🐝 A Note from Darcy - The Space Between the Plans
I like a plan.
This will surprise absolutely no one who knows me.
I like knowing where I'm staying, how I'm getting there, what I don't want to miss and, ideally, where I'm going to find coffee in the morning.
But I've also learned that some of the best parts of a trip happen in the spaces between those plans.
The café where you sit longer than expected.
The shop you wander into because something in the window caught your eye.
The view that makes you stop walking.
The afternoon when everyone decides they'd rather stay by the pool than do the thing you thought you were supposed to do.
Last month, I wrote about harvesting memories, and how the moments we remember aren't always the ones we expected.
But there's another side to that.
We have to leave enough room for those moments to happen.
That's one of the things I love about the idea of slow travel.
It doesn't necessarily mean taking a three-week vacation or spending an entire afternoon staring contemplatively at a fountain.
Sometimes it simply means resisting the urge to fill every available hour.
Choosing three things instead of seven.
Staying another night.
Sitting down for the coffee instead of carrying it to the next attraction.
Actually noticing where you are.
A thoughtfully planned trip shouldn't feel like a race to finish the itinerary.
Sometimes the best plan includes a little room for absolutely nothing.
Destination Spotlight
Great Smoky Mountains
Come for the Mountains. Stay for Dolly.
If you're looking for an October destination that can do cozy and adventurous at the same time, the Great Smoky Mountains make a pretty compelling case.
Fall color moves through the mountains over several weeks as it works its way from higher elevations into the valleys. Scenic drives, hiking trails and mountain towns give you plenty of ways to experience it without needing every day to look the same.
You can hike in the morning, take a scenic drive in the afternoon, linger over dinner and spend the next day doing something entirely different.
And then, of course, there's the iconic Dolly.
Dollywood in the fall is basically October saying, “Hold my pumpkin.”
The Harvest Festival runs through October 31 this year, with seasonal food, live music and Great Pumpkin LumiNights taking over the park after dark.
More than 12,000 pumpkins are involved.
Dolly’s world does not phone in fall.
And that's part of why I like the Smokies as a trip rather than simply a national park visit.
You can pair nature with entertainment. Adventure with a slower day. A beautiful mountain drive with roller coasters and an alarming quantity of pumpkins.
You don't have to choose one version of the trip.
🐝 Darcy's note: October is also the busiest month of the year in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so this is one of those destinations where a little planning makes the slowing down much easier. Build in extra time, have a Plan B and don't assume you'll zip from one popular spot to another on a fall weekend.
Where in the World Is Darcy?
Mountain Lake Lodge | Nobody Puts Funko Baby in a Corner
Sometimes I visit a hotel because I want to evaluate the rooms, location, amenities and overall traveler experience.
And sometimes I bring Johnny and Baby Funko Pops with me so I can photograph them around Kellerman's.
Both can be true.
Mountain Lake Lodge in Virginia was one of the primary filming locations for Dirty Dancing.
And if you know me, you already know I wasn't going to behave normally about this.
The property embraces its movie history with placards that take you around the resort to recognizable filming locations.
Naturally, Johnny and Baby came along.
Naturally, they had a photo shoot.
Yes, I traveled to Virginia with 4 Funko Pops…because 2 was not enough!
But the best part wasn't simply finding the filming locations.
It truly felt like stepping into the story.
So much of the property has retained the character of the place you see in the movie that it wasn't difficult to imagine Baby, Johnny and the rest of the Kellerman's crowd wandering around.
Not every scene in Dirty Dancing was filmed here, of course, but enough of the setting remains recognizable that there were little moments all over the property when I knew exactly where I was.
The gazebo was probably my favorite.
The lake itself has largely disappeared, but standing there, I could still picture those early scenes by the water, especially Baby's first dance lesson.
There's something wonderfully surreal about standing in a place you've known through a movie for years and realizing how familiar it feels in real life.
And apparently the appropriate response to that feeling is to carry two Funko Pops around the property taking their picture.
Johnny and Baby have an excellent travel photographer.
🧳 Travel Tips
Use the Words You Learn
You don't have to speak another language fluently to make an effort.
Before an international trip, learn a few useful words and phrases.
Then actually use them.
Order your coffee. Greet the person at the front desk. Say please and thank you. Ask for the check.
