Minimalist Planning

Preparation for any vacation adventure is key. Too much preparation, however, may be worse than none at all. An adventure where every single minute is planned out and packed for seems to me to be less of an adventure and more of a transfer of life’s daily grind over to one of the few occasions where it isn’t needed.

What you need to do is minimalist planning, which is just enough to get you by, and more than enough to keep things interesting. ("Money! I should have planned to bring money!")

For example, I’m about to head to Glacier National Park for a week or so. I know how and when I’ll get there, and how and when I’ll leave. I’ve even got places to sleep lined up, which might even be going a bit too far on the planning front. Beyond that, however, it’s kind of all up in the air. That’s minimalist planning. Anything less, such as not picking an actual destination, could be a bit of a problem. Any more would be too constricting. (“Yeegads, it’s already 8:47! We’re supposed to be done with breakfast by now! Code Red! Code Red! The day’s in shambles! Our only hope is to bump our average traveling speed up to 62 miles per hour and skip Bathroom Break Number Three! Nobody drink anything! It’s time to exercise contingency plan Bladder Control! Now let’s get moving!! I've got charts and graphs to update!!”)

Additionally, a non-minimalist would have purchased a book on the park and read it cover to cover. I bought a book, but I’ve barely looked at it. It has lots of pages and seems kind of boring, at least more boring that the alternative of reading about Jack Reacher as he dispenses his own brand of vigilante justice on those who deserve it most.

A non-minimalist would also have purchased a detailed map of the park and scoured every detail of it, picking out the best looking hiking trails and planning routes. I bought a map but I haven’t been inspired to study it very much. There’ll be plenty of time for that on the plane, assuming I’m not listening to Gunsmoke on my iPod.

A non-minimalist would have initiated an exercise and nutritional program months ago to get into shape so that the sudden immersion into Hike Uphill All Day Mode won’t destroy them. I found my hiking boots and made sure they still fit.

A non-minimalist would have created various lists to help with packing, and they would have started that task weeks ago, making certain that almost every contingency is planned for. My packing will consist of the Fixed Volume Approach. I have one piece of luggage and a carry on. The day before I leave, I’ll start filling them up with the items I consider to be the most important, based solely on my priorities at that very moment. When I run out of room, I’m done. Will underwear make the cut? Will I bring nothing but peanut butter because I was hungry during packing? We’ll just have to see…

Once I get there, how will I fill my time? Well, that’ll all work itself out soon enough. I assume there will be lots of hiking up to high places, admiring the view for a while, hiking back, and then celebrating with a meal. What more planning could possibly be needed?

Do I have any specific goals for this trip? I dunno…to not get caught in a stampede of mountain goats would be one, assuming that mountain goats actually stampede on occasion. Beyond that, though, not really. A goal seems like a metric, and a metric seems like something you can get evaluated on, and something you can get evaluated on seems like work, and work seems like something I’d rather not do while trying to embark on an adventure.

I could go on, but I think I’ll cut this short, which is to say I never planned on how to end this entry in a smooth fashion.