My favorite planning effort was when DH picked up DD in Cadiz, Spain and they traveled all the way up the coast to Barcelona. I found hotels, restaurants, and activities (flamenco show, horseback riding on the beach, etc.). The only bust was the ferry to Morocco - as soon as they got off the boat, they were creeped out by the crowds and pushy people, so they took the next ferry back! Oh, well, can’t win 'em all. Everything else went great.
I think it’s a spectrum, and people aren’t internally consistent, but I fall very very far to the “spontaneous/improvisational” end of the continuum, haha! I mean, I do a lot of planning for my business, but that’s because I have to, and I have a strong sense of responsibility to others, but I virtually never plan anything if there’s any other option available. This March I’m going to Berlin, for instance. I’ll book my AirBnB and flight in advance, but other than that, who knows? Two weeks of blissfully doing whatever the heck I want whenever the heck I want to do it! :-c
I prefer planning the major trips. The problem with spontaneity is we end up spending too much of our time asking and deciding what do we want to see and do. I’d rather spend my time making decisions in my living room than when I’m supposed to be out seeing and discovering. I usually try and leave a day or two to make it up as we get a better feeling for the area. Some trips are simply for relaxation and those can be more spontaneous. When you plan on doing nothing it’s easier to just do something.
Am a planner, though not necessarily for everything we do while we are on the vacation, though thing that require advanced tickets are done ahead. In contrast, DS#2 and new wife finalized their honeymoon l=plans the day before they left for it! He clearly doesn’t take after me!
To me, part of the fun of the trip is the planning and researching. If I hadn’t done that for our Arizona trip, I never would have discovered the Rock Art Canyon Ranch, a “must see” attraction if there ever was one. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g31411-d102662-Reviews-Rock_Art_Canyon_Ranch-Winslow_Arizona.html
I was a spontaneous young traveler, and very much a planner now. Part of this derives, I think, from the fact that the stakes are different when it’s an entire family rather than a young and mostly broke student. I also like good value and a little advance planning often gets you a better quality of lodging, easier itineraries, or lower prices. So the transportation and lodging gets done way in advance. The day to day activities are relatively freeform.
At some point in the future, I’d love to do a completely unstructured solo trip.
DH calls me The Cruise Director and not just because we’ve been on five cruises, all of which I’ve researched, planned, and booked. I plan all of our trips, even if it’s just going to the grandparents’ for the holidays.
I also have written lists I go through. It includes “chargers”. But- last shorter trip, while I got out H’s travel kit I did not put his razor charger in. He now knows wife does not do EVERYTHING for him, just most of it. It is useful to have one compulsive person. The advice “you can just buy it there” could mean how many umbrellas, how many OTC meds… in your house.
I also love to plan and am knee deep in what will be our kids’ summer of 2019 first trip to Europe. I like to have a PLAN for day 1, ideas for day 2, and day 3 etc in a location open to whatever comes up even if it is just sitting and reading. I usually require a nap every day and am just not up for 15 sights in one day. I also like nature and try to fit that in just about wherever we go. We are relatively new to Airbnb and I really have enjoyed how it impacts where we will go/stay/what we will do. Much better than a hotel. My teens are going to be surprised at the variety of places we are going to stay.