Vacation Planning

My husband has a work conference in Napa, California at the end of May, so I am going as well and we are going to extend out time out there a few more days.

I am starting to obsessively research things. I have about 15 tabs open in my browser right now. :lol3: I always do this when we go somewhere new and like to have a rough plan on an itinerary. I normally plan more than can be accomplished, but at least I can pick and choose from the list I have.

When you plan a vacation, do you have a rough idea on what you want to do or see and plan things out, or do you figure it out when you get there?

For years I've taken my major vacation each year with one of my besties who is inhumanly organized, and she plans things amazingly well. There are usually spreadsheets, links to every attraction's website, suggestions for restaraunts/bars in the area of each plan, and more. We're pretty relaxed if you just don't feel like doing a particular thing and want to hang around something else for the day/half day we say "ok see you later!" and then do. My friend is amazing.

When I go alone or just with my spouse, we usually wing it. We get an airBNB and a data bundle on our phones, check the weather forecast for packing appropriately, and then just go. Both ways are fun!

Napa is beautiful! Are you a wine lover?

I like to keep options flexible but at the same time I want to know what all the options are!  I always think I would hate to get back home from someplace and then find out there was some amazing attraction/view/restaurant just around the corner from where I was and I didn't know it was there!    

I'm usually pretty flexible about vacation plans once there, but if I have "must do's" they get scheduled in.  

For instance, when I was in the Napa/Sonoma area I had very specific restaurants I wanted to dine in, and made reservations well in advance of arriving.  Also for the Wine Train (which BTW was really a nice little side trip to kill a few hours).  All else we just did on the fly. We didn't stress too much if we missed a winery we really wanted to go to. After 5 of them, they all begin to look the same anyway if you get my drift    By noon we were toasted, starving and hot.  Ate hamburgers to soak up the alcohol and headed back to the hotel for a swim 

I am very obsessive about planing the travel/hotel end of things though since that's usually where something will go wrong, if it will go wrong.

It depends on the purpose of the trip. If the trip is to the beach to lie in the sun or to the mountains to hike, then I don't plan anything. If it's for sightseeing, I plan everything. If you don't plan, you will not know what there is to see and will miss something. A few years ago, I went on a trip with my son and his wife to the Black Hills. The trip was planned and checked out before hand. It was wonderful, and we saw so much. We left one day open to see something we omitted or to go back and see again.

For Napa and Bordeaux, I do wine tours with my friends. It's surprisingly affordable if you can get like 12 people together. You just get a big van with a driver who drives you around to the wineries. The tastings are often cheap or free (/included in the price of the van and driver). It doesn't work so much for a family vacation, but driving yourself to wineries just isn't really a good time.

When I go on sightseeing vacations, I just know I will miss things. No matter how much I do or don't plan, there's no way I will see everything. I don't think I've ever been anywhere where there weren't more places I wanted to see, even if I arrived with no plans.

We make a list and then pare it down to reality. 

You enjoy that trip! Some of the nicest trips I did were those that Rick had to go on union business and I went along with him. 

Rick takes care of it all, unless there's something I really want to see or do. He does the hotel reservations, he starts looking online for attractions and such and then he talks to me about it all. He's already looking for things to see and do in Ireland and Scotland, trying to determine if we want to do a tour or go off on our own, etc. He's been bringing stuff home from AAA, too. All I'll really have to do is pack; he'll have it all under control.

We do like wine, but there are over 400 wineries in Napa. :lol3: Narrowing down which to go to will be quite a challenge. :lol3: