What is your vacation style?

Do you like to take it easy and smell the roses? Or, do you like to make sure you have a plan in order to hit the major places/things you want to do/see?

 

In Vegas I go with the flow...same with Maui

but anywhere else I have a plan, agenda, itinerary...on schedule on budget! Thats how I live my non-Vegas life

 

In our early days, we would try to schedule everything! Of course that never, ever worked out. Especially if we were traveling with other people.
Nowadays we start each day plan free. The only exceptions is if there is special shows or concerts going on.

 

I definitely like to plan to some degree. I tend to want all things - a careful plan so I don't miss things, but I also want to relax.

What ends up happening is I have different kinds of trips. Some have specific goals and then when I am sick of that, the next trip might be completely open. And then I think of all the things I missed doing and go back again to planning.

I think the best thing is to have one or two things you want to do each day - simple as Eat at This Restaurant, Visit This Property, or Go to This Show. The rest of the time you relax. That seems to work well.

 

If it's somewhere I've never been, I plan but not to the point of overdoing it. I know in advance what I want to see and make a loose plan. I spent five weeks in London for work and always regretted not seeing Westminster Abbey. I got to go back three years later and made sure I saw it. I don't want to leave a place with regrets.

Our first Vegas trip, we planned. Now, it's much looser. I think my husband and I love Vegas so much because there's so much to do and see and we have teeny tiny attention spans.

But to answer your original question, we're not relaxers, we're constantly moving and doing something. But by moving, I mean wandering from machine to machine, table to table, bar to bar, store to store, etc. We've never made it to the pool of any of the hotels in which we've stayed.

 

This is exactly how I feel.

 

I prefer to have a plan, even if it isn't set in stone. I need to know what i am doing most of the time. I am not the type to relax though i wish i could.

 

We have always just relaxed and done whatever but this upcoming trip we are trying to plan a couple things for each day so it should be interesting. I do like to have an agenda in "real life" though.

 

For Vegas, I make a list of things, but I only ever anchor myself to one show and/or one dinner. I might end up doing several other things on the list, or none of them.

 

For Vegas, I have a planner for the 2 weeks we are there.

We started going for 7 nights at a time and the first time we went for 10 nights I didn't have a plan and ran out of things to do around Day 8. Not that there wasn't things to do, but I just couldn't think of any more.

Since then I always prepare a planner in Excel with one or two things entered for each day. Our biggest problem if fitting in all the restaurants we want to visit. I don't want to come home again realising we had missed MAG. For our next trip I have 12 restaurants listed for dinner for 15 nights and there are other 2-3 that I would have liked to go to if we had more time.

We also have 5 shows so they are planned in. I need to make sure our main shopping day is not on a day we are moving hotels.

Nothing is cast in stone apart from the hotel stays and the shows and we always have tons of time to relax and gamble.

 

As you may (or may not) know, I am a planner down to the minute. I even plan relaxation.

 

This is precisely a main reason that I plan. I have a lot of time and a lot i would like to see/do. I would not want to not know what to do next. Exploring all the potential options available during my trip *before* I go saves me time, money and needless effort. And saves me from being bored in ridiculously awesome cities.

 

Personally, I don't think travel can or should be formulaic. Sure certain things need to be effectively locked in stone, like flights. And if a specific attraction or event sells out or has sporadic dates and it's a must-do thing, you need a rezzie.

But if you start planning out an entire adventure at the risk of "not missing something" then by definition you are going to miss a lot. I'm an inveterate planner, dream, don't get me wrong. There just are many times you need to let the wind fill your sails and see where you end up.

 

Typically, we have a fairly loose agenda. The only 'musts' on any given day in Vegas is the show we have scheduled. There are places that we may want to eat but we kind of go with the flow and if it doesn't work out on a particular day we may do it the next day. The use of myVegas rewards, ACG, and LVA coupons tend to try and keep us on track.....lol because it doesn't always work and we just tend to whatever we feel at that particular moment.

 

I don't have a plan per se, more a general "outline" of places I want to go, usually casinos.

Of course this doesn't count shows. I like to see headliner comedians and am a sucker for any classic rock band.

Otherwise, it's go with the flow.

 

We never plan anything unless it's a show that you have to buy tickets for. I used to make a list of everything I wanted to do while in Vegas but after about 3 trips of only hitting 50% of them if I was lucky...I figured that's kind of useless:evillaugh

That's not to say I don't have things that I (not sure "plan" is the right word) do and I know I'm going to do them all the time. Like having some high voltage coffee and gambling every morning. And since we always go during the warm/hot weather, at some time each day we go to the pool to chill and enjoy the scenery

Never set times for anything though....that's a Vegas no-no

 

I'll be in Vegas for a week in April. The only plans I have are trips to some of the Indian petroglyphs around Las Vegas. I might not get to Sloan Canyon if I can't find a high clearance vehicle to rent that they'll let me go off paved road with. Other than that it's go with the flow. Of course I always have to go by Lapperts and have an ice cream cone....

 

Two peas in a pod!

I couldn't believe I could be "bored" in a place like Vegas, but it happened that one time when I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do. That was around trip 4 or 5 and hasn't happened since I started using a planner.

 

There is still a lot of flexibility in my planner. It is mostly dinner and shows that are planned and you have to eat so might as well make sure you eat at places you would like to.

That said, we change things all the time as nothing is set in stone. If we don't fancy the restaurant that is pencilled in for that night because we fancy somewhere else then we won't go.

I just hate coming back from a trip thinking I should have done this or that. At least if it's on a list or planner I am making a conscious decision whether to do it or not.

 

Yes and yes.

It depends a little on the destination. Visiting family in Florida, aside from some rounds of golf, and a fancy dinner or two, its really just all relaxation with no agenda.

With Vegas I've always found the planning half the fun. Nothing is ever set in stone, but I like finding the stuff I'll want to do and finding some time for the major things in advance. Much better than getting home and realizing all the things you didn't do.

With other locations I find it at least similar. I like to at least make a list of things I don't want to miss. Then I fit relaxation and going with the flow around those key points.