deal with truly having fun with your journey, seeing what you need, and nonetheless discovering time to let the highway take you to fascinating locations.
I get many emails asking for assist with itineraries and hour-by-hour planning for journeys, and I see many individuals making an attempt to cram an excessive amount of into a brief time period. In my expertise, nevertheless, making a framework in your journey as an alternative — and filling within the smaller particulars alongside the best way — is a way more stress-free technique to not solely plan a visit but in addition see your vacation spot.