Jennifer. J. Chow

Travel Style: Plotter or Pantser?

I’ve been asked many times in a panel whether I’m a plotter or pantser. I generally land in the middle. (Although since my publisher prefers having a synopsis, I’ve veered more toward plotting.)

For traveling, though, I’m a serious plotter. I’ve tried before to be more “spontaneous,” and it just ends up with people sitting around staring at each other and doing nothing. To maximize my schedule, I populate spreadsheets and utilize tabs. One of my kids laughed at me the other day for having a tab labelled “Food”—come on, that’s pretty important.

How do I travel? Let’s use my upcoming Paris & London (first time in both places—whee!) trip as an example:

Reservations in advance
I’m all about getting tickets in advance. I hate waiting in lines. If I can bypass any amount of standing around, I’ll do it. This is especially helpful for major sites, things like popular museums. And, yes, I’ve already planned my route in the Louvre. Then there are some things you must book early, like this day trip I’m taking to visit Stonehenge. Sometimes the tours get sold out, especially during a high travel season like summer. Also, since we’re interested in going to West End (and I want to have seats together), I’ve purchased those show tickets in advance.  

Food research
I do research for my books prior to writing them, whether it’s for a recipe, a theme, or interesting factoids. When traveling, I first do a high-level search about regional foods. Then I narrow it down to my possible must-haves. In Paris, I’m looking forward to authentic croissants and crepes. In London, I’m going to do tea; I won’t be doing the lavish afternoon tea, but I’m aiming on getting some cream tea. Of course, my research wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t do a compare-and-contrast, so I’m eating foods here, and I’ll do a comparison test when I’m abroad.

Afternoon tea with Angela Sanders at Ashland Mystery Fest

Bookish delights
Usually, I reference something bookish in my novels. It could be something as substantial as creating the local town library or bookshop, or it could be a passing reference to a book (I’ve even dropped an Easter egg about another of my books in a different series). Whenever I take a trip, I also like to visit local bookstores and libraries. Plus, I’m a big fan of going to places that have inspired books. For example, I’m trying to get tickets to visit Notre-Dame, because The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. (I hear tickets disappear quickly, and you can only get them two days in advance at the earliest, and this hurts my planning heart.) In London, I’m excited to visit Shakespeare’s Globe!! Also, I booked early for my tickets to watch Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, which incidentally, was the first work by Christie I ever read.

I remember reading Shakespeare’s plays for fun as a kid!

How about you? Do you travel plotter or pantser-style, or somewhere in between?    

36 thoughts on “Travel Style: Plotter or Pantser?”

  1. Jen, you’re going to have the best time on your trip. Everything sounds wonderful. I read Shakespeare’s plays for fun as a kid, too. Ha! Good times. For travel, I fall between plotter and pantser. I have to have some activities planned in advance, but I also leave wiggle room for spontaneity. Safe travels, my friend!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. Jennifer, enjoy your travels.

    I’m a travel plotter. I need to know where I need to be, who I’m going to see, what am I doing. Even at this moment, I’m plotting my excursions and meal planning for New Orleans in September.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  4. When it comes to travel, I lean towards plotting and planning, with room for change and last minute adaptations. I want to know I have a room for the night wherever I land and that I can find food and gas. When you live in the desert west, there are still wide open spaces with few reasonably priced options in areas.

    Have a simply fabulous time in London and Paris.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  5. Jen, what a great trip! We’re going to Paris in September. I’ve never been either. You’ll have to tell me your favorite places.

    I’m the queen of planning – except for this trip, for some reason. I’ve booked hotels and we’ll be spending three days in the Lorraine region at the farm if distant cousins of my husband. But I haven’t planned a thing in Paris. It’s like I have a mental block. We may end up just wandering the streets.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  6. Thank you for the reminder to get my hotel for the trip from Maryland to Chicago this weekend!

    I’m a sort of “loose plotter”—not a pantser per se, because I over-plot, and I tend to have way more possibilities on the table than we could possibly hit, which gives us the option of paring down to what we really want to do. Also, I am gluten free, which requires a lot of pre-planning on its own. But I love planning and researching for the maybes, both in travel and in writing.

    And I hear you about the “people sitting around staring at each other”—we had one trip where I’d hurt my back, and I kept telling everyone, “Please, go do stuff, talk to each other, figure out what you want to do, and go do it!” And they all just sat around because they’re used to me figuring it all out. 😆

    —JKB

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. I’m so happy you’re getting to visit Paris (my favorite city on Earth) and London, Jen! My favorite thing to do in Paris is simply walk around and soak up the atmosphere. But I do plan, as well–hotel, tickets to the Musée d’Orsay (tip: buy the first tickets of the day, then go immediately to the very top to see all the Impressionist paintings first, before everyone else makes their way up there).

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      1. Yay! We RUN up the stairs to the top and then hurry to the van Gogh rooms first (which are always the most crowded). Then after seeing all of the top floor, we go to the café up there (which looks out over one of those beautiful clocks) for an early lunch before the crowds, then work our way down to see the rest of the museum. You’re going to have so much fun!

        Liked by 3 people

        Reply

  9. When it comes to travel, I am definitly a plotter. You could miss something great if you don’t do the research.

    In Wiltshire, England, I discovered Avebury stone circle. It’s a henge site near Stonehenge, but you don’t need a reservation and you can walk among the stones (and the sheep).

    Don’t miss Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris. And be sure to get the Paris Museum pass before you go. It let’s you skip the line to the most popular museums, including the Louvre and D’Orsay.

    Have a great time!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I’m gonna look up Avebury stone circle…it sounds so familiar.

      Planning on seeing the Shakespeare and Company bookstore, but may not go in depending on the line!

      Also, you must be the best plotter trip planner! Can I join one of your outings come LCC 2026? 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. This post is so timely! I’m leaving for Seattle on Tuesday for a week and I am simultaneously overprepared and not at all ready! I have a detailed itinerary (fully plotted) for the three days we’re spending in Olympic National Park, but also trying to decide where going to stay the last two nights of the trip (totally pantsing!) 

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. I’m somewhere in the middle. I do research rather obsessively. I book places to stay in advance but, for activities, I usually have a list of options so there is some flexibility. Good idea to book the Globe in advance, though, as they sell out quickly. And one of my favourite things in London is the walk on the Millennium footbridge from the Globe after a show back across the river, with the dome of St.Paul’s lit up ahead. Magical.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. Oh dear. I am not much of a plotter, other than reserving hotel and transpo. (I love boats–if I can take a boat somewhere, I’m thrilled!) But fortunately so many close to me (including my mystery peeps!) are huge planners, and I happily trail along. I like to wander if a place is deemed safe and visit places on whim or on the advice of locals. I do language prep if needed and tool around online to get concepts of plans, though…Sometimes I plan by the weather, ha. Have a fabulous time, Jen!!!

    Like

    Reply

  14. I do both. I buy the travel guides when I go to places that I have never been. But I also go with the flow. My sister, niece and I met in London and stayed with a friend of my niece’s. We just went wherever each day with some knowledge. We took a bus ride to Bath and Stonehenge and that place is magical. We took the Chunnel to Paris for a day for my birthday, I wanted more time than a week, but we did well with what we did.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Mac Maestas Daly Cancel reply