Although this advice is completely out of character for me, I highly recommend taking a camping trip (7+days) with no reservations. Last June, Amy and I took an 11 day trip to Michigan without making any reservations ahead of time. Yes, it can be a bit risky. What if we would have gone to a campground and there were not sites available? However, the first two weeks of June are not high season for Michigan. Students are still in school until June 10^th or so and the weather does not warm up until the end of June. So, it was a perfect time to go without reservations. For someone who needs a plan for everything, this trip was quite liberating for me. We camped somewhere for a while and when we were ready to leave, we packed up and hit the road. We never encountered a “no vacancy” situation. It was so nice to know that we were not tied down to any plan other than to find rest and relaxation in our camping experience.

Now, I would NOT recommend this during certain seasons. For example, I would not suggest heading to Florida during the Spring Break season without reservations. Nor would I suggest going anywhere during the 4^th of July weekend without making reservations ahead of time. The chances of coming up empty-handed are too high.

But in the end, I still encourage you to try this, especially if you are the type-A personality (like me). You wouldn’t believe how freeing it is until you try it….

Sunrise over Higgins Lake