Planned or Spontaneous?

I have been asked(don’t ask me why), whether i am planned person or a spontaneous one. Well i don’t know! And here is my reasoning for the same.

Like everyone else, we love to take vacations, short ones and the long ones. Travel to exotic and touristy places. See new things, do new adventures, meet new people, collect more magnets and shot glasses, take pictures and build memories of a lifetime.
SD and I are road warriors and have done our fair share of travels. Making the planned and the unplanned trips. Taking just couply trips, to chilling with a large group of friends and family. Enjoying it all! A lot!

For our vacations, I want to get the most bang for the buck! This means, countless searches for activities, bidding on the best deal for car rentals, flights, hotels. Calling up friends who have been there for recommendations, and oh yes, i almost forgot- there should be something for everyone. We need to plan trips which are toddler friendly, but not adult boring. This implies, there should be a mix of things, the adrenaline rush needs to be there, with aah so cute toddler parks.

So the planned trips: i need to have a list. A list for the things we need to cover, places to see, people to meet, things to carry, toys to bring along, food to carry, medicines to bring along(just in case) and so on and on.
Yes, i am anal. Before the trip, i will view, review, add, things to this master list with person responsible, status and comments. Yes MS excel is my best friend. I will send this list to SD and filter by his name, so he knows. Two days before the trip, i will start taking the clothes, shoes and all else out of closets, and put them in bags. I explain to SD that its my trips excitement, he shrugs, since we both know, realistically, i wont be able do it last minute, i will forget something and then fret over it!

I know that the night before the trip, i want to do nothing else, but
a. double check my lists that everything is checked off it (Smile!)
b. Ensure that on our return, we enter into a clean house (Aah!), and
c. Chill back...and enjoy some TV while my mind is already in vacation mood!(Grin!)

And then comes to the unplanned trips, i dont know how, but my mind switches off automatically. List, what list. I will ensure i have flip flops, sneakers, and one decent pair of shoes, and a swim suit just in case...the rest i dont care and i tell SD, Oh its America, if i dont carry it, no matter where we go, we'll find it! The bag gets packed in 20 minutes flat, the toys are put, V's stuff is in her diaper bag! Her food is ready.. and we can be out the door in less than an hour from the time we decided to take the trip. The only thing that i still do is "b. Ensure that on our return, we enter into a clean house (Aah!)"

Mind plays games you know. Both our trips- the planned and the unplanned ones, we enjoy immensely, the process, the aftereffect, the sore bones.. all say the same thing: Vacation well deserved and much needed! So if one asks, are you planner or a live by the moment person.. Honestly, i draw a blank, since i dont know! My preference: I dont care.. as long as i am away from home and on a trip- planned or unplanned!