\nPart of my nature as an INTJ is to need a plan, even if I don’t follow it. The odd thing is that I don’t really get much by reading about a place before I see it. I have to see it, then read about it, and then go look again with informed eyes.\n<\/p>\n
\nOne of my greatest disappointments was to learn (many years later) that I had visited a place (Bungo Taketa) and missed its most interesting feature: Oka Castle: http:\/\/www.jcastle.info\/photos\/view\/479-Oka-Castle.\n<\/p>\n
\nWe could have spent the afternoon feasting on a forested panorama (which is what we needed). Instead we ambled off in the other direction, grew tired, and went home. What a missed chance! Rather than wallow in regret, I am more intent on being prepared remembering incidents like this.\n<\/p>\n
\nAlso it’s easier for me to form my own responses when I (contrarian that I am) have something to push against, arguing against someone else’s impressions. When I look at something for the first time without any background information, I look without seeing. Or perhaps, I look and see only the surface. The more I learn about it and the more often I look at it, the more it comes into three-dimensional focus — or even four-dimensional focus, if you include time fossilized in history.\n<\/p>\n
\nI guess the answer to my apparent contradiction is this: I enjoy wandering aimlessly but only when I’m prepared.\n<\/p>\n
\nRelated<\/p>\n
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\ndawn ahukanna’s profile photo
\ndawn ahukanna
\nIsn’t missed opportunity part of wandering without a map? Had you made a different choice you’d have made a pleasant discovery. Happenstance is part of that journey, no?
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\nMar 17, 2012\ue5d4
\nM Sinclair Stevens’s profile photo
\nM Sinclair Stevens
\nSome missed opportunities are more costly than others. +dawn ahukanna I think +Dan Ariely ‘s article on regret speaks to that: http:\/\/danariely.com\/2012\/03\/10\/regret\/<\/p>\n
Had we even known of the existence of Oka castle, we could have looked for it even without a map. We took the trip specifically to explore and yet we found nothing because we lacked the knowledge to push us forward on our search. I will never have the opportunity to see it again.<\/p>\n
As the Pasteur article says, chance favors the prepared mind. Serendipity is more than dumb luck. I’m not advocating always purposeful travels. As I said, I cannot be a tourist. I think my style is informed aimlessness.
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\nMar 17, 2012\ue5d4
\ndawn ahukanna’s profile photo
\ndawn ahukanna
\nI like that, “informed aimlessless”. You plan and prepare but are not bound to execute it to the letter.
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Informed aimlessness <\/p>\n