Question Of The Day - Tuesday, October 8

cassiopea

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Greetings Everyone! Happy Tuesday!








Are you spontaneous/go with the flow or do you like to iron out the details in advance?




80% of the time I am a big planner :lol: I like being organized and smooth, knowing what to expect and research. Especially vacations or work for the dance school. Other times though I allow myself to be more casual, depending on the type of day or activity - like a simple day off.



How about you guys?





Also, Happy Early Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians! :redheartpump::fallsmiley:



 

kashmir64

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Depends on the situation.
Most of the time I just go with the flow. Don't make a big deal of it and just do what needs to be done.
Other times I plan...thoroughly.
And then there's the times when I'm spontaneous and it seems like a good idea at the time.
 

susanm9006

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I love planning and organizing, whether it is a trip, a little project or a big project and can be obsessive about each detail. But once actually into the event I go with the flow feeling relaxed that everything has been prepared for.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I like to plan but I'm ok with some spontaneity. Having kids has made me more spontaneous because babies and little kids are really good about putting kinks in your plans. I joke that was lesson number 1 when DD arrived early. ;) I've learned the desire to plan every detail stems from anxiety and that's gotta go.

So I am learning to let go even more and be more spontaneous. It is nicer to not get upset if plans have to change or things just don't go like I expected. I definitely feel more relaxed and at peace.
 

Tik cat's mum

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I like to plan,I think it comes from having 4 kids one with asperger's my daughter liked to know every detail. Now they are all grown up doing things without planning sometimes can be fun.
 

Sidewinder

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Trip planning is important... including voyages, I used to consult a tide chart and the NOAA weather site before I ever left shore. The tide chart actually remained aboard in a small waterproof bag, LOL. For interstate trips, I like to check the route in my Trucker's Atlas, just to remind myself where fuel is cheapest and to check the possibilities for tourism or outdoor activity. For example, if my route took me through Moab, UT, I would make time to visit or possibly camp at Arches National Park, that's just the way I think when I plan a trip. Why NOT take an extra day or two and enjoy myself? :yess:

As for days off, I might form a general plan: "I'm going to the beach" or "I'm going to the mountains." That way I know what gear to bring, aye? It's fun to be spontaneous, but it's also nice to have the right gear along when you're outdoors. On any serious trip which takes me out of my home county, I like having a full set of tools in the trunk of my car as well, that can save heller time & money in a roadside emergency. I suppose there's a correlation between distance and planning: one can be highly spontaneous in one's local area, but traveling further afield requires a bit of planning, if only for reasons of safety and finance. :rolleyes:
 

lizzie

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I like to plan ahead whenever possible and be organized.However,life happens on occasion,and I try to just go with it at the time.No point in jacking the blood pressure up and blow a gasket.That can be rather unproductive for me.
 

Sidewinder

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So I am learning to let go even more and be more spontaneous. It is nicer to not get upset if plans have to change or things just don't go like I expected. I definitely feel more relaxed and at peace.
Went back and read the other replies, and these words struck a chord with me... I'm all about being flexible in the field, it's the only way to be. I remember meeting some gal in a high-rise elevator and briefly discussing travel: her idea of "roughing it" was going without reservations, LOL. Moi, I'll head out with the notion: "I'm going to sleep somewhere in the desert tonight." That way, if I arrive at a location and it's too crowded or noisy, I can keep rolling and find a more suitable bivouac site. I don't even do developed campgrounds anymore, I usually go remote on BLM land where I can do whatever I want with nobody around to bother me. :cool:

This mentality stems partly from being a technical rock climber: if one crag or climbing area has too many people, find another area where you and perhaps your partner can enjoy more solitude in the wilderness. That whole notion of wheel-to-wheel RV camping on developed ground is completely alien to me... I gotta have my elbow room & wildlife, not some overcrowded parking lot. Of course, I don't mind "glamping" with heaps of firewood, gourmet food and craft beer, LOL... I just do it where there are less people, makes for more freedom and a better overall wilderness experience. :rolleyes:

