A ‘Would You Rather?’ Game Makes Travel Planning Fun
By Anna Krejci
It is a new year, and we – and presumably others - will be
planning travel for 2026. I like to make travel plans with other people, but I
also like playing games at home in the middle of winter. Playing a game of
“Would You Rather?” with questions devoted to vacationing would answer both
wants. Resolving these somewhat unlikely scenarios might help you plan for a
vacation if you use them to springboard into more serious conversation, right?
That was the thought, anyway. I wrote
this list of “Would You Rather?” questions that you could play indoors with
friends or family on one January day.
The Questions
Corey and I will answer the first question for fun.
Q: Would you rather travel to a new place each year on the
spur of the moment or visit the same location planned?
A: We would rather visit a new place each year on the spur
of the moment. With days or a week’s notice, we can travel close by for an
overnight stay on the weekend. We enjoy exploring Ohio communities within a
45-minute to 90-minute-drive away for these short surprise trips. If we go
someplace new, we feel like we could be much farther away, and we still have
the excitement of exploring.
Would you rather go to Disney World in a heatwave or visit a
ski hill on a milder winter day but without any snow?
Would you rather see your favorite genre of movie with
concession food to eat, or would you eat exotic Asian fare at a high-class
restaurant with your favorite person?
Would you rather go camping in a tent for a week-long trip
or spend two nights in a cabin?
Would you rather travel with music recordings of Taylor
Swift or with a stack of Stephen King thriller novels?
Would you rather pack too few pairs of socks or pack too few
backup smartphone chargers?
Would you rather sit for a caricature artist to draw you in
Las Vegas, or would you visit a world-famous art museum in Europe and buy a
print of fine art from the gift shop?
Would you rather pack too light for a trip to a nearby
destination or overpack for a trip overseas?
Would you rather stay in a rented house in the country with
a persistent woodpecker outdoors or rent a hotel room in an urban setting with
a loud busker outside performing, “I’m Singing in the Rain?”
Would you rather buy tickets long in advance for a
documentary on toy collectors or buy tickets at the last minute when you arrive
for “Hamilton” on Broadway?
Applying the Scenarios to You
The questions above address travel preferences, like how
much advance planning a person wants to do.
Other questions consider how people gravitate toward casual or formal
experiences, or if they prefer the sound of wildlife or the noise of urban
living. How much the weather influences one’s vacation planning and how one
likes to fill idle time on a trip are also addressed. I might choose between listening to Taylor
Swift music or reading Stephen King novels as an opening to discussing the
specific types of artists I enjoy and how I might prefer to listen to music on
a trip rather than reading. The people
you play this game with would have multiple responses and you could use it as a
basis for creating a playlist for your trip or a packing list of books you’d
want to take.
Since in my opinion January is a month for planning, the
“Would You Rather?” Game should help set expectations for the coming year. It
is a timely activity and would be fun to play.
