Summer is fast approaching and that’s got everyone thinking ROADTRIP! Yay, we say. It’s also got journalists penning countless tips on how to plan, plan, plan the perfect escape. Boo, we say.

All of this planning is why people talk about road trips and rarely go on them. Or, even worse, dread them; go on them only to swear that it’s the last one…ever. Reject the notion that everything has to be premeditated and consider these tips on how to let go of those anxiety-inducing planning session and disappointing car trips. This is the How-To for Super Spontaneous Road Trips.

Expect Nothing
You pour over hotel pictures and read countless reviews online. You shop around and find the best price, you search and search and search for just the perfect place for your road trip stops. And what do you get – big expectations. Think of all of that effort and energy going into building up this ideal. Let go of those expectations. You’re guaranteed to be satisfied with where you end up when you have zero expectations.  After all, disappointment is always preceded by expectation.

Be Destinationless
Does this sound familiar – head buried in the map and scenery whizzing past unseen; fights about missed turns; frustration over how long it’s taking to get there? Do you know what all of these things have in common? A destination. Make good on that old adage that ‘life is about the journey and not the destination’ and stop worrying about where you’re going. Instead, just go. Enjoy the journey. You’ll get there when you get there and you’ll know it when you do. Ah, now doesn’t that already fell a lot less stressful?

Preparation ≠ Planning
You can be prepared even if you haven’t planned a thing! In fact, being prepared is the very essence of super successful spontaneous road trips. Keep a cooler in your trunk. If you don’t have a GPS system in your car, stock the glove box with maps for your (and neighbouring) province or state. Add your travel insurance provider’s number to your contacts list (I can’t tell you how many times we’ve signed up for out of country medical insurance while sitting in the border line up!) Load up your iPod or music player with a fresh road trip playlist, an audio book or podcasts you’ve been meaning to get to. Have a to-go adventure bag on the ready at all times. Ours contains bocce balls (fun anywhere and great for leg-stretching stops), a Frisbee (makes a party out of construction delays), a roll of toilet paper (doubles as tissue paper), first aid kit (safety first), hiking poles and boots (for when the trails beckon). We also tend to grab the camera (keep those batteries charged) and our camping gear (also in its own ready-to-go bin).

Think Non-Traditional Accommodations
We’ve had some of the most memorable nights in weird, follow-the-signs-off-the-highway motels, cabins, B&B’s and hostels – the kind you’d never find on this new-fangled internet thingy. But since most places are on the internet, when you’re starting to get tired, pull over and see what pops up on GPS or Google Maps. You can also try Airbnb to find a last minute couch or cabin. And, if you’ve brought your tent – you can usually find some place to pop it up. Sure, it may not be postcard perfect, but then again if you’ve adhered to tip #1, you’re gold.

Research as You Go
The trouble with doing all kinds of research before you go is that you never know how current or accurate it is. We prefer to stop in at the visitor centres along the way and ask them what’s going on. Small events (like oyster eating contests or the annual town parade) may not make the web in terms of being newsworthy but you can bet that the locals think it’s pretty darn special. And, since you have no plans and nowhere to be – you’re free to slurp into that oyster eating contest! That memory is sure to beat out the picture of the place where everyone goes to take the picture of the place.

One last thing…
It seems like it should go without saying but in addition to these 5 tips on successfully (not) planning a spontaneous road trip there is one more critical thing – be spontaneous. If this isn’t a natural setting for you, then you may have to actually work at it. Practice saying yes. Give your brain a spanking when it tries to apply expectations to any part of the journey. Go with the flow and embrace the opportunities that present themselves to you!

Safe travels and drop us a line along the way – we love hearing about (and sharing) spontaneous adventures!

5 Tips for Spontaneous Summer Road Trips valerie

We had to share these great tips from Conde Nast Traveler and Becky Worley featured on today’s Good Morning America broadcast.

It’s all about slowing down, reconnecting and having a stress-free vacation with the kids. Of course, we gravitate toward their tips to UNPLUG and UNPLAN!  And, we absolutely love what Becky says about kids learning from seeing their parents be spontaneous and fun (especially if their normal M.O. is to be over-scheduled).

You’re talking our language ABC News!

Video courtesy ABC News

Surviving a Family Road Trip valerie

We’re staying in Cahuita, Costa Rica for 10 days and wanted to have a bit of an adventure. There are plenty of activities to do close by so we decided to leave it to chance and roll the Zufall dice.

We pulled out our original dice kit and set our base value for 10 minutes driving. We rolled a 4/SE (which was lucky because East would have meant we’d need to rent a boat!)  As it turned out, forty minutes coincided with the road running out at Playa Manzanillo.

