What's important to you?

Travel blog postings run the gamut from aimless neophytes - "I'm planning to visit Europe next June, what shouldn't I miss?" - to the myopic and insecure traveler that seemingly has every meal and moment planned out - but wants assurance that he/she has made good choices. Somewhere between are those who by nature or experience (for me it was definitely the latter, along with Charlotte's influence) have learned to plan enough to avoid heartburn over missed connections or nasty room surprises but to leave time for serendipity.


For example, when I booked a trip to Barcelona last fall I had no idea we were hitting the last weekend of the weeklong La Merce festival. But after leaving a marvelous guitar performance at the Palau de la Musica we stumbled upon Correfoc, which I had heard about but did not research enough to seek out. It turned out to be one of our most exciting and memorable travel experiences.

To come home with pleasant memories and not agita, it's worth taking the time to think in advance about what is most important. If your primary interest is the Louvre, stay close enough to walk or take a short bus or metro ride to get there. If you will be traveling from place to place make sure to give yourself time to take a relaxed pace rather than rushing to tick off a list of conquests that you don't have time to truly appreciate. I read a good piece of advice not long ago - to avoid a frantic pace, assume you will return.

And now there's a new wrinkle to consider. As airlines have cut back flights and seating, if you can be flexible you may want to plan around air connections. We're looking at a Paris to Barcelona route this year but the flights back from Barcelona are already near full - and leave too early in the morning! The plane from Madrid, however, is larger, less packed and leaves in early afternoon. So we may take the high-speed train to Madrid (under 3 hours), stay a couple of nights and depart from there.

I guess the key point is to remain flexible. Too rigid a plan could leave you fuming if one step doesn't go right (and at least one surely will), while removing the possibility of chance encounters that often become the warmest memories of your travel adventure.

Pictured above is an apartment near Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. It is one of several in a marvelous building with century old tile floors and a rooftop terrace.

Here's a link:

http://bit.ly/beqW7v