Edit: I'm also a firm believer in "natural progression"---things happen or don't happen for a reason, so if one wilderness venue disappoints me for whatever reason, I move on secure in the knowledge that the cosmos has better plans for me, LOL. This sort of latitude or flexibility in the field makes for great adventures!!! As long as you're rigged with the right outdoor gear & supplies, and you have enough time to find a better spot, who cares? The stars will still be just as beautiful at night, the campfire just as cozy... as a "field cook" I can burn steaks and seafood ANYWHERE, LOL, and I don't have to know the exact GPS location of my campsite before I set out for the wilderness, finding the best spot is half the fun!!! :yess:
 
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MonaLyssa33

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I plan loosely. When I went to San Francisco a few years ago, I had a list of things I wanted to do each day, but if we didn't get to some of them or we changed our minds, it wasn't a big deal.

When I travel, I'm all about coming home exhausted from doing so much, so while on vacation, I tend to forget that there will come a day that we'll all just pass out from exhaustion. That happened for us in San Francisco on the Fourth of July. We were going to watch the fireworks, but we were exhausted and ended up falling asleep at 8 pm.
 

Graceful-Lily

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Depends on the situation.
Most of the time I just go with the flow. Don't make a big deal of it and just do what needs to be done.
Other times I plan...thoroughly.
And then there's the times when I'm spontaneous and it seems like a good idea at the time.
:yeah:

Depends heavily on the situation for me.
 

MonaLyssa33

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So I am learning to let go even more and be more spontaneous. It is nicer to not get upset if plans have to change or things just don't go like I expected. I definitely feel more relaxed and at peace.
When expectations are low, I find I have the best time. I went to Disney World with my high school marching band and I wasn't rooming with who I wanted to, so I was really upset and had low expectations for it being a good trip. I ended up having the best time. About half the band got the stomach flu, but I still had a great time because I didn't get sick. :lol:

It ended up not even mattering about the room situation because we were barely in the hotel and then everyone got moved around so the sick kids were rooming with other sick kids.

I still remember the moment I saved myself from getting the flu. Someone was passing out vitamin C and a water bottle to swallow it down and I said, "I don't share water" and went to a drinking fountain. Everyone who drank from that bottle got sick.
 

susanm9006

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One thing I should have said about vacations is that my son and I had one that went so horribly off plan and just plain bad that we still laugh about it today. Happy to share the whole story although it is long but it involved a brand new car, hitch hiking and 36 hours on a Greyhound with a whole lot of bad in between.
 

NY cat man

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If we are going somewhere, I'm a planner, especially if it is somewhere we haven't been before. I will use a map ( yes, a real paper map) to plan a route, taking into consideration that Michele hates main highways, so we stick to secondary and county roads. With other things, it's more spontaneous.
 

Sidewinder

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One thing I should have said about vacations is that my son and I had one that went so horribly off plan and just plain bad that we still laugh about it today. Happy to share the whole story although it is long but it involved a brand new car, hitch hiking and 36 hours on a Greyhound with a whole lot of bad in between.
^^^ In climber's lingo, this sort of trip is known as an "epic." ^^^ :flail:

If we are going somewhere, I'm a planner, especially if it is somewhere we haven't been before. I will use a map ( yes, a real paper map) to plan a route, taking into consideration that Michele hates main highways, so we stick to secondary and county roads. With other things, it's more spontaneous.
Ah, yes, the road less traveled... sure beats rush hour on the 405, LOL. Like you, I'm old school, I gotta visually inspect a printed map. Back in the day, we had no "devices" in the field, only gear and climbing hardware. No phones, no modern devices, but we'd have a topo map if we didn't already know the area. We'd put the map in a large Zip-Loc bag to waterproof it... same went for pages copied from climbing guides, that way we didn't have to carry the books, LOL. :cool:
 
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