Who plans your trips?

[Chet]

We do.

[lazylane]

I do! I do email the others in our group all year long with ideas, etc. I see a pattern on this board - I think maybe we are all control freaks here!!

[marruda]

yours truly does everthing!

This brings up a great true story. Back in 2005, I wanted to surpise Lia for our Anniversary and actually booked a trip to St. John. I always mess with her about me planning every detail and she just going for the ride. So I decided to do a little experiment.....

I told her we were going to Las Vegas for a surprise anniversary trip. When we arrived at Logan Airport in Boston, I handed her her tickets: BOS - MIA; MIA - STT; We flew into Miami. On the flight she is telling people she is going to Vegas. It took all my strenght not to laugh, but I nearly P*ssed myself when one guy said, "Boston to Miami, Miami to Las Vegas, I've never seen that route before." It was only when I walked her to the terminal in Miami showing the STT flight that she realized she was not going to vegas. Moral of the story - I told her pay attention. I still laugh my butt off.
mike

[jmq]

Well, not surprising the ones who do the posting here are the planners! Sort of like going into a room and saying,"Everyone who is here, raise your hand."
-Bert

So true!

Regarding “self planning”, I havent used a travel agent since one tried to talk us out of going to Cancun on our honeymoon in 1981 because she didn’t know enough about it. She helped us book it only at our insistence. Then she went on a junket there about a month before we went and came back raving about it, so that made us feel better.

But when people asked where we were going on the honeymoon, and we said Cancun, everybody said “Hunh?” I had remembered it from the 1975 Sports Illustrated photo shoot there (one of the Cheryl Tiegs covers)



so I dug it out of my collection and showed it to my bride to be and we went with it (see, I did read the articles! I wonder how much business the STJ shoot generated for the island?). When we went, there were 700 hotel rooms in Cancun. Now there are 40,000. Yikes.

In defense of those who still use travel agents, I get that there are those who don’t have the time, willingness, skills, nor inclination to do it themselves. I did contact an agent again for our 07 trip to Switzerland because I was having trouble gaining some traction on that planning. She put together an itinerary that was at least $1500 more than doing it myself, so I politely declined. Her input plus the awesome printed brochures from the official Swiss travel office I got mailed to me finally gave me the direction I needed on the internet.

Back in the day, the scarcity of travel information was an issue. Now the issue is too much information and it can be overwhelming, especially when considering a new destination.

[kjguye]

Bert got it right on .The people who plan and and labor over having the details of a trip perfect are indeed the ones who sought out this forum, for that very reason. My husband just goes along with whatever. I do the planning and all the arrangements.Including buying his new stuff,and packing.He chimes in sometimes with something he might like to do. Hey its worked rather well for 32 years Karen

[Sun4MySoul]

American Airlines, apparently.

LMAO!!

But I agree with everyone here. I plan everything and this year is my first time with a large group. Its a total Pain In My Ass, but I think it will be worth it. And like most of you, I would NEVER trust anyone else to do it for me. My Inner Control Freak would explode!

[djmom]

Ned plans the airline, taxi, villa. Of course I have a say in the villa but he does all the arranging.

It is great because otherwise I would be worrying about whether or not I did it correctly! I don't trust myself with that stuff.

I do all the packing (except his) as far as clothes. It takes me 2 weeks and it takes him about 15 minutes. I'm still shoving stuff in and out of the bag up till the last minute.

We both do the planning of meals, etc...He plans and gets the meat, fish, makes the rubs, marinades. I do the sides, etc...

Works out pretty well. I have found there is usually trouble when both are in charge of the same thing.

It is kind of down to a science now. I dread going somewhere else. We wouldn't know what to do!

We are not heavy packers, but with nonstop from Charlotte, the lost bags are not as big of a concern...knock on wood! So we don't go real light...and I will pack a box of dry food for side dishes and snacks.

[chrisn]

Good question! I do freaking everything. If it wasn't for me, Honey wouldn't get past the rum punch welcoming committee! Seriously though, I am what you would call an OCD vacation planner girl. The planning is half my fun and I like to be in the know. I also shop for Honey's vacation clothes as I'd rather have him not wear the same damn t-shirt and shorts everyday. I also check everything off "THE" list before leaving.

He does contribute though, he hands me the credit card when duty calls.

