Rant: Don't Travel Without A Plan!

In less than two weeks, I'll be traveling to Portugal for a week, visiting the Vinho Verde region, the Douro and the city of Porto. I know that many other people have begun traveling again after all the prior restrictions during the pandemic. 

Now, on these trips, whether it's a short day trip or a two-week vacation, your time is limited at your destination. How do you maximize your enjoyment, considering your limited available time? I think the answer is simple: Research before you depart. 

Whenever I go on a trip, I do plenty of research beforehand, especially seeking food and wine spots, from restaurants to markets, from wine stores to wineries. I have other interests as well, and seek out places which meet those interests too. I want to know about some of the best and most interesting places before I get to my chosen destination. I want to know which places are closest to my hotel, those places I can easily walk to and those places I might need to drive to, or take an Uber. 

For my upcoming trip to Portugal, I have made plenty of plans, places I wish to visit and see. However, the plans are flexible, ready to adapt to whatever circumstances might arrive. And there is plenty of time built into my plans for simply wandering around some areas, hoping to stumble upon other place of interests. 

I enjoy finding special surprises, but you can't just rely on happenstance if you want a thoroughly enjoying trip. It can be a mixed bag, sometimes finding a good place, and other times being very disappointed. And you'd likely also miss some fascinating spots that never came within your usual travels, even though they might have been nearby. I want to minimize my potential disappointments, so I do my research first, as should you. 

I might visit an area only once and never return, or not until years later. Thus, I want to experience the best of that area that I can, and that is unlikely to happen without at least some research. A prepared traveler is more likely to have a better and more thorough time, getting to sample the cream of a city. I strongly doubt I would get lucky and just stumble upon all of the great places with any sort of plan. 

There are some places you might never stumble upon, because they are hidden away, in more remote areas. They might be well off the established tourist routes, or simply difficult to find as they are but one of dozens of similar places in the same region. I want advance information and only research will bring that to me. 

Online research about most travel destinations is relatively easy. All it takes is a little time and you will have almost anything you need. Plus, you can always ask your friends and others on social media for advice and recommendations. Yes, with all this research, you will have to weed through some useless information, but the search is more than worthwhile. It has definitely made my prior journeys so much better.

So why do some people remain ignorant travelers? Why do they fail to do the proper research before traveling? Why take such a huge risk, especially when you may only get a single opportunity to explore a new region?

When you travel, do you do research first, or just wing it?