Travel planning

If you know me, or my mother, you know that any vacation is prefaced by a lot of research and planning. My mother has done this my entire life, and a few of you have probably even seen the spreadsheets that she makes for trips to DisneyWorld. You might think that I’d rebel against this scientific approach, since I backed away from everything else scientific in life, but I have been on the bandwagon since I was 20 and they were coming to visit me in Paris, and I knew they (ok, mom) would expect a customized guide.

I dove headlong into planning this trip, since we bought our tickets just a couple of weeks in advance, and hadn’t really given much thought to Cambodia apart from wanting to visit someday. Someday came quickly, but don’t worry, I still had time to produce the condensed guidebook that the Blackstones (Creters?) can’t travel without. I kept it to ten pages, and Grant swears he read it. My favorite moments are when he tells me he read “somewhere” that ____. My usual response? Yes dear, that was in the book.

Why do I do this? There are a few reasons:

• I find it helpful to consolidate all of the sources I read prior to traveling, and handy to have a couple of pages highlighting the must-sees (and how to find them) to stick in my pocket when we’re on the road.

• I’ve reconciled to the fact that Grant will never read a whole guidebook, but at least this way he’ll have an idea of where he’s going (and the ability to veto/request stops). It actually makes me feel like less of a tour director.

• This is an easy way to show family and friends where we are going, and prior to this blog was the only way!

• It’s a great record of where we’ve been, and makes it easy to look back at previous trips and make suggestions to others visiting the same area.

 

That’s not to say that we do everything that is listed, or that our days are excessively scheduled. We certainly make time to hang out by the pool or have a drink or two, and just to wander the neighborhood that we’re staying in. I just wouldn’t want to miss out on the greatest “fill in the blank” right around the corner from us.

Anyway, if you’re curious, here’s the travel plan from Cambodia. Don’t be scared, and don’t laugh too loudly – it really is genetic.