Style

Coming home from our road trip to San Francisco, I couldn't help but think about how much our trip demonstrated how different BF's and my "travel styles" are.

I like to plan. (Like that's a surprise.) Hotels, activities, places to eat, etc. I like having the details worked out, often months ahead of time, before I go somewhere. It's less stressful for me, and it makes traveling more enjoyable, plus, I love to do it.

BF likes to fly by the seat of his pants. He doesn't like having anything planned - he wants to be completely flexible with everything. And he's totally last minute.

I'll admit it. Most of the time, I "win" when it comes to travel. Because if I don't? I drive him crazy being all stressed out and wondering where I'm going to sleep.


Take, for example, our road trip. We'd been sort of planning on this trip for a while. BF had two classes he wanted to take, and we'd planned on going from Fri-Mon. Then, about six weeks ago, we re-visited. Yes, we still want to go. He signed up for his classes, but didn't tell me. And then we moved, and I sort of forgot about it. And a week and a half ago, I started to wonder. I asked him if we were going, and if I needed to take the time off. Yes. Hmm, ok. Where were we going to stay? How were we going to get there? Which car were we going to take?

I went and found a hotel. Talked to BF. And basically told him, with little room for argument, that I was going to book it. Because I SO did not want to get up to San Francisco at 10pm at night and not have a nice, comfy bed in a warm, safe hotel.

That experience? Total example of compromise. If it were me planning it from the get go, we'd have had a hotel room from the moment he'd booked his classes. And if it were up to him? We'd be taking the scenic route, getting into town late, and landing where ever we could find parking and a bed. For three nights, and likely, a lot more money.

But see, BF was so low key about booking a hotel that I started to get suspicious. Then, the day before we were scheduled to leave, he hit me with it. He wanted to leave that night, instead of Friday morning. Stay in Santa Cruz, which I negotiated down to San Luis Obispo, because, oh, I didn't get out of work till 4pm. And I hadn't packed. Then when I asked him if I should book a hotel? The answer was a very firm "NO."

So, I planned as much as possible. I knew where some hotels in San Luis Obispo were. I knew what I needed to pack, and I spent my lunch getting an oil change for my car so it too was ready to go. And I tried hard not to worry, because worst case scenario? We had some friends that live up there, and I wasn't opposed to imposing on them. Plus, it was only one night, right? It was fine, and it made BF happy to wander aimlessly.

And you know what? We ended up having a great trip. We meandered. We took our time. We got in late and found a place to stay last minute. And then we got up to San Francisco when we needed to for his classes, and had a great time on the way.

But it definitely got me thinking. What's your travel style? If you have a significant other, do you have similar styles? Or do you sometimes clash, like us?