We spend weeks planning our holidays. Or months, if you’re anything like me. Flights are booked, restaurants reserved and activities researched. But when I look back on my favourite moments from past trips, many of the moments that have the fondest memories of weren’t on the itinerary at all.
You Discover New Restaurants
When my Sunday lunch plans fell through during my Melbourne birthday trip, I asked the hotel concierge for a recommendation. They suggested City Wine Shop, just a few blocks away.
The steak I ordered wasn’t my favourite meal of the trip, but it certainly wasn’t one I’d file under “never ordering that again” either. It was a solid lunch in a relaxed setting, and by the time I left, I’d mentally added it to my list of places to revisit whenever I need a reliable last-minute lunch spot.
You Have Time to Indulge in Your Hobbies
I’m the kind of person who packs for every creative contingency. My suitcase usually contains the hobby equivalent of “everything but the kitchen sink” because you never know whether Future Me will feel like crocheting, painting, stitching, or simply putting pen to paper. Even when I’m doing “nothing”, there’s always a hobby within reach.
While hobbies can be enjoyed at any time, there’s something special about pulling out your sketchbook or crochet work-in-progress, knowing you can happily lose yourself in it for as long as you like. There’s no clock to watch, no errands demanding your attention—just uninterrupted time to create.
You Have Time to Wander
To me, the whole point of going on vacation is to relax and distance yourself from the busyness of everyday life. That’s not easy to do if you’ve filled every waking our with back-to-back activities.
That’s why I’ve started intentionally leaving many of the blocks between meals empty.
If I feel like burning off breakfast before lunch, I can simply head out and see where the day takes me. Maybe I’ll browser a bookstore, wander through a shopping arcade, or duck into a café that catches my eye. Even if I do decide to visit a specific place, it’s often a decision I make just minutes beforehand rather than something I’d locked into my itinerary weeks earlier.
Having that freedome means I spend less time watching the clock and more time enjoying where I am.
Some of my favourite vacation memories weren’t meticulously planned – they happened because I left room for them to happen. The next time you’re putting together an itinerary, consider leaving a few empty spaces. You never know what you might discover.
