Ireland Trip Planning

Things I'm looking forward to right now: 1) spring time 2) summer time AND 3) the upcoming Petersen family trip to Ireland!!  Both Kerry and I have been to Ireland on separate trips in the past but this will be Mother Courtney's first time there and I'm so excited for her to see what Kerry and I have been raving about for so long. Also my one previous trip to Ireland was in early February so I cannot even imagine the splendor that will be Ireland in May.

Generally (read always) when I go on trips I do a very minimal amount of planning before the trip and just play it by ear when I get to the destination. I'll have a rough idea or timeline but won't book places to stay or make any specific activity arrangements. I bring my tour books and sense of adventure and just do the best I can when I arrive. On the whole this system has worked out pretty well for me in the past. It's nice to be flexible so you can move along quickly if a town isn't the best, or linger when a place really catches your fancy. But, there have also been many moments when I think a little advanced planning would have gone a long way in making a trip more successful. For example this past fall when I was in London and tickets to the Harry Potter experience were sold out. What a botch. I cannot even. I probably could have bought the tickets a week before my visit and they would have been available but I couldn't be bothered to think that far in advance.

This is all to say that for this trip I am turning over a new leaf and doing the bulk of the planning before we go. So far we have planned all of the cities and towns where we'll stay, and have even made hotel/B&B reservations for the bulk of them (2 months out - can I get a high five). On top of that we've already planned some activities and know which bars have trad sessions (traditional Irish music) which nights and made a game plan for packing in the most trad sessions we possibly can. If things get truly crazy I might even try to pick some restaurants in advance. Only time shall tell my friends.