Unstructured Travel

Some people prefer to leave their travel days relatively unstructured, and I’m one of those people.

I’ve come to a realization about how I usually like to travel. I like to experience essentially my regular day-to-day existence but in a different environment. I might prearrange a few activities ahead of my travel. A tour, dinner, show, hike — whatever seems like enough fun to slightly alter my usual day-to-day life, different enough to make the travel itself worth it. But usually not too much difference.

There is no single correct way to travel. Each of us gets out of travel what suits our individual needs. Some people may want highly structured tours and travel plans. Others may want an entirely casual and unstructured trip with little planning. But after many conversations about my own travel and hearing how others prefer to do it, I think there are a lot of people like me.

When I disrupt my regular personal routines entirely during a trip, I lose a sense of myself somehow. If I don’t do a bit of exercise each day, it feels like I’m letting myself down. If I entirely neglect my reading or writing routine, my mind’s acumen feels shakier. If I rush to and fro, flitting from one planned event to another during a trip, it’s not relaxing for me regardless of whether the individual experiences might be remarkable on their own.

On some level, my preferred travel approach seems to align at least somewhat with what’s typically called “immersive travel.”

Immersive travel is about going beyond the surface of a destination to truly connect with its culture, people, and everyday life. This approach allows you to travel more like a local, discovering hidden gems and traditions that mass tourism often overlooks.

Yes, I love that type of local culture discovery. But I still need a lot of time during each day to just be me and do my usual things. What sets doing those usual things apart for me is doing them amid a satisfying location away from home.

Reading a book in a local park. Writing in a beautiful hotel suite (which I’m doing right now). Exercising by walking briskly around the city, observing the local environment and daily life as I do.

I do plan things. Currently, I’m visiting Las Vegas. Last night I had dinner with people I care about. The night before that I saw a great show. The day before that my partner and I had a delicious meal at a random restaurant we picked out. Tonight, we’re going to eat at a nice restaurant and then walk The Strip to do some people watching.

So, I’m not against planning things on a trip. I just prefer to not over plan by creating an agenda that keeps me going nonstop.

Recently, I traveled to Europe with a friend. My friend and I checked in with each other ahead of booking the trip to make sure we are similar in our travel styles. Turns out we are. He also likes to do some of his regular daily activities while perhaps planning one “official” thing to do each day together. We did a tour for a few hours. We saw a show. We hiked to the top of a local hilltop to observe a 360-degree view of the city. We visited a local gay club together. But we left an abundance of time each day to do whatever it is we wanted to do individually, which often ended up being what we would have done at home anyway. We enjoyed doing those normal things in the new location which added an elevated sense of joy about doing them.

Perhaps you’re like me and like your travel relatively unscheduled. Or not, That’s the point of me writing this. We’re all different. There’s no one correct way to travel. Hopefully if you’re traveling with others your travel styles align well enough to avoid clashes of style. My partner, with whom I’m traveling right now, and I like to travel the same way which makes it more enjoyable. May your travels all be enjoyable and as unstructured or structured as makes you happy.

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