Your pronunciation may be questionable. The person you're speaking with may answer you in English immediately.
That's okay.
Part of slowing down when we travel is being willing to engage with where we are instead of expecting everything to operate exactly as it does at home.
A few words can be a very small doorway into a place.
“Hello”
“Goodbye”
“Thank You”
“Do you speak English?”
“Where is the bathroom?”
🍯 A Bit 'O Honey
BYOC: Bring Your Own Coffee
I love finding a local coffee shop when I travel.
What I do not love is waking up in a hotel at 6:30 a.m. and discovering that my coffee options involve getting dressed, finding the car and driving somewhere before I've had coffee.
That feels like a flaw in the system.
So here's one of my decidedly unglamorous travel habits:
I bring emergency coffee.
A couple of K-Cups if I know there will be a compatible machine. Instant coffee packets. Tea bags. Whatever makes sense for where I'm staying.
Is it going to replace the charming neighborhood café I hope to discover later?
Absolutely not.
It's insurance against having to discover that charming neighborhood café before I'm capable of forming complete sentences.
The Travel Matchmaker believes in cultural immersion.
After coffee.
(See my go to choices in my amazon list.)
🍯 Sweet Find
The Travel Matchmaker's Travel Must-Haves
Over the years, I've accumulated quite a collection of things that make traveling a little easier.
Some are clever. Some are practical. Some solve annoyingly specific problems that you don't realize you have until you're standing in a hotel room wishing you'd packed the thing sitting at home.
So I've started gathering some of my favorite travel finds in one place.
From packing helpers to things I actually use on travel days, these are the kinds of little items I find myself recommending again and again.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
🧤 On My Planning Radar
Your Florida Gloves Are Not Winter Gloves
I learned this one the hard way. I had gloves. Technically. They were perfectly respectable Florida gloves. Then I took them somewhere genuinely cold. My fingers felt like they were going to fall off.
Forget taking pictures. I felt like the little kid in A Christmas Story with his tongue stuck to the flagpole, except somehow I had voluntarily packed for this experience.
When I got home, one of my first purchases was a pair of actual cold-weather gloves. Lesson learned.
If you're traveling somewhere with real winter weather, don't pack for what you consider cold at home.
Pack for the conditions where you're actually going. That means looking at expected temperatures and conditions and choosing layers, outerwear, footwear and yes, gloves that are designed for them.
I'm headed to Norway in November. The Florida gloves are staying home. See the ones I chose on my Amazon page!
DARCY’S MATCHMAKING CORNER
Make Room for Different Paces
The best family trip isn't necessarily the one where everyone does everything together.
When grandparents, parents, adult children and grandchildren travel together, everyone brings a different energy level, interest and idea of what makes a great day.
Trying to keep everyone on the same schedule from breakfast until bedtime can turn a family vacation into a very elaborate group project.
So give each other some room. Plan the experiences that really matter to everyone, then leave space for people to choose. Maybe part of the family heads out sightseeing while someone else enjoys the hotel pool. Maybe grandparents get a quiet afternoon while the kids burn off some energy. Maybe someone sleeps in.
Then everyone meets again for dinner and actually has something to tell each other.
That isn't a failed family itinerary. It's a thoughtfully paced one.
Multi-generational travel is about creating memories together, not keeping everyone together every minute of the trip.
Sometimes good travel matchmaking isn't about finding one experience everybody loves.
It's designing a trip with enough flexibility for everybody to enjoy it.
✍🏻 ONE MORE THING…Leave a Little Room
I started this month by admitting something you probably already knew.
I like a plan. And I'm certainly not going to stop planning trips.
Thoughtful planning is what gives us the confidence to relax once we're there.
But a good itinerary shouldn't account for every minute.
Leave room for the coffee shop. The view. The afternoon when everyone changes their mind. The picture that you will remember forever.
The conversation with someone whose language you're trying very badly to speak. The roadside stop you didn't know existed. The ridiculous photo shoot involving two Dirty Dancing Funko Pops.
Because sometimes slowing down isn't about doing less for the sake of doing less.
It's about giving yourself enough time to enjoy what you came all that way to experience.
Until next month,
Darcy
The Travel Matchmaker
Honeycomb Hollow Travel Co.
Tailored Journeys for the Moments That Matter.
Until next time, keep gathering moments worth remembering. 🐝