Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020 |

# too much planning Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Cook Islands
tropojames 06:29 UTC 25 Oct 2007 | ...here's my proposition. We (i.e., paranoid North Americans) do wayyyyy too much planning when we travel. I mean, OK if you have 2 nights in Manhattan go ahead and sign onto the Hilton web site, but you're going to the freaking South Pacific, the place that invented "laid back", relaxxxxx. My first trip to Rarotonga was in 1989, I had no reservations (I fibbed to the immigrations person, it's laid heavy on my conscience ever since), got onto the bus and stopped at the first nice looking place (KiiKii's), bingo! lovely spot, friendly folks, woke to the blue, blue blue Pacific (isn't that why we come?) and the rest of my too-short time there was a dream. Now I sit and read messages from poor souls worrying about "the best place to stay" and I weep. Relax, you'll find somewhere and even if you get nowhere, it's way better than nowhere in Toronto. |
travelingswede 09:23 UTC 25 Oct 2007 | So asking for peoples' opinions is wrong? If I only have two-three days to spend in a place, why not ask for advice ahead of time? Is that behavior really that disturbing to you? Arriving to the Cooks at 3 in the morning, I don't know if I would feel like looking for a nice place at that time in the morning. Maybe you would? As for too much planning, sometimes it's needed. Let's say I wanted to go to the Cooks in December-January but I haven't decided how much time I'd spend on each island. I can always decide later, perhaps don't book any inter-island flights until I get to the Cooks, right? Think again. Atiu flights are already sold out for two weeks straight around New Years. Sure, if I had unlimited time on the Cooks I'm sure that I could eventually find a available flight, but how many of us have unlimited time? Flying all the way to the Cooks and failing to do proper planning can result in spending all your time on Rarotonga. Sure, it's not the worst place to be, but perhaps you wanted to go to Atiu or Aiututaki? I guess you should have done some planning... And why would anyone want to live in Toronto? | 1
silvanocat 09:35 UTC 25 Oct 2007 | Do an author search on OP, his last post was inquiring as to where the BEST PLACE to veg in LA was (yes, he was PLANNING an 8 hour stopover, not even his dream vacation) and his other two posts were inquiring about Dorothy's on Muri. | 2
travelingswede 09:47 UTC 25 Oct 2007 | "Do an author search on OP, his last post was inquiring as to where the BEST PLACE to veg in LA was (yes, he was PLANNING an 8 hour stopover, not even his dream vacation) and his other two posts were inquiring about Dorothy's on Muri." LOL TropoJames, I guess your philosophy is "Do as I say, not as I do"... Since you don't act according to your own advice, I guess everyone else should ignore it too. | 3
tropojames 05:48 UTC 29 Oct 2007 | ...whoa, are you a couple of stress puppies! To TravelingSwede: chill buddy, there's a world of difference between 2-3 days in the Cooks and the weeks that I was referring to....maybe you should just check into the Edgewater and sit in the bar waiting for your taxi back to the airport, some fun in the Pacific (also, very snide remark about Toronto, ever been? Looks like I can add the Swedes to the "North American paranoid" list) To silvaocat: if that's what you call traveling, back-searching posts to see what else they've posted then you definitely need to get out of the basement and start real surfing not net-surfing and if you equate 8 hours in LAX with a month in Raro then you definitely need help. Get a life, both of you. | 4
raro 06:41 UTC 29 Oct 2007 | Tropo--- I'm not sure why you even made your initial post? What was the point? | 5
5waldos 06:57 UTC 29 Oct 2007 | Hey- some nights are slow on TT- gotta say something to raise the troops. And silvano never said it was traveling- just trying to see where you were coming from. It is just a wee bit contradictory- traveling a few hours to LV needs thinking, traveling across the Pacific should be ad hoc? | 6
silvanocat 09:59 UTC 29 Oct 2007 | Previous TropoJames post: <blockquote>Quote <hr>8 hour layover in LAX, where's the best place to spend it<hr></blockquote> Current TropoJames post: <blockquote>Quote <hr>Now I sit and read messages from poor souls worrying about "the best place to stay" and I weep<hr></blockquote> Nothing that I say can top ole Jimmy himself! LOL! | 7
travelingswede 09:22 UTC 31 Oct 2007 | Tropo, I enjoy relaxation just like everyone else, but I prefer relaxing and doing fun stuff to chasing accommodation and trying to book last-minute air tickets. And no, I don't lie to immigration agents... As for the remarks about Toronto, you started the snide remarks about that city in your first post. Yes, I've been there several times, and I swear the place gets more boring every time I go there. | 8
hollybell 14:50 UTC 31 Oct 2007 | Silvanocat... can you fill me in on what LOL means I have some Cook Island friends that live in NEW Z. and they use it??????? Planning ahead is FUNNNNNN......NOT STRESSFULL in fact it helps me relax!!! | 9
tropojames 19:53 UTC 31 Oct 2007 | ...missing the big picture, folks. Try to see the difference between "planning" and "too much planning". | 10
silvanocat 21:25 UTC 31 Oct 2007 | LOL = Laugh out loud. | 11
janl 00:02 UTC 01 Nov 2007 | The planning thing is a part of the game PERIOD But I also believe that too many travelers don't do anything or stay in places not mentioned in the guide books - drop the guide book when on the road. Jan L | 12