I am , again, participating in the Indie Challenge hosted by Bootsnall. Just like last year, I’d be posting an article a day, based on the question / challenge of that day.

>>you can join the challenge by clicking here

Nov 29
Adapt as You Go, Rather than Micromanage in Advance

Sometimes it can be hard to ‘just go with the flow’ and no plan everything down to the minute. But with travel, things don’t always go smoothly.
QUESTION:
Tell us about a time your plans got thwarted and how did you adjust and deal with it. Or tell us about a time you didn’t plan and ended up doing/ finding something awesome. Has travel changed how much you plan or how you deal with unexpected changes?
CHALLENGE: Today let’s not plan anything and see what happens. Go out in the city/town you’re in, with no plans. Walk around for 2 hours. Smell something? Follow your nose. Hear something? Follow your ears. Something catch your eye? Go check it out. Hungry? Stop at the first restaurant you see that has the letter ‘T’ in it (or pick a letter/symbol ahead of time in the local language) and order something from there. Bring your camera or smartphone and snap some photos during your no-plans day.
How was it not planning? Did you feel awkward or did you enjoy the freedom? Did you find anything cool or new? Show us the photos you took.

For whatever reason, it appears that it always rains on our wedding anniversary. The day we got married…it rained in the evening. On our 1st anniversary, rain chased us from Arad all the way to Sighisoara and back. On our 2nd, we got rained on in Bratislava so needless to say, it had to rain on our 3rd one in Eger.

Initially our plans were to visit Eger Castle on May 25th – our wedding anniversary. We arrived in Budapest on the 22nd, and we were set to go to Eger on the 24th. With rain chasing us in Budapest for two days , 25th being a Monday and the weather report showing showers for 25th we had to adapt.

We arrived in Eger on a lovely Sunday, pretty sunny and nice, compared to the downpour which soaked us to the skin in Budapest the previous days. After we were driven to the guesthouse and we have checked in, a short look at the forecast told us to go out.

So, instead of just walking around as we usually do on our first day in a new place, we ended up eating lunch then heading straight to the castle. You know how it’s supper stuffy before a summer shower? Yup, that’s exactly how it felt for the 4 hours we spent in the castle.

By the time we finished visiting everything in the castle, it was getting dark…as in cloudy. Really cloudy. We made it to the guesthouse in time for the shower not to catch us on the road but it had started to rain as we were walking up the road.

The next day, our wedding anniversary, we ended up doing the tour of “city beneath the city” (the church cellars) , also between periods of short showers and downright downpour.

Generally speaking, when we plan a trip we never micromanage. I do make a list of what I want to see but deciding exactly when to do it is something I do once I get at the accommodation. It has happened to find out that a museum was closed on Monday (like they generally are in Europe) but I also surprised to find other museums or sites open on Monday (and very empty!). It has happened to get to a location only to find the weather report changed drastically since I last checked it – like a day or two ago when I had left home.

Whether permitting I may try the challenge on Sunday, Nov 29.