The days of turning up in a foreign country or even in Malaysia without reservations are over. This was the modus operandi for much of our travels until a few years ago. My husband and I just turned up wherever, and found a place to stay for a night or two before we moved on. Luckily for us, it worked out more often than not. Or so I remember.

Older and a little less adventurous, we now book ahead. Accommodation, car rental, and places to visit are confirmed and paid for in advance. With the plethora of online booking platforms, ease of travel and choice of accommodation, it makes sense to secure our holiday plans before we hit the road. The approach is certainly more sensible and safer. But, it also made me a little sad. Have we lost our sense of fun and adventure? Sigh. I don’t know.

We only always booked the flight. Everything else was not. We had a holiday plan that included sites to see, route maps (yes, before Waze and Google Maps) and possible accommodation. We never pre-booked because we didn’t know where we would be at the end of each day of a holiday. Not booking gave us the freedom and flexibility, to stay or carry on. The element of uncertainty – not knowing everything and not caring to know everything was what was fun and exciting.

Of course, we have had a few unforgettable experiences because of our less than conventional approach. I remember, my husband and I, arrived by train from Warsaw, dragging two roll along bags on cobbled streets (not an easy feat), and found not a single room available. We planned to stop for one night at Wroclaw before heading to Krakow. Obviously, we did not know that there was a marketing convention and all accommodation, including B & B’s were full. We found this out after using a public pay phone to call a number of hotels listed in the Polish Yellow Pages – yes, before mobile phones and Booking.com.

We jumped on another train that was heading to Krakow, and arrived very late in the night. Fortunately, we managed to get the last room, in an attic, which was only available for one night, in the Jewish Quarter. Grateful for a roof over our heads, we checked in, and immediately went for dinner before the restaurants closed. The next day, we very easily booked into a spacious and comfortable accommodation, located in Krakow’s main street. No reservations. Spotted a vacancy notice and enquired. Smugly, we sat near the front windows, with bagels and tea/coffee, and watched the world go by. Nice.

Then there was the time we drove about 900km from Keetmanshoop in Namibia to Britstown in South Africa. We simply could not find an accommodation between these two places. We drove from one town to another to another until dusk, and eventually took a punt in Britstown. The B & B that we stayed in didn’t have a door but it did have a full height curtain that closed up neatly. There weren’t many restaurant choices but the one where we had dinner was rather posh and the food was good.

Closer to home in Kedah, we realized too late, sitting in a fast food chicken restaurant somewhere in Pokok Sena, that the resort that we had driven towards was closed. A few years ago, we had spent a memorable holiday at Pedu Lake Resort, and was hoping to repeat the experience. At this beautiful resort, we saw otters, yes otters, from our balcony and thoroughly enjoyed a forest walk with the resort’s guide. He was an encyclopedia (back when we referred to encyclopedias and not Google) of information. The resort was not in operations but it still had a website and a telephone number. So, naturally we thought it was still open. We were wrong and had to drive back into Alor Star to look for accommodation, which wasn’t too much trouble.

My husband and I have always had a laugh when we have been almost caught out without a room to stay in or a car to rent. Not at the time but always after. We forget the panic experienced, and then nonchalantly repeat the foolhardy performance. But, there is something to be said about not booking and planning everything to a T. Fun…