Spontaneity

I'm a bit of a planner. That's an understatement - I love planning ahead.

The opportunity to take three months off work in a sabbatical 'renewal leave' is as much a blessing for the scope for planning as for the break itself. Once I settled on 'Walking Home' as the main focus, I set to work planning and plotting.

One of the most immediate and important questions that arose was the extent to which I should book accomodation along a pre-planned route or whether to leave more things to chance and a decision-in-the-moment. Reading the experiences of other long-distance walkers suggested that accomodation fills unpredictably and that it makes sense to book a while ahead.

I didn't want to plan the route turn-by-turn, or to replace a busy work schedule with a busier walking schedule. But I did want to anticipate the experience, just as I did when planning our drive around the western USA this summer. So I've set myself an itinerary, with modest distances for each walking day.

Reasons to plan an itinerary and overnight accomodation:

1. The security of having accomodation booked and not having to make last-minute changes of plan.
2. Predictability in knowing what lies ahead, anticipating demanding days and more restful days.
3. Finding motivation in knowing that I have a daily goal to reach, rather than settling for a comfortable looking inn after an hour's walk.
4. Planning options for detours and diversions rather than feeling that I have to press on to reach a town before searching for accomodation.
5. Spending less time wandering around or backtracking to find somewhere to stay.

In reality, even if I had decided not to make a detailed plan, I would have wanted to phone ahead to book accomodation by lunch time each day. And that would mean far less spontaneity than an unplanned route might suggest.