How we apply 37signals mechanics to vacation
In case you don’t know, I’m a big fan of Chicago based web development company 37signals. I’ve been in love with their way of work ever after reading their first book Getting Real.
Although much of their experience is derived and applied to work, I have found that we (as in my friends and I) have been applying their guidelines to our traveling habits for years.
In the following 3 short chapters I take some of their basic guidelines and describe how they fit our personal experiences.
1. Planning is Poison
e have to admit, every vacation starts with planning. Essentially due to our laziness and lack in coordination we believe in short planning phases. Getting the flight one week upfront for still reasonable prices is no problem nowadays. No more time to grab a Lonely Planet from Amazon and overnight shipping is too expensive? Get the pdf and print your way.
There is no need for pre-planned routes or pre-booked hotels. Get on the road and figure your way from there. I find the idea of not knowing where to stay overnight exhilarating.
Our biggest coup yet was to pack our backpacks with a broad variety of clothes, arriving at the airport and hitching for a random flight. In the end we had to choose between Greece and Norway. We took the trip to Oslo for approx. Euro 100,- per person and within 3 hours we were up in the air.
Adventure begins with waking up in a foreign country. In a city you have never been before and whose language you don’t speak.
2. The Less Principle & Avoid Preferences
ow many hours have you spent preparing your bag for every eventuality, packing too much stuff you did never touch while on the road. I once lived through 10 days just with just my hand baggage (My main baggage didn’t make it). Sure, I stocked up on underwear, a toothbrush and t-shirts but I imagined it far worse. I perfectly understand this doesn’t work for long trips or hikes, but you can believe me, I do no longer feel like I forgot something at home.
When backpacking you learn to avoid preferences. Last time around Andy and I reached for the whole spectrum. These were our last 3 nights on the trip:
- We started off with a Taxi, another Taxi (this time the right direction), a train followed by another taxi and a short stroll over mined territory and finally back at our car at 3 AM. Then driving until sunrise.
- We got the flu during an excruciating night on a rocky beach. Always afraid of the flood which barely missed our tent.
- We spent the last night prettying up at an a 5***** All Inclusive Hotel Resort.
3. It’s a Problem when it’s a Problem & Ignore Details early on
don’t want to imagine how much fun I have missed in my life just because of thinking that it probably wouldn’t work. So we got this rental car, couple of days on the road already when we first have a glance at the contract we signed. In small letters it says that we are not allowed to leave the country (probably safety issues). That however didn’t detain us from lining up at the border to Syria. We had no Visa, we had no special papers, we didn’t speak the language, we were just eager to get to a new country.
Long story cut short: We weren’t able to fool the border officers—instead we encountered friendly help and in the end we passed the border in a taxi. The driver helped us with getting the Visa, he translated and guided us over the border. Worked out perfectly.
Just do it.