Comments on: Happy Coincidences

By: Aidan Donnelley Rowley @ Ivy League Insecurities

Aidan Donnelley Rowley @ Ivy League Insecurities — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:38:36 +0000

I am intrigued by the idea of happy coincidences, but I am not sure how to maximize them in life. Perhaps it is a start to live with open heads and hearts and eyes, to allow our plans to be pervaded by contingency and chance. To allow our structures and strictures to be whipped by the wind and the wisdom of stumbling? No idea. But thanks for making me think. As always.

And sounds like a fantastic trip!

By: Jana

Jana — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:20:59 +0000

My new idea is to get perfume from every trip you take. That way, months or years after your trip, when you put on the same scent, you can feel like you’re transported back in time and place. (Also, I hope you won’t deny yourself wine, even though you’re pregnant. It’s so not necessary to avoid it altogether, I believe.)

By: terry

terry — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:32:02 +0000

In a former life I worked for the Travel Channel. I learned how to plan–and now I am obsessive about planning vacations. Here is what I have learned. When you are far from home and out of your comfort zone, the more you have researched, the more time you will have to ENJOY the unexpected. Get it?

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:27:05 +0000

Rebecca, accepting the fact that my life looks nothing like I THOUGHT it would look like is the story of my life! Many of the things I thought would bring me happiness haven’t — and vice versa. It’s a topic I’ve written a lot about in the past…and will undoubtedly keep writing about well into the future.

By: Rebecca @ Diary of a Virgin Novelist

Rebecca @ Diary of a Virgin Novelist — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:07:02 +0000

I think a lot of the sentiments you wrote about can be applied to our every day lives as well. I try to be open to the day not going how I planned. Or that the bad thing that just happened will ultimately lead to something wonderful (and it often does). And definitely with the changing perspectives thing. One of my mantras is that I need to let go of what I thought my life would look like, what I thought success and passion would look and feel like. Opening myself up to a new way of living makes the every day quite exciting.

By: Eva

Eva — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:57:55 +0000

How great that you and your husband get to take one last, fabulous trip as a pair!

I’ve written about my love/hate relationship with routine, and I see how your comments can certainly apply to my day-to-day life. I especially like “bad accidents can lead to good things.” It’s difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel sometimes, to even consider that something bad can turn out good. But this is so true! A man gets laid off, but this prompts him to start a new business following his passion. Or a woman is forced to move to a cheaper apartment, where she meets her neighbor who becomes her husband. These are extreme cases, but demonstrate the point. We have no idea where things will lead, but we must have faith in the universe and everything working out as it should.

By: TheKitchenWitch

TheKitchenWitch — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:03:25 +0000

Loved this post! I am a total planner! I love the guidebooks–it almost is as fun for me as the trip itself, the planning.

But you are right. It’s the happy accidents I remember most! The charming restaurant we stumbled on in Greece when we couldn’t find the one I’d “planned” for us to go to. The impromptu bus ride to an old bullfighting ring in Spain. The family run vineyard in Napa that we nearly overlooked.

Awesome post!

By: anne

anne — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:57:34 +0000

My Mom always refers to happy coincidences as “pleasant surprises”. i love them when I travel, but I do tend to plan a lot. I think when you travel for briefer periods of time, it becomes harder to take risks. When you only have 2 weeks, there’s less room to adjust…though it is possible.

By: BigLittleWolf

BigLittleWolf — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:54:54 +0000

What a lovely post. And I think it’s a wonderful idea to have a trip together, before the child arrives on the scene.

As for accidental tourism, I have traveled a good deal, most of the time alone, and tend to plan only a small amount, and leave the rest to serendipity. I have rarely been disappointed, finding – for myself – that leaving a considerable amount of travel unplanned (particularly overseas), the adventures and discovery that await are far better than anything I could’ve imagined.

Enjoy every moment!

By: Danyiel

Danyiel — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:01:37 +0000

Well I am a planner, and if things don’t go the way I planned I tend to freak out a little. Now, with that said we just returned from Hawaii and we went with another couple. I didn’t have any time to plan for this trip, with well having a 2 year old, a full time job, my head in the toilet, and a husband who unfortunatlly is traveling alot. So I turned the planning over to a friend, and realized that I really didn’t care what we did. Once we got to the island there were a few things we decided not to do and changed our plans up. I did find it fun to just not really know from day to day what we were going to do. So maybe this trip was my first step into travling in pencil?