WEBVTT - Vacation plans vs. spontaneity

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about how to structure a vacation so

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<v Speaker 1>you know you'll do fun things, but also have room

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<v Speaker 1>for serendipitous adventures when it comes to time. I think

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<v Speaker 1>that making plans and being spontaneous are often presented as

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<v Speaker 1>either or things. You're either the soulless sort who must

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<v Speaker 1>plan every minute, or else you are free spirited and

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<v Speaker 1>open to all manner of possibility. I tend to resent

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<v Speaker 1>this presented dichotomy because I do all sorts of adventurous

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<v Speaker 1>and random things on my vacations. I also plan like crazy.

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<v Speaker 1>As a practical matter, These things are not in opposition

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<v Speaker 1>at all. First, the reality is that in our world

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<v Speaker 1>of seven billion people, if you want to do some

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<v Speaker 1>cool things, you absolutely have to plan ahead. For my

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<v Speaker 1>family to stay at the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone

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<v Speaker 1>National Park last summer, I had to make a reservation

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<v Speaker 1>on May one. When we went to Hawaii a few

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, we knew we wanted to visit Pearl Harbor

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<v Speaker 1>and take the boat trip out to the USS Arizona Memorial.

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<v Speaker 1>Tickets are strictly limited. For this, I had to know

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<v Speaker 1>we wanted to go do this and get on the

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<v Speaker 1>system at exactly seven am the day before. Tickets were

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<v Speaker 1>gone by seven oh five. But once you have certain

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<v Speaker 1>structures in place, vacation days are often vast. The day

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<v Speaker 1>we went to the uss Arizona, for instance, we got

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<v Speaker 1>up to go for our time tickets and pay our

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<v Speaker 1>respects at the memorial. But once we did that, we

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<v Speaker 1>let the rest of the day go as we wanted.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe we felt like going to our hotels, water park,

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe we wanted to read, maybe we wanted to snircle.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know. There was plenty of time to do

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<v Speaker 1>other things. Likewise, on a different day of that vacation,

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<v Speaker 1>we planned to drive around the island with an audio guide.

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<v Speaker 1>So that was not the day we were going to

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<v Speaker 1>go see the uss Arizona, of course, But within day

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<v Speaker 1>of driving around we did all kinds of random, spontaneous things,

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<v Speaker 1>even stuff we might not normally try, like going to

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<v Speaker 1>the Dual plantation where the kids had fun running through

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<v Speaker 1>a pineapple maze and eating pineapple ice cream. As I

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<v Speaker 1>look back on my life, the vacations that have been

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<v Speaker 1>the most stressful have been those when we've had big

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<v Speaker 1>groups of people and every morning we had to debate

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<v Speaker 1>the entire day because no one was empowered to make plans,

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<v Speaker 1>not in every minute, plan even just one thing, you

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<v Speaker 1>wind up getting a late start and then not being

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<v Speaker 1>able to manage your energy. So my advice for combining

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<v Speaker 1>the best of having plans for cool things while keeping

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<v Speaker 1>space for relaxing a random adventures is to plan one

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<v Speaker 1>anchor event per vacation day. As you plan your vacation,

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<v Speaker 1>think of one thing that would make each day memorable.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's a dinner reservation at a place you'd love

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<v Speaker 1>to try. Maybe it's tickets for a show, or time

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<v Speaker 1>tickets to the Royal muse at Buckingham Palace. If the

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<v Speaker 1>event is weather dependent, you might need to be somewhat flexible.

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<v Speaker 1>Choose a first choice day and then choose a second

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<v Speaker 1>choice day if the first doesn't work out. But this

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<v Speaker 1>way you know you're doing one thing each day that

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<v Speaker 1>will make the vacation awesome, and then the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the time, whatever happens happens. Try things you usually don't.

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<v Speaker 1>Walk down an alley that looks intriguing, linger at an

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<v Speaker 1>art gallery that turns out to be really cool. Plans

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<v Speaker 1>and spontaneity can go hand in hand. Indeed, a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of contradictions aren't really contradictions. We just need a broader

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<v Speaker 1>vantage point where we can take in the whole view.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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