From my past experiences, I have noticed that most of the time sudden plans work.
I love traveling so much that whenever I make any plans, even if they are scheduled for 3 or 4 months later, the excitement and hope leading to the final day of the journey give me anxiety. From my very childhood, I have felt this way, that I only imagine all the good imaginary stuff about the trip in my mind. I believe there are a lot of people like me who feel the same way.
However, the worst thing that can happen is that the plan gets cancelled during the initial planning stage. This often happens because friends or family members have different opinions about different destinations, timings, or other details. There is also a possibility that an issue might arise and all the plans, including the money spent on tickets, and every pre-booked arrangement like hotels, and transport, to be cancelled. This makes me feel heartbroken.
So, from that experience, I started making sudden, spontaneous plans instead.
A story in that context:
When I 1st got the job offer, I only thought about two things: the desired job role I got and the job location, Kerala—God’s Own Country. As traveling is my favourite hobby, I stayed in there for 2 long years for work purposes, though my hometown is Kolkata. First, it used to feel very exciting, new office, new friends, new culture, and new food. But as time moved forward, I started feeling exhausted with the realization that it was too far to go back; it was not like the usual trips I used to make. A person like me, who had never stayed in a hostel or faraway place for more than a fortnight, started feeling the pressure of being the one-man army. Suddenly I had to learn everything, to be everyone whom I needed to be surrounded with.
Though, I have also tried to make plans with my friends to make the situation a bit better for myself. But most of the time it didn’t work out. That’s when I started making sudden plans. It helped me a lot to release my stress, as I prioritized my will and satisfaction. Many times it happened like this: I accompanied someone, or sometimes some of my friends also accompanied me.
I remember one of the trips with a friend from my office. It was a one-day trip to Kanyakumari. In the morning at 5 o’clock, we started the journey, and we came back by 10 p.m. It took almost 3 buses to reach and 3 to come back. That day we realized it is good to be unplanned sometimes; it gives you the courage to explore further. Before that also, I went to Kanyakumari once, visited only the Vivekananda rock temple and Kanyakumari temple, and came back. But this time on that sudden trip, we explored so many places that were not even on our travel list.
Sudden Plans don’t have to be expensive always:
When we plan any trip, the 1st thing that comes to mind is the budget. For the sudden trips that I have taken, my mindset has never been about chasing luxury but about chasing peace. While going for this short spontaneous trip, I always had to keep in mind that my budget was limited, and I had to make the most of it. But trust me, I never had to compromise for this constraint. In fact, these limitations helped me know more about the locality, transportation, stay, and local food. I enjoyed this adventure more and more because I had no idea what was coming next.
That day the trip to Kanyakumari opened a door for me to rethink my decisions. The entire trip barely cost me around 900 Rs, including all expenses. After that trip, when I came back to my daily life, I was in a refreshed mood with a lot of energy, though I knew that I had to deal with everything and that one-day trip could not make my problems vanish. But I knew there was always a way to experience that adventure again.
I still go on well-planned trips, but the excitement of sudden trips is unmatchable, in my opinion. It feels like achieving something within a deadline, similar to a real work project. The time was limited, and the budget was tight, but the motivation I gained from that experience lasted for a long time and gave me the oxygen to go through life.