Manzanillo is pretty much last of Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast before you hit Panama. We pulled up to the edge of the palm tree lined beach and noticed right away several snorkels bobbing around a dark mass in the water. Huzzah – reef time!  We grabbed our mask and snorkel and after staking some beach space, we ran into the surf.

Our adventure didn’t end at Manzanillo. On our way home, we turned off the highway to check out Punta Uva. It was a beautiful beach where we watched local children play in the river, egrets fishing the tides, kayakers attempting to navigate the surf on their way back in from a shoreline paddle and local families enjoying a late afternoon picnic. What a magical and happy place!

As the sun began to set, we drove slowly toward Puerto Viejo where rush hour equals ATVs, bikes and cartloads of surfboards retreating from the beach in preparation for a big night of partying. We stocked up on fresh Marlin and fruit before make our way home.

If we hadn’t rolled the Zufall dice, we wouldn’t have had a chance to snorkel, see a beautiful beach or prepare a super-fresh fish dinner.

Zufall Adventure by Chance to Manzanillo and Punta Uva valerie

It might not be the au current term for a collective of volunteers working the land together and sharing in the profits, but ‘commune’ seemed about right as I toured the grounds of Essence Arenal in El Castillo, Costa Rica.  Mind you, I’ve always understood that commune and cult are two different animals so don’t get me wrong – there is nothing disparaging in my calling it that.

Far from it, in fact. Essence Arenal is doing something quite enlightened and sharing their ideas and approach with anyone interested enough to ask.  On the outside, this hotel/hostel might just look like a well situated and affordable accommodation on the edges of the Arenal National Park.  And for anyone who just wants a bed, it can be that – they’ve got rooms and dorms and are happy to arrange tours or suggest treks out their back door.

But, it would be a shame if that is all you got from this amazing place. There is so much more than accommodations for 40 on this sprawling property. The jungle trail leads to a clearing where the (mostly) volunteers are working to create an organic farm using biodynamic agriculture around the cycles of the moon that is also symbiotic with the surrounding forest.

We were lucky enough to be in a test group for a sunrise tour that Alan (a Mexican agriculture expert) and volunteer farmer John (an American with a degree in outdoor education) gave of the grounds. They showed us the way the forest was interacting with their garden, what they were attempting to do with the land and shared with us the principals of the co-op.  We tasted native herbs, met the chickens who had laid the eggs for our forthcoming breakfast and wandered through the still young coffee plantation.

It wasn’t perfect (the tilapia pond had been partially drained and they weren’t sure what they were going to do with the three generations of fish in it since the onsite restaurant is vegetarian) but their enthusiasm and passion for developing the grounds was infectious.

The co-operative approach isn’t just for the farm. If you want to dine at the hotel, you have to pitch in too. Dinner is a three course set meal and is served communal style in a single seating. If you think you’ll have nothing to talk about with your fellow travelers, fear not – there is also a group activity.  The chef along with the facilities manager, Kelly, include a mini cooking class. The whole group learns how to make one course of the meal while preparing it for the group. If you don’t do a good job, don’t worry – you likely won’t get your own creation and nobody will know it’s yours!

The food was delicious, and there were no complaints about the messiness of the red-wine-marinated apples stuffed with coconut, oats and chocolate that we’d all had a hand in making. Communal dining was just the icing on the cake of the experience at Essence Arenal. I would happily return and take a room at the commune.

A Room at the Commune valerie

You have to be committed to get to Santa Teresa.  There is no easy road to this hippy surf town – it’s either an expensive flight followed by a boat ride, a rickety bus or a long drive (up and) down a dusty, pothole riddled road.

But once you get there, the minor whiplash and flat tire will be worth it.  The beaches are pristine and the surf offers something for every skill level. Plus, if you feel the need to improve that board-top balance, there are a plethora of yoga classes to slip into.

The main strip of this little town is an extension of that dirt road you rode in on. Along the way are a good range of accommodations from surfer shacks to high end resorts. The main drag also offers up a variety of food options from greasy tacos to falafels, sushi and organic vegetarian. But the main thing you’ll notice about the strip is that people are barefoot and toting their surf boards to the beach.

It’s a popular place with expats who are as staunchly against development as the locals. Will the road to Santa Teresa be paved some day? Not if they have anything to do with it. That accessibility challenge is what helps keep this Costa Rican surfer refuge pure (instead of becoming another Tamarindo). Plus, it’s another good excuse for never leaving – not that you need any more excuses.

The Hard Road to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica valerie

Photo: Linkedin

Deepak Chopra has always been a fascinating person to learn from. A few months ago he began posting a series of articles about The Conscious Lifestyle.  It is essentially about living your life and really being in it. Participatory living.

