Seeing beyond the pre-trip to do list

Vagablogging :: Rolf Potts Vagabonding Blog

Last week, So Many Places posted this biggest, baddest RTW to do list, an extensive task list beginning a year before departure. I imagine this will be very helpful to many planners and am happy to see this information available.

As evidenced by this list, there's a lot involved in planning a trip – and most of it doesn't actually involve "planning a trip" but rather tying up loose ends from your current life and starting a new one. It can be extremely overwhelming, especially when considering that each item actually involves numerous tasks; for example, finding travel insurance involves hours of research and dozens of phone calls and emails.

I remember being in the thick of all this just a couple months ago, poring over details of global medical insurance and travel visas and flight coordination, wondering how other travelers have done it. I found myself getting so bogged down in details that I was solely focused on checking items off the list and losing sight of the purpose behind it all.

That's why there's one task I would recommend adding to this pre-trip list – a task that should precede all others: Write down the goals or reasoning behind your trip. I found that referencing this really helped motivate me through all the planning hassles.

I also discovered a few other strategies. First, I learned to accept the challenges as part of the process: If following dreams was easy, everybody would do it. Dealing with the naysayers and difficulties is simply a natural part of doing something extraordinary.

I also referred to the 4-step encouragement mantra of Chris Guillebeau, the writer behind The Art of Nonconformity:

I can do it.

I could always have a regular life somewhere.

But I've chosen a different path.

And I won't give up.

Interestingly, Guillebeau's post on this, Ever feel like giving up?, was written in July 2008 and remains in the top 10 most popular posts on his blog. Clearly this is a topic long-term travelers can relate to even while on the road.

Lastly I began collecting quotes that I found inspirational, and I would refer to them when I became discouraged. Here are some that I think relate more specifically to the planning process:

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered. – G. K. Chesterton

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one would find fault with what he has done. – Cardinal Newman

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself. – Alan Alda

All great changes are preceded by chaos. – Deepak Chopra

Travelers, what's your advice for first-time planners? Planners, what do you do to make it through the hassles?

Original article can be found here: Seeing beyond the pre-trip to do list