Sorry if this question is really random. Today, my best friend and I took a trip to Pittsburgh to buy furniture for our apartment (we went to Ikea -- the closest one to Cleveland). My best friend's boyfriend called her cell when we were really late, and we got into a slightly heated debate . . . There is actually a sort of funny story that goes along with this question, but I am too tired to type it right now. My best friend and I have one strong view, her boyfriend has another . . . and he freaked out because we were still in Pittsburgh at 11 pm (even though he was in Columbus).

I picked other. It really depends on the circomstances, like what kind of mood I'm in, who I'm with, what the point of the outing/trip is, etc. I guess I usually have a pretty set plan for most things, but I'm pretty adaptable too.

~Anna

i picked "other" as well. i like to wing it, rather than having a set plan. otoh, i was a boy scout for a day, so sometimes i'm prepared. what i really mean is that i tend to go on, say, long road trips only after i have done a fair amount of research, retrieved or printed every map i could possibly need, obtained a copy of the AAA guide for every place along the way, and gotten ready just about anything else that seems like it might be handy.

once we're there (or on the road), i'll see what i feel like doing and play as much as i can by ear. otoh, i make sure i'm well aware of my options (or have the material available to make myself aware of them) and that i have everthing i need to make the most of them.

of course, that means i have 5 times as much in the way of information and resources as i'll ever use, but the trick is that i never know which 1/5th is the one i'll end up using.

this, btw, is also the philosophy behind my poor overstuffed wallet. on the one hand, it's packed to the gills. otoh, pretty everything there has come in handy at some point or other, and i'm never left saying "oh, if only i'd thought/rememberd to bring my ____ membership card!"

Paul

I voted 'Other'. Although I generally want to have a plan, I don't always follow it.

AnnaBtG.

I also voted for "other," for reasons similar to Paul's. *laughs* Paul, I'll stack my poor overstuffed purse against your wallet any day -- and I've cut down on purse size in recent years!

It rather depends on the parameters of the situation. That is, do I have virtually unlimited time at my disposal? Or do I have to be back -- to pick up the kids from school, for example -- at a certain time?

If someone/something is waiting on me, then I must be sure to be back at the agreed-upon time. If something doesn't work out, that may mean cutting short part -- or even all -- of my intended stops. But that's part of living up to my responsibilities to others, I think.

I have to laugh because I picked #1 whereas my hubby would have picked #2. It is a constant source of disagreement between us.

I'm the kind of person that has a plan, wants to get from Point A to Point B without any sidetracks, and absolutely hates to get off schedule or be late.

My hubby loves to take side roads, won't ever go the same way twice, just wants to meander, and if he's late, whatever. When we did Europe - a five week trip - he called me the Blitzkrieg tourist. I had a list of stuff we had to see and checked it off. He just wanted to wonder around the countries and get off the train randomly.

We make a good mix - I keep him somewhat on schedule and he gets me to lighten up. That or we fight like cats and dogs!

Lynn

I'll admit it, I follow the second option. As a quick story . . . my mom is finally feeling MUCH better and doesn't need me at home any more, so I am getting an apartment next semester -- so my friend and I are moving into an apartment together. This friend is more like a sister to me than my actual sister.

Anyway, the two of us plus my other friend Mooey have this habbit. We decide we want to go somewhere, but never actually "plan". For example, just yesterday, Rachel and I decided to go to Pittsburgh to go furniture shopping. Pittsburgh is about 2.5 hrs away from Cleveland, and it is South East. We knew that much. To go South East, you can either take I77 or I76. Eventually you'll end up in Pennslyvania . . . or West Virginia. So we left Cleveland at about 11:00 yesterday morning. Shockingly, we found Pittsburgh, and we actually found the store we were looking for. Anyway, after spending a long time trying to get our purchaces including a wardrobe she bought into her little VW Jetta, (our parents' didn't spend $100,000 on engineering degrees for nothing ), we realized that we hadn't eaten since some delicious Australian chocolate for breakfast yesterday morning. So, even though there were about 50 restaurants in and around the shopping complex we were in (she is a vegitarian that keeps fairly kosher and I am really picky) is we decided to see what downtown Pittsburgh was like. Well, we realized it was like Cleveland with mountains. We had absolutely no idea where we were or where we were going to eat, but we just decided to drive. We just drove around, deciding which way to turn completely randomly.

At about this point, when we were absolutly lost -- but seeing parts of Pennslyvania that we had never even imagined -- her boyfriend called and asked where we were. She said, "Trying to find some dinner." He said, "Where?" She said, "Somewhere in Pittsburgh."

This started a large disagreement. He is the kind that has the counter-counter-counter plan for every possible consequence. She, especially when she is with me, is the type that is like whatever, let's do it, it's fun. I am even worse than she is in terms of whatever, let's do it . . . and I guess I am a bit of a bad influence .

My sister and I even play games called "let's get lost" and just drive around trying to get comepletely lost and try to see what we find. Once we found a waterfall that we had never even heard of before .

Anyway, on our trip, we were finally famished enough that we stopped at a mall that had more restaurants and we ate dinner. The problem was that we had no idea where we were or how to get on the freeway to get home. So we walked around the mall trying to find someone that wouldn't think we were crazy. So finally, when we were just looking around the bookstore, one of the poeple at the counter asked "Can I help you find anything?" My friend sort of whispered, "Cleveland." The lady looked at her like she was crazy, so I came clean and told her that we had no idea where we were and needed to find a freeway.

So that was our exciting journey. We went shopping, visited a city that growing up as Clevelanders, we are supposed to hate , and we drove up and down mountains . . . repeatedly.

We had absolutely no idea what we were going to end up doing, but the process of finding the place to eat was so much more fun than the actual eating! And I think the most fun we had was walking around the mall trying to figure out which store to go into to ask directions to find a freeway that would lead us to Cleveland .

I have had so many exciting adventures this way . This one is not even the most random adventure we've had.

- Laura

All right, I know y'all are probably shocked to see me here, but I liked the question. (And I'm not gone forever, just on self-imposed exile until December.)

Anyway, I chose the first option because I am extremely type A personality. I like to have things planned out in advance, well planned. I don't really like surprises, so having a plan works for me.

And now, back to the world of nursing school.

And, btw, good question, Laura!

Jana (who now plans to go to bed...)

LOL Alicia! No wonder you two almost blew up a lab together. Or was it a fuse?

I chose 'other' because I sometimes start out with a very solid 'plan A' but will quite happily agree to change it on the way.

It was a fire. Okay, several fires . . .

Hey, they can't expect 2 novice girls to use solder and wires unsupervised!

- Laura

I usually have a rough idea of where I am going but I am not obsessed with order and schedual. I know that when I go out with my best friend, we never even know when we'll be back home. Once we got lost in the subway STATION . Which was stupid, really, but we were trying to find the exit that leads to the mall above. And then we got lost somehwhere in East York trying to find this animal shelter to find out some stuff about volunteer work (we live an North York- that's quite a distance). And then we wanted to get some lunch, but unlike Laura, we aren't very picky so we just decided to walk along (I know that sound really dumb) and find something and got some pizza. So, I never plan ahead too much because I hate having my schedual ruined and when I know for sure that that's what's going to happen-- well.

Julie