In one of his LinkedIn posts he writes, “Being conscious comes down to awareness, which must be as clear as possible. If your awareness is dulled by routine work, it isn’t clear.”

Routine work – doesn’t that sound familiar? How many of us get up at the same time, eat the same thing, go to the same places, do the same activities and go to bed at the same time without even being aware of any of it? It’s like driving home and soundly realizing you can’t remember the last few blocks – you were on automatic pilot. This dulled awareness can creep into our relationships, our work – even our fun time can start to feel routine and rote. And isn’t that why we long for vacations? They break our routines and awaken our awareness.

One of the things I love about travelling is that it breaks life down to the basic choices and re-introduces those choices to our life. What will we eat today? Where will we go? What will we do? Where will we sleep? And, as the day unfolds, we actually make these decisions instead of doing what has always been done or what our schedule tells us to. It is living consciously.

Like an exercise that you might do to keep your back strong or your heart healthy, rolling the dice keeps our ‘conscious living’ muscles limber.

Zufalling toward Deepak Chopra’s Conscious Lifestyle valerie

A lot of people think that because we love to leave things to chance, we never plan anything. That’s kind of crazy.

But, when we do plan something with friends or family and something gets in the way – our dice conditioning means we’re never disappointed. This happened to us a week or so ago. We’d planned a long hike with good friends and were looking forward to it despite the drop in temperature and the forecast of rain. That morning, we got the call that the outing was a no-go because of a bum ankle.

Instead of going ahead with hike on our own, we decided to follow the curve we’d been thrown. This is where the Zufall training comes in – you know how to avoid disappointment by being in the moment and looking for adventure opportunities.

It had been years (we’re both embarrassed to admit) since we’d ridden our mountain bikes on real mountain trails. And, since we were staring at summers back end, we knew that if we didn’t do it then, on that wet and cold October day, it would be another year.

We threw the bikes on the back of the car and rolled the dice. We’re surrounded by mountains, so we figured we couldn’t go wrong. We ended up at the cross country ski trails we enjoyed all last winter (another reminded that summer was on the outs).

Now, it may seem a little silly to say we went mountain biking on a cross country ski course, but this is BC so even an area set aside for an activity usually done on the flats is hilly. Really hilly. We were amazed at how much climbing and downhill we’d done on our skis because on the bikes it took a lot out of us. Luckily, a random wandering dog (seriously) served as our guide showing us the way up to the look out and down through the forest.

So, in the end, our planned hike with friends turned into a two-hour muddy, sweaty, rain-soaked reminder of just how much we love mountain biking. Dirty, drenched and exhausted we were thoroughly pleased that we’d zigged when our plans zagged.

When Plans Fall Apart valerie

Another weekend in a big city and we couldn’t resist rolling the dice once again. We’d done the typical stuff in Montreal – shopped St. Catherine’s St., visited the Old Port, hiked up Mount Royal – so we knew we couldn’t go wrong with leaving our last day to chance. To ensure that we could cover as much ground as possible, we rented Bixi Bikes (such a fantastic program!)  We were hesitant when we saw that our roll was taking us right back to where we had been the day before – Mount Royal.  But, ever the true Zufallers, we followed the roll. We hopped on our bikes and took a leisurely route along the cycle path, checking out fun neighbourhoods and funky architecture.

Before we arrived at the park, we hit a detour.  Well, Tim’s stomach hit a detour. We’d seen Schwartz’s Deli the day before and it was lined up down the street. This is the famous smoked meat sandwich joint that everyone says is a quintessential Montreal experience. The lineup had been too long for Tim to justify the wait but since Zufall was sending us back into Schwartz’s hood, we decided to check it out.  Sure enough, the line up for takeout was incredibly short (note to visitors, go on a Sunday).  He grabbed a smoked meat sandwich, fries and the requisite pickle. Not to be left out of Montreal cuisine, I grabbed a vegetarian poutine (first in my life) and we took our hot messes to the closest picnic table, fighting off an over fed squirrel in the process.

We hardly recognized Mount Royal from the day before. The Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal had taken over the ring road and a spandexed crowd lined the route. Cowbells rang out and people cheered in short 20 second bursts as the peloton blew past.  With laps taking 15 minutes or so, we decided to make our way around the race and head into the park proper.

The place was crawling with people and it didn’t take us long to notice the hippy vibe. As we followed the stream of tie-dyed and deadlocked, the cowbells were replaced with a steady rhythm.

Every Sunday in the summer, when the weather is nice enough, a random gang of drummers gather and bang out a beat. We’d heard about Tam Tams but we had no idea that it would be such a swell of joy, dancing and rhythm.  We sat and nodded our heads to the beat, Tim snapped pics and tried to capture the magic on film and time disappeared.

