Stories And Advice All Spontaneous Adventurers Should Hear
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Stories And Advice All Spontaneous Adventurers Should Hear

How to NOT be organized on vacations.

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Stories And Advice All Spontaneous Adventurers Should Hear
Tyra Blackmon

Have you ever made plans up last minute? Procrastinated until the day before to do your research on where your heading? How about laying in bed one day and decide that you wanna go to the beach? Ever found yourself driving to one place and heading somewhere else five hours from where you were originally heading?

How about when you get there? Do you find yourself lost? Do you know what you’re going to do or where you’re going to go? Do you know all the well-known attractions or the prices of them? How about where you’re going to sleep?

Deciding to go out and go sightseeing last minute doesn’t always have to be sloppy. Our bodies are made of maps with our bloodstream and veins being the roads and every organ being our destination. Its only natural that we have the urge to suddenly take off and see what the world has to offer, we were all born with a wild heart. Just like our veins, all roads connect, and sooner or later you’re going to find yourself exactly where you want to be.

Even if you’re schedule is a little busy it never hurts to just get up and go. Some days you have to call in sick to work or skip a couple classes, but doing so will help you get some mental tension off your shoulder. You deserve a little vacation and this article is here to give you tips, tricks, insights, and more on how to get there!

Starting Off

Starting off your adventure can be a little difficult because even though you want to be spontaneous and fun, you do have to do a little bit of research. If you’re last minute (like me,) then starting off your trip should be fairly easy because you just basically set your mind to it and before you know it you’re already halfway to your destination. However, there’s more to the problem when it comes to getting to your little vacation spot, you must decide what you’re going to be doing or how you’re going to be doing it. Whether you’ve decided that you want to drive a couple towns away or a couple of states away, you’re going to want to at least look up a couple of simple things at least a few hours prior.

I have done many last-minute trips during my life, but two of them are a perfect example of the do’s and don’ts of being spontaneous. The first example is about how I made it to New York and back to Michigan after getting the idea and planning the trip within a day. I only had $137 in my pocket as well.
The first thing you should think about before starting a trip is the cost of getting there. I knew I only had $137 so I had to do a little math and calculate the miles it took to get there and how many miles my car can drive before I had to refill on gas to see if I can even make it there in general. Unfortunately, that was the only planning I did. Long story short, I made it to New York and back safely. However, I ended up getting two parking tickets and barely walked around the city. To make things a little worse it was a holiday weekend so the majority of the trip was just sitting in traffic. I planned how to get there and back and decided to cut every extra thing out since my only goal was to see the city. I’d say the trip in total was about a 6.5/10 because the fines I got had cost more than the money I spent to get there. However, I do recommend the drive! Pennsylvania and New Jersey was quite a sight to see driving through it.

Moral of the story is that you HAVE to map out what you are going to be doing. Do your research before going out on a blind eye and research simple things like how far away it is, where you’re going to park, towns surrounding your destination, simple tricks to go about the place, attractions, and more. Make sure you have enough money in your pockets to at least get the necessities like food, gas, and drinks. After you’re sure you have it all, you’re about ready to go!

Getting To Your Destination

Now that you know you have enough money to get there, back, and to get your basic necessities as well, you can now be on your way. Remember, the advice here is meant for SPONTANEOUS adventures, for you last minute wild childs. If you want to be more organized I would recommend not letting these stories influence you.

Since everything that you’re probably going to endure is last minute, you have to remember that cutting corners and doing some things out of the norm is okay.

The beginning of the Summer I decided to go camping seven hours upstate for a week to celebrate my birthday. I’ve done all my planning (to the best I could since it was last minute) and researched campsites that don’t need reservations, the prices per night, and of course the towns and attractions that are surrounding the area just in case I needed to get gas or head to a local grocery store. You are going to find many campsites and hotels where you do NOT need to make reservations for and just walk in and stay a few nights. Make sure you have more than one saved just in case your first spot didn’t work out. I knew I wanted to go to the beach and a few tourist attractions so I made sure I was at least 30 minutes away from them.

However, a few obstacles stood in my way. My birthday is July 3rd, which is primarily the time everyone decides to go camping. I believed leaving July 1st at the crack of dawn would be best, since many websites said the primary time to get to a campsite is before 11am. What I didn’t plan for was what I was going to do after I discovered all campsite plots were taken when I got there.

We decided to do a little sightseeing and drive around for awhile. We drove almost everywhere to travel to and even checked out more campsites to see if there was any openings anywhere. We even shed a few tears that day because I hit a giant rock in the road and blew a hole in my car exhaust (which is, again, something we didn’t plan for). We ended up sitting in a parking lot for two hours planning what would happen if we found ourselves stranded without any means of transportation. Luckily, my car was just extremely loud but still ran like a champ. However, we wasted most of the day planning a “what if” situation and found ourselves stranded at night time with no campsite to stay at.

So I know some of you wouldn’t do this, but when you have no options it’s something you have to do at least once in your life. Since we couldn’t find a campsite and all hotels had no vacancy that night, we decided to search for local parks or stores open 24/7 so we could call it a night and sleep in the car. It’s a little uncomfortable (especially with three people, a dog, and a lot of luggage packed in a tiny Chevy Cobalt,) but it makes a fun story. Just make sure you’re somewhere that’s either open 24/7 or is pretty deserted, you don’t want to get a ticket.

The rest of the trip went smoothly. We found a campsite the next morning and stayed the next three days there. Our diets consisted of questionable chicken breasts (our cooler was filled with mainly water at this point), marshmallows, and three water bottles, but we had a blast and saw some towns and attractions we weren’t even planning to see.

With a little bit of planning, last minute decisions, and a few cut corners, you can have a similar experience with any location and have a lot of fun as well! Just make the best of any situation and always stay on your toes. It’s a vacation, live a little!

The whole point of a spontaneous trip is to get away from your normal routine and to do things you wouldn’t normally do. To be able to see new sights and learn new things, and even learn a thing or two on how to not murder your friends after being stuck with them for a few days. It’s nice to do it every now and then especially to get a little weight off your shoulders and get some fresh air (whether it’s actually fresh air or polluted city air). All you have to remember is to do minimal planning and research and you’re good to go. Stay safe and have fun!

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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