This Big Sur Travel Weekend

November 20, 2012

San Francisco to Monterey on Google mapsHow awful was my travel planning for this weekend? Really awful.

I pieced it together little by little, and in the end, it made no sense.

Originally, I planned to fly up there so that I could easily take public transportation (and be closer to Monterey so the public transport would only take me 4 or so hours as opposed to 4 or so million hours).

Then, I couldn’t find a free place to stay. I decided to go ahead and book a hotel. One three miles away was a good deal cheaper than one very close to the start. I went ahead and decided to save the money, thinking I could walk it or perhaps get a ride. I figured that I’d figure something out.

Later, I decided I’d go ahead and just rent a car. “I’ll get to Monterey quicker. I’ll have more freedom to get anywhere I need to go – expo, restaurants, whatever I need.”

I first noticed my travel plans were not optimal as I drove farther and farther south (aka toward Los Angeles – from whence I came)! Why did I fly up here when I was just going to drive toward my apartment?

(Side note: My flight was delayed a couple of hours. Add that to travel time to get to and from airports, and going through security, I’m really thinking I would’ve barely lost any time just driving the whole way.)

Of course, then I ended up being the most confusing three miles away from the hotel that I could be. It involved getting on the highway, and taking a really quick exit. There was no way I was ever going to find my way to the morning of the race (and find a place to park where there was barely any free parking). Then a cab started to look good. But then why did I drive?

Why did I fly? Why did I drive? So many questions. So many mistakes.

Oh well. I didn’t have to drive too terribly far. (I hate driving.) I had the pleasure of flying. (I love flying.) Even though I could’ve made some smarter decisions, I got everywhere I needed to be. I suppose that’s what matters in the end.

I'd love to hear from you! So whaddya say?