We were keeping an eye on the race but decided to head up the hill because there seemed to be another crowd at the forest’s edge.  The surprises and amusements kept coming as our path took us past jugglers, tightrope walkers, guitarists and acrobats. When we finally arrived at the gathering we could only marvel and wonder at what we saw. Two gangs beating each other with swords, long poles and daggers.  These weapons were made, it seemed, out of duct tape and the medieval style warfare was clearly some kind of game, but we were astonished just the same. “Montreal is crazy!” I couldn’t help myself from saying with complete adoration.

We arrived back at the race finish line just as the racers were entering their last lap. We saw Ryder Hesjedal pull ahead of the pack a little too soon and promptly lose his lead. Several riders made a play for the win after that but when Norwegian Lars Petter Nordhaug took the lead and kept it. What a thrill to see.

And what a fantastic show of diversity and culture we saw that day in the park – from hippies and music lovers to the circus set to mock warriors to uber-fit cyclistas. We thought our adventure was going to be a repeat of the day before. It may have been the same place, in the same city but it was utterly different.

Montreal – This Place is Crazy valerie

When we go to Toronto, we seldom step foot in Toronto. You see, with family spread across the region, we are generally on a tightly regimented schedule of driving and visiting. It goes something like, land, drive to Milton, visit, drive to Stouffville, visit, drive to Oshawa, visit, drive to, well, you get the idea.

This time around we were in Toronto for a bit of family and a bit of work so we made a point of planning some unplanned time in the city. One whole evening without any commitments or idea of what we would do – perfect!

We started our adventure at Roger’s Stadium (after witnessing a Blue Jay’s loss) and rolled the dice. We were a little peckish so we were ultimately looking for dinner. Our roll took us to the lakeshore just a few blocks south of the CN Tower. We were happy to explore because, as I said, we never get to see the city.

Before we could take in the scenery, our ears were piqued by the sounds of horn instruments and a cheering crowd.  We followed our ears and found ourselves swept up in a parade featuring 15 ft tall puppets. What was going on?  A fellow paradee told us it was Ashkenaz, a Jewish festival of music and culture. The mood was festive and we joined the group as their parade culminated in a large circle of musicians and giant dancing puppets.

Our hearts told us to stay put but our stomachs vetoed that idea. We rolled again and found ourselves a block and a half northwest and staring down an unassuming Indian Takeaway restaurant.  We had our hesitations, but this is Zufall, so we in we went. The owners were fabulously entertaining as they took us through their simmering buffet. After a few tastes we had selected our dishes and were walking out with bags in hand looking for a reasonable place to set up our picnic.

Another roll of the dice had us heading southeast, 2 blocks. For the uninitiated, this might seem like a fail – Zufall dice sending us right back where we’d come but we’ve done this enough times to know that you can’t assume anything. We arrived back at the square to find that the crowd had dissipated but in the relative quiet we were able to make out more music hanging in the air. We’d been so distracted by the party that we hadn’t noticed the large bandstand. Off we went and found ourselves with comfy bench seats and the pleasure of hearing traditional music – it was only the sound rehearsal, but we got a few full songs – just enough for us to finish our dinner.

What we loved about Zufalling in Toronto was that we could have had 100 different experiences that afternoon and they all would have been equally as fabulous. The city seems to be buzzing all the time and every block offers up a myriad of dining and entertainment options. As we headed back to our hotel, we couldn’t stop asking ourselves, ‘Why isn’t EVERYONE in Toronto Zufalling?’ It really is the perfect city for adventures by chance!

Toronto is a City to Get Lost In valerie

It might feel like the twilight days of summer with Back to School ads and fall fashions taking over the mall but it’s not over, yet.

There’s still time to grab a little summer fun and the best way to do that is to channel the freedom of our youth – that carefree, anything goes spirit. You remember what it was like – you get up, jump on your bike and just go. Or maybe when you were a little older, you’d gather up your friends, pile in the car and see where the road takes you. What made it great was that you were just living. You were in the moment with no expectations and no idea what adventure might be just around the corner.

This weekend – be spontaneous. Let go of that ‘adult’ need to plan every last second. Roll the Zufall dice, spin around and go in the direction you stop, flip a coin – it doesn’t matter how you spark that spontaneity as long as you go for it. It doesn’t have to be a long adventure, it could be a spontaneous dinner, picnic, bike ride, walk …you get the idea.

Let’s show summer we haven’t forgotten what the season is all about and have some unbridled fun!

Oh, and don’t forget, if you have a Zufall Adventure we want to hear about it. Share your adventure with everyone right here. It’s easy.

Summer Ain’t Over Yet! valerie