Why I Don’t Plan My Trips Anymore

Hey, Johannes from GearUpYourLife here…

and today I want to talk about something a bit more personal — something that became really clear to me over the last few months in Spain, and now again here in Greece.

Like most of you, I grew up with big travel dreams.
Bucket-list places.
Spots you imagine for years before you ever get there. And when I was younger, my two “big ones” were always Italy and Norway.
Which honestly makes sense when you grow up in Germany:
on one side you’ve got sunshine, beaches and Aperol…
and on the other side snow, mountains and actual winter magic.
Germany is usually this strange in-between that never fully commits to either 😅.

So when I visited Italy for the first time, my excitement was unreal.
I romanticized everything to the extreme.
I built the perfect plan, every day mapped out, every moment predicted, every street and every sunset in my head before I even arrived.

And the result?

I ended up disappointed.
Overwhelmed.
And honestly… completely drained.

For a while, I really believed the problem was the destination.
I thought, “Okay… maybe Italy just isn’t as beautiful as everyone says.”

But then a year later I flew to Bangkok —
did the exact same thing…
and had the exact same outcome.

Another perfect plan.
Another perfect expectation.
And the same feeling at the end.

That’s when it finally clicked for me:

It was never the place.
It was me.

I realized it wasn’t the destinations at all, it was the fact that I had already “seen” everything before I ever arrived.
When you’ve watched a place a thousand times on social media, perfectly edited, perfectly lit, shot with drones and 4K cameras… the real thing almost can’t keep up.

The first time this really hit me was in Bangkok.
I was sitting at a rooftop bar — the one from The Hangover, if you’ve seen the movie — and it was beautiful.
But in my head I kept thinking:
“On TikTok it somehow looked even better…”

And that’s when I realized how distorted my relationship to reality had become.

It got worse a few minutes later.
I checked my phone, saw my schedule, and thought:
“Oh right, I planned to be somewhere else at this time, I need to leave now.”

And in that exact moment for whatever reason, it burned itself into my memory — I thought:
“This can’t be travel anymore. This is basically my first retail job at 15… just with a nicer view.”

Since that day, I stopped making detailed plans.
I stopped watching videos of places before going there.
I simply ask myself:
“Where do I want to go next?”
Not the version from social media — the real one.

And once I’m there, I try to talk to people, follow whatever feels right, and let the trip shape itself.
Travel finally started to make sense again.
My life on the road started to make sense again.

And honestly… I really hope that when I finally get to Norway, it’ll be worth the wait — but this time I won’t watch a single video beforehand 😅

So guys, here’s an honest call to action , if there’s one video you should watch this week that will actually make your next trip better, it’s the one I just uploaded:
👉 12 Awesome Travel Products Under $100

It’s simple, practical, and I’m pretty sure you’ll discover at least one upgrade you’ll use on your next trip.

I really hope you could take something away from today’s edition — or at least relate to it in some way.
And with that…

Safe travels,
Johannes