When we think of traveling, we usually think of spending months planning, drooling over Google Images of places we want to go, and reading guidebooks to figure out the best route. Planning your trip ahead of time can help you make the most of your time and know exactly what you’re getting into (no panicking at the airport when you realize you didn’t apply for the right visa!). But sometimes it’s best to go somewhere without a plan. When you act on the spur of the moment, you can do a lot of different things. Even forgetting to get a visa can turn into a great travel story and teach you something.

Here are a few reasons why you should just forget about your plan and go travel!

It’s probably all because of some beautiful photos that went viral on social media, a movie with a beautiful setting, or a friend’s story about their last trip abroad. Most of the time, outside events cause people to plan tours.

Things to think about before choosing a place to go

When a traveler wants to go to the beach, the mountains, or the forest, there’s nothing to say. But picking the right place to go based on the time of year is a key part of knowing how to plan a trip well.

Find out when the best time is to visit each place. Most of the time, the best time to visit beaches and mountains is not the same.

When choosing a place to go, think about how much it will cost. Some places are more fun to visit when you have a lot of money than others. If you go to a luxury destination a few weeks before or after the official “busy season,” you may be able to get better deals on hotels and flights.

Safety of travelers is the most important thing to think about before setting out on a trip (especially solo female travelers).

Accessibility, or the lack of it, is another thing that can make or break a decision to visit a place. Most of the time, the most popular places have a lot of daily flights, trains, and good highways to keep up with the number of tourists.

Breathe in. You aren’t having a heart attack, though. Yes, that disgusting and expensive airport food does make you feel like you’re going to throw up. Don’t worry, this is just your adrenaline starting to kick in. Not sure where you want to go? Have no idea what you’re doing? Didn’t you know that fight-or-flight was made for situations like this? At least once in their lives, everyone should take a trip they didn’t plan. When you don’t know where you’ll go or what you’ll do next, you feel both scared and excited. This makes the experience 100 times better. Your heightened senses will make this trip stick in your mind for a long time. The sound of the ocean will take you right back to that last-minute road trip from Bilbao, Spain, to the beaches of Biarritz, France, and San Sebastian, Spain (Spain). You never thought you’d be able to visit so many different places (and even two different countries) in one day. The unexpected nature of these experiences will make sure you never forget them.

When we were young, we were told over and over again, “Don’t talk to strangers!” But as adults, we forget that talking to strangers can lead to pleasant surprises. Talking to the people who live where you are going is the best way to learn about their culture. This is easier to say than to do for some people, but it doesn’t have to be as scary as that nightmare you’re making up in your head (please, everyone, stop watching Taken). “Can you take a picture for me?” is all it takes. The next thing you know, you’re hearing about the best restaurants and cafes that aren’t in the guidebook.

Don’t let the fact that you don’t speak the language stop you. You can say a lot with just a few words and a little bit of body language. Who can say? You might leave El Jardn Secreto in Madrid, Spain, with a marriage proposal from the cute barista, or you might be able to stay at the Raheny Inn on the outskirts of Dublin after the bar closes because you’ve become friends with the bartenders after a few pints of Guinness. When you get back home, your friends will be so impressed with how much you know about the local culture, which is something you will never learn in a tourist trap.

It always sounds interesting and exciting when travel plans are made on the spur of the moment and based on a gut feeling. The problem with these kinds of trips, though, is that everything happens so quickly that the schedule can get messed up on many days.

Things to think about when planning activities day by day

• An essential part of knowing how to plan a vacation effectively is having a basic notion of what activities should be done on what day depending on the budget and time at disposal.
• As much as possible, people should move from one place to another in the evening or at night. This will give you enough time to see the sights and do other things, since most of them can only be done during the day.
• Water sports, adventure activities, boat trips, and safari rides are best booked at the venue to get the best pricing and the opportunity to haggle.
• If the goal of the trip is to relax and take it easy, only write down one or two things to do each day in the trip planner.
• During the off-season, some places don’t let people do things like skiing, boating, scuba diving, etc. Before you go somewhere, check to see what you can do there.

At the end of the day, this is the best thing about the people, places, and things you meet when you travel. Even though pictures and souvenirs are great, they don’t mean much if they don’t have words to go with them. With the world getting more and more connected, it’s almost not enough to say, “Hey, want to see a picture of me at the Colosseum?” Now that anyone can type “Taj Mahal” into Google and see it for themselves, photos and common tourist spots seem less interesting. Or, if they are really good at Photoshop, they can put themselves in those Google images. Isn’t it pretty much the same as being there?

So what does this story teach us? Your planned trips won’t be as fun as the ones you decide on the spot. If you rush about a new city with your nose stuck in a map or guidebook, you will lose out on 95 percent of what these amazing cities have to offer and the tales waiting to happen to you. Why not try surprising others, and more importantly yourself, with an unexpected journey and see where it leads you?