💬 Do you plan trips or just wing it?

I plan trips like I'm shipping a product. Last December we went to Coorg, 5 friends, 3 days. I made a spreadsheet. It had hotel booking IDs, driving times, 2 backup restaurants per meal and a rain plan for every day. My friend Danish looked at it in the car and said, bro, we're going to Coorg, not to a court hearing. Everybody laughed. I laughed too, but I'd also already booked the homestay, so I won. On day 2 it rained for 6 hours and the waterfall plan died. Everybody went quiet in the car. I opened the spreadsheet and said, rain plan B, a coffee estate tour 20 minutes away, 11 AM slot booked. Nobody said anything for a second. Then Danish said, okay fine, fine, you're useful. That was the best day of the trip. We drank coffee out of steel tumblers and watched the rain. I know the other side too. In 2022 I went to Goa with friends who said, no plan, just vibes. We spent the first 4 hours finding a room. Everything decent was full. We slept in a place with 1 fan. One of them still calls it the best trip ever. I can't see it. I remember the fan. I'm not saying planning is right. I just can't relax until the bed is booked. Now Danish plans the fun part. He picks a random place to stop for lunch and I'm not allowed to look it up. Last time it was a roadside place near Zaheerabad, no menu, and the food was better than my 3 backup options. So I'm slowly learning. Slowly. I still made a spreadsheet for the next trip, it's just shorter. Are you a planner or a winger? And do your friends take it well when you open the spreadsheet?

A spreadsheet with 2 backup restaurants per meal is next level, and I say that as someone who made one for a Goa trip. My rain plan was a movie marathon in the hotel room, and it turned out to be the best day.

I'm the complete opposite and it drives my partner, who plans everything down to the hour, a little crazy. I'd rather land somewhere and figure out dinner and the next day's plans once we're there and I can see what the mood is. We compromise now, she books the flights and the first night's stay, and everything after that gets decided over breakfast depending on how we're both feeling that morning.