I hate planning itineraries, and I hate being confined to a limited amount of time. Open-ended is the way I roll.
In the “How I Travel” series of articles for BootsnAll, the first five platform writers were interviewed, and this is a direct quote that I gave. I really feel a bit stressed when it comes to planning a day-to-day itinerary that may or may not depend on completing one task in time to take on another. At this point, it has a way of becoming a chore and not the free-flowing trip that I normally enjoy. Why is it then – if I feel so passionately about this fact – that I have been spending the past couple of weeks trying to put together a road trip itinerary?!
Because sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes, time cannot be extended and plans cannot flow – or else you risk missing out on too much. I normally loathe an itinerary, but this journey I’m about to take calls for it. This plan is EPIC.
Ok, well maybe not epic as in I’m taking a year to travel about Australia while living off the land and sleeping in the bush. No, definitely not epic like that. However, it is epic in the sense that we will be covering a heck of a lot of ground in only 16 days!
I’m so insanely excited for this trip as I actually have a travel partner in crime — the lovely Heather from There’s No Place Like Oz. We are going to be driving from Cairns to Sydney while seeing sights such as the Great Barrier Reef, Daintree Rainforest and Fraser Island. I’ve never been diving before, but we’ll both have an introductory go right on the reef.
In hopes of saving money, we are going to attempt to camp along the way. I’m definitely not a camper, but I’m hoping I’ll be too worn out after long days of touring and exploring that I just won’t care. As long as there are no giant spiders attacking me, I’m sure I’ll be fine…. but this is Australia, right?
If you’d like to follow along (and I hope that you do), you can join the WhyGo Australia Facebook page. We have an event that will be tracking our progress, hopefully with daily photos and updates along the way. It would be cool to get some feedback and support from lovely people like you, especially after I’ve had my first encounter of the insect kind!
Well, I’d love to stay and chat longer about it, but my flight leaves tomorrow in the early morning. I must finish packing!
Hope you girls have a great time. Can’t wait to see your pics and read your blogs!
Sounds awesome! Road-trip and camping my 2 favorite things – I’ll definitely be following along and living vicariously through your trip
If you’ve got the time, definitely stop at Magnetic Island. The Bungalow Bay YHA has some of the best camping sites I’ve ever seen and you can see tons of koalas in the wild. Gorgeous beaches and all around one of our favorite places in Australia.
I’m heading to Magnetic Island at the end of October, so we skipped it
My first dive EVER was up in Cape Trib and it was the BEST place to do it! I am a total fish, but I was still a little nervous and the dive master held my hand the whole time! You won’t get that personal attention out of Cairns.
And while you have a recc for Magnetic Island (“Maggie”) I would say the opposite and say skip it. Maybe I was there on an off week, but I hardly saw any koalas and it wasn’t dirt cheap for some meh camping. Anything you can do there, you can do other places around Australia even better (and cheaper)!
Can’t wait to hear about the adventure!
I can relate to that, Brooke! I save itineraries for the rare occasion when time is really limited. Come to think of it, the only really solid travel plans I made were in 2003 when I went to New Zealand. 2 weeks covering so much of Northland. Planning really did help there.
I hope your Oz trip is amazing and full of great surprises, despite the itinerary
Peace,
Lauren
I definitely cannot wait for the bug post lol! <3
Best of luck to you ladies!
Exciting! I’m doing an oz road trip myself in a few months (mine is a bit longer than yours but a similar idea) and there is definitely more planning going into it then you’d think. Excited for you guys to be my guinea pigs!
Just now seeing this post
Although I experienced it all, looking forward to reading about it through your eyes.
Hi Brooke! I’ve been reading your blog for a while but wanted to comment today. I’m the opposite of you, I usually like to plan to a T but I’m trying to get out of that and go with the flow this time! Loving the blog! Can’t wait to get started on my own trip. I’m adding you to my blogroll!