To Book Or Not To Book

    Decisions decisions. You’re faced with them every day. Why should travel be any different? One of the biggest questions you’ll have to answer is whether to book ahead for your accommodation. It should come as no surprise to hear there are both pros and cons. Personally I have not found a lot of pros; unless of course you are arriving at a world renown festival attended by millions from around the world. There are definitely times when it pays to book ahead but in the fly by the seat of your pants, throw caution to the wind world of the road trip keep life exciting and don’t bother.

      In today’s instant communication environment you can always bail yourself out and book at the last minute. Besides, this is a road trip so you can always sleep in the car if you’re desperate. Better pack a space blanket and polar sleeping bag just in case.

      Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do. The more you travel the more you’ll learn to expect the unexpected. In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, not exactly the end of the world but I’m sure I saw it from there, we arrived at about 8PM. Me, my wife and two sons had never even heard of the town so we thought we’d have no problem finding a place to stay. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there were no rooms to be found because there was a fishing lure convention in town. Are you kidding me? I hate fishing! How can there be that many people?

      That brings me to a very important point. It is times like that, times at the bottom of the barrel, when good things happen. We found a single room in a Hampton Inn, a chain we had always avoided thinking it too expensive. It wasn’t bad and we found it a great fit for our needs.

      That is how we learn. We have built on that over the years and discovered a lot of fabulous accommodations by showing up with no plans. We also developed a habit of changing rooms once we had checked in. It’s a great way to get a better room because the proprietors do not want you telling people the linens were dirty, the garbage wasn’t emptied, there was broken glass in the bathroom or there were weevils eating through the wall in the bedroom.

      Van Wert, Ohio is noted for being home to the first county library in the United States, although as I gazed around at the motel staff and the visitors (not us of course) I was hard pressed to imagine just what they would want with a library. It is also known for being the smallest city in the United States with both a YMCA and a YWCA. It boggles the mind to see what lengths the towns will go to for notoriety.

      I didn’t mind that the motel air conditioner and microwave were 40 years old. The fact that the bathroom door did not close was acceptable. The discovery that the bathroom fan sounded like a 777 taking off was a surprise but, hey, it happens. However, when we drew the covers back to get into bed there were some dark marks on the sheets. I immediately assumed they were probably blood so we called the front desk for new sheets – at 11PM it was a little late, even for us, to change rooms. The night manager came in to inspect the sheets. He determined it was not blood at all but tar. Oh well, tar, that’s alright to have tar on the sheets – what’s so unusual about that? I told you they had no use for a library there.

      Don’t ever be afraid to complain or speak your mind and don’t stress about booking ahead. A road trip is unpredictable and you may not even be able to get to your booking on time. After all, you could have car trouble, get lost (my favourite) or be blocked by a herd of elephants crossing the road. You never know – live dangerously – carpe diem.

for more information go to www.thatroadtripbook.com