[PA Girl]

(raising my hand) Me! 100%

Husband picks when. His work is fairly unique (and hands on) and there are times when he simply can't leave it to someone else.

I pick the accomodations and let the group review the choices. We have the same requirements so there is very little discusssion over type of rental or price.

This is going to sound crazy but I make a calendar/list up for our time on island.

For example, I will write something like:

"Restaurant X closed" on the day of the week it is closed

"Lobster night at Morgon's"

"would like to go to Miss Lucy's for brunch then Maho" on a Sunday.

My husband (and our friends when we travel together) absolutely don't want to think on vacation.

A more laid-back group is hard to find, laid-back to a fault.

If someone doesn't herd them in the right direction, this is what plays out:

"what do you want to do today"
"I don't know, what do you want to do today?"
"oh I don't care, whatever..."

(insert 45 minutes of coffee drinking)

"so, which beach are we going to?"
"I don't care, you pick."
"well I don't care, I like them all."

(insert 45 minutes of discussing something completely unrelated, Husband gets hungry, goes off in search of Breakfast #2.)

"well are we gonna do anything?"
"you decide"
"No, you decide"
"Oh, I don't care, you decide."

By this time, I have fed my family members, cleaned up the breakfast dishes, packed my beach bag, loaded my gear into the jeep, packed the cooler and am sitting in the driveway ready to leave.

"PA Girl, what do you want to do?"

To which I respond "anyone NOT in this Jeep in 10 minutes gets left behind. Little PA Son and I are going to Maho."

"Oh, Maho? Great idea. What about lunch?"

So I started with the calendar.

I say to Husband/group "this what I am going to do, anyone who wants to join me is welcome."

They always join me, I get to the beach at a reasonable hour, and I am no longer driven mad by indecision.

[KPlumm]

I do. My husband is very agreeable and I do talk with him about what my choices are before booking. Last year we brought friends and they were just as agreeable. The daily scenario would play out as PA Girl says

If someone doesn't herd them in the right direction, this is what plays out:

"what do you want to do today"
"I don't know, what do you want to do today?"
"oh I don't care, whatever..."

(insert 45 minutes of coffee drinking)

"so, which beach are we going to?"
"I don't care, you pick."
"well I don't care, I like them all."

unless I provided some "guidance". The conversation around the dinner table last year was our friends asking what we would be doing the next day (they were excited), so I would suggest a beach. Our usual plans were to get up, leisurely go to a beach, go somewhere for lunch, chill back at the villa. Well, after we got back my husband told me I was too controlling and we should just let things flow. Well, I think this year I might just sit back and wait for someone else to offer up a plan or to decide on where to go. I sure hope we don't end up spending the entire trip on the deck!

[aroobagirl]

Me, I couldn't trust anyone with something this important! Glad to know there are others out there like me! My sisters are always accusing me of being a "planner" like it is a bad thing!

[jimg20]

Those of us who are on the Forum are, of course, the planners. Why would we spend this much time gathering intel if we weren't going to have a use for it?

For us it's an 80/20 split on the major arrangements. I get the 80. She tells me when she can go and for how long. We discuss the villas and settle on some choices. I arrange for the plane tickets, car and villa. That means making sure they are committed and they have the money they need. Since I travel every week for work, I have the contacts to do this. When I walk into our airport it's like when Norm walks into Cheers.

The meals and day-to-day plans are more like a 50/50 split. She is the chef. That means we general do what she want to cook. Since she does it so well, who could complain? Beach selection, dive days, restaurant choices are all by consensus.

We've only gone with another couple once a long time ago. My recollection is that they pretty much did what we wanted to do.

JIM

[Boston Mike]

Wifey tells me when we leave and come home.

Throw my stuff in a bag the night before

take it hour by hour when we get there

[designbyroe]

Spirit Air and my clients pretty much.
Once I get on island, there is not planning.....with whomever and whatever and I like it that way.

I was wondering how the planning went. I figure alot of the people on this forum have families and maybe not the hubby and wife both post soooo.

[Pickle]

I'm the one who plans everything. My husband gets involved when we try to make up our mind on villas, but I've already picked out a few villas by then, and he glances at them and gives me his opinion (which is more like "Well, they all look good...").

I do all the planning for other trips also, and he just rides along with me. He's such a trusting soul... or simply lazy.