I was probably doing a terrible job of seeing the sights of Bangkok.
I didn’t even get to the famed Wat Pho until 3 p.m. because I’d slept in and took a leisurely post-lunch detour to find mango sticky rice.
I arrived just in time to admire the Temple of the Reclining Buddha’s namesake sculpture in the glowing afternoon light before discovering the 108 bronze bowls lining the temple wall and joining others in the meditative exercise of dropping a coin into each one.
After, I sat outside listening to evening chants from the monks, as the hum of their voices filled the square.
Although I hadn’t technically done much, it had been a brilliant travel day.
There were other grand temples close by in the Thai capital, and I certainly could’ve fit in a visit to at least one more that day, as that’s how you “make good use” of your precious vacation time.
Frankly, though, optimizing trips to the max just isn’t my style. I don’t want to just take a photo of a place and move on.
I like to have plenty of time to sit and take all the sights in, to digress if I come across something else that looks interesting, and never travel so fast that I barely remember what I’ve seen.
On vacation, many things take longer than you think
I first started going on city breaks as a teenager with my family, learning the hard way that things are a lot farther apart than they seem when it’s sweltering hot and your paper map of Paris shows only the main roads.
The arrival of digital maps fixed the latter, but the general principle still stands: If you’re going to the Louvre, that can be your whole day.
It doesn’t matter that Notre-Dame is only 20 minutes’ walk away; it’s OK to just save the cathedral for tomorrow and take your time at the museum.
Trying to speed-run destinations and absorb so many new places at once can be overwhelming. Plus, it often takes longer than you expect to figure out walking directions, navigate lines, and buy tickets, all in a foreign language.
The point of a vacation is to enjoy yourself, and as long as you’re doing that, there are no wrong decisions.
When I was in Copenhagen, I focused my entire trip around going swimming every day, as the Danish capital has some of the best natural harbor baths in the world.
Whenever I’m in San Francisco, I will have Burmese food every other day even if that means missing out on new experiences. I love it, this California city is one of the best places in the US to find Burmese cuisine, and I want to indulge while I have the chance.
I also still think about this scoop of black-sesame ice cream I had in Berlin, which was so good I kept going back for it even when it meant adding half an hour to the walk back to my accommodations after dinner.
Ultimately, these trips were great because I spent my days doing what I wanted without too many strict plans.
I keep my itinerary light because I’m traveling to feel free
The best vacations are the ones that feel like a discovery, where I wake up every morning and ask myself, “What do I want to do today?”
I like to have one thing in mind when I leave my hotel, but otherwise leave my day to chance.
Day-to-day life is so structured, and it’s nice to get a break from that. The last thing I want is a holiday itinerary that requires me to set an alarm every day. Maybe that’s the real vacation: getting to feel free.
On my last full day in Bangkok, I’d planned a day trip to the historic town of Ayutthaya, but when I woke up that morning, figuring out train times and tickets was the last thing I wanted to do.
Part of me felt like I should push through, but I know better by now: Travel is supposed to be fun!
Instead, I just walked down to the river where I ate the best pad thai of my life, past, present, and future. Then I got the ferry up to Wat Arun temple, where I watched the fiery red sun set behind the central spire.
It was a gorgeous evening, I’d done hardly anything at all that day, and I wouldn’t change a thing.
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