To Plan, or Not to Plan ...

I think one of the best parts of a journey is the planning stage. Someone once said that the pleasure in a trip is 90% anticipation - I agree. So, I have been indulging myself on a mammoth scale recently, scouring the Internet for every little bit of information regarding our upcoming trip to India.

I'm obsessed! Firing off questions to the various travel site forums on the best places to stay, the best tour guides to hire, the best shops to buy silk etc. etc. etc.
Oh, I'm having SO much fun! IndiaMike.com and Trip Advisor have become my new best friends ... also Sonia in India who is handling our car and driver hire, and is firing back answers as quickly as I can send them. She's even invited Ray and I to stay at her home in Jaipur for the 3 nights we are there!

I started thinking of all the fun people miss when they book a standard tour, or place all this in the hands of a travel agency. Just pay your money and follow the lady with the yellow flag, don't question us, don't worry, don't think, you are in good hands with us ... I could NEVER join one of those groups. But I know they have a place, and I must admit that sometimes when I'm frustrated at finding just the right place - well, I can see they might have a certain appeal.

Then there are the travellers who never plan, who like to just 'wing-it'... they are mostly single (and likely to stay that way;) and often under 30 ... I don't fall into that category either, although I must say I rather envy their laissez-faire attitude.

No, I'm a planner, and it's the part of the journey I adore. I am constantly amazed at how generous people whom I've never met, and likely never will, are with their time and sharing of experiences. Like Paul, a professional photographer from California, who travelled with his wife to India 2 years ago, and whose answers and comments I came to enjoy on T.A.'s India forum. I felt we were on the same wavelength which waslater confirmed when he mentioned that he had spent a full year planning their 3 week Indian trip (now, there's a planner!) I read that he had written a 7 page account of their India trip which he'd be happy to forward to others if it would help them plan. This comment was 2 years old, but I took a chance and sent him a personal message (you can do that on Trip Advisor) and asked if he still had the 7 page epistle, and would he kindly forward it to me also? Well, he had, and he did! That began an interesting correspondence between us and even a phone call, with the result that my itinerary was further tweaked to include an overnight 6 hour train ride.

So, where are we going? Well, it's going to be fantastic ... we will sleep in a traditional tribal clay hut with thatched roof in Nawalgarh, stay with a vegetarian Indian family in Jaipur, sleep in a very old Maharaj Palace in Bundi, an Englishman's desert retreat house in Udaipur, travel overnight on a sleeper train, stay with my penpal in Pune, and sleep as close to the beach as we can get in Goa.

I am SO excited!!!!