To Plan or Not To Plan

I haven%26#39;t lurked out here for many months. (Bad news/good news: Bad news is no trip to Maui currently planned; good news is I%26#39;m hanging out on the VI forum because our next big trip is to St. John. BTW, I decided on STJ because I read a post about it here.)

But I got to thinking of this board again when a friend mentioned that she and her family are going to Maui soon. Her in-laws did most/all of the planning, and she and her husband didn%26#39;t know where they were staying.

I was momentarily alarmed, but then I realized that not everyone really gets into researching a destination. So I gave them my 3 Maui books (Revealed, Trailblazer, and Frommer%26#39;s), and of course sent them a link to this board!

I hope they come to visit this board and read all the great information here. I learned alot from all your posts. Plus, it%26#39;s fun!

To all you planning your first Maui trip: have fun! You%26#39;ll love it!

To Plan or Not To Plan

After a trip to Italy years ago without a minute of planning, I%26#39;m now a firm believer in planning. On that trip we missed so much because I didn%26#39;t know what to see or do. So we sat around asking each other, ';What do you think we should do today?'; Now I find that planning and researching an area is almost as much fun as the trip itself. I think there%26#39;s a fine line between over planning (booking every day, every minute) and researching an area (knowing what%26#39;s available, what to see, what restaurants to think about). Our two week vacation to Maui is coming up the 23rd of June. We%26#39;ll be there for 2 weeks. We primarily plan to snorkel from the beaches and do a little fine dining. If we tire of the beaches, I have some ideas of things I%26#39;d like to see but we%26#39;re not planning anything in advance. So I guess the message is; know what%26#39;s available, what do other recommend, have an idea of where these places are, and only book in advance things you have your heart set on that book up quickly, i.e., Warren and Annabelle%26#39;s and the Old Lahaina Luau. Have a great trip everyone and thanks for all your contributions.

To Plan or Not To Plan

Military planners drill down to the finest detail before any operation proceeds, knowing than no plan, no matter how good it is, survives when the force crosses the line of departure. But the value of the plan is that the planning process uncovers all the options.

So, you%26#39;re right, a travel plan%26#39;s value really is in the flexibility it provides. Imagine deciding to go to Hanauma Bay on Tuesday only to learn Tuesday morning that it%26#39;s closed that day. Most of us count vacation time as precious. Wasting it sitting around the breakfast table reaching consensus on what to do that day is almost tragic.

When we travel to somewhere new I do all the research and make trip notes to carry. I do a simple Word table with the names of things, locations (sorted by area) and prices if applicable. I highlight what I consider must-sees. I book in advance for specific things as needed. I carry the notes - usually about 4-5 pages at most - and leave the heavy book(s) at home. When we return home I usually add comments to the file so if we return we can re-do things we really liked and do some of the things we missed.

I usually do notes for the first 2-3 trips to a particular place, or until I feel that we really know what we want to do. I%26#39;ve also used trip plans from books - for instance, the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - with great success.

I%26#39;ve also used my notes to plan customized trips for friends and relatives.