Plan It or Wing It?

So after the brief catharsis I had late yesterday ...

A work colleague happened to pass by my desk early this afternoon and ask me how the trip planning was going.

I was in the middle of telling him what my next plan of action was when he said, "You may not want to do that - you may get yourself in trouble."

"How so?"

"Well, you may not want to lock yourself in, in case you go somewhere and decide you want to stay somewhere for an extra day or two."

One of my senior colleagues - who's been well-travelled since childhood - was sauntering by and, and overhearing our conversation, agreed with him.

If *I* wasn't such a novice, I'd also have concurred. But a whole new panic set in.

I totally understand their point. One should leave oneself open for possibilities. What if I decide to spend a day at the beach along the coast instead of hopping a bus or train for Granada? What if I decide I want to head back up to Barcelona instead of soldiering on to Seville?

But at the same time, I'm travelling. By myself. And I only have 17 days. I just want the security of knowing I'm going to be able to get from one place to another, and find somewhere decent to stay when I land there. What if I don't plan where I'm going to stay next and then spend 3, 4, 5 hours trying to find a place to stay, instead of taking in the sights, the food and the nightlife?

So I started asking a couple other people at work. And in using the power of Google to find out what there was in terms of hostels with walk-in spots, stumbled across the archived experiences of the lovely Zsa Zsa Zsu (thanks for Gmailing back!). So I was slightly less panicked.

And then before I left work, I spoke to someone else who is an expert traveller. He's kind of put me at ease a bit more (and I hope it's not misguided).

So I might try to plan half my trip, and wing the other half. But I'm still deciding. Only time will tell.