To remember a time when we didn’t book everything

[labamba007]

Did you prefer it when we didn’t have to book everything in advance? I feel like since Covid everything has to be booked - restaurants, cafes, softplay, museums, bowling, any sports, swimming etc. I just remember turning up to stuff and it being fine. Now you can’t go anywhere without booking and nothing is spontaneous. Maybe it’s because there’s more people so you need to book to guarantee but I do miss it!

I agree. I have to book to collect my cats flea meds even though they sent a text saying they are ready. It has to be taken from a small cupboard and placed in a basket for that day of the week. This is not a busy vet practice. Often it's still in the cupboard (which takes all of 1 min to search) and I get asked "Did you make an appointment?" which I did. Totally baffles me. Could understand it if it was a busy inner city vets but it's not.

I think I'm also stuck in the mindset that you book for things that are special so I can't help but be irritated that something I've had to book is just a normal experience.

I underatand it with things like hotels where & tourist attractions (although i still think some tickets for the latter should be available to walk ups).

I find it incredibly annnoying that i cant take my kids for a swim of a saturday afternoon at the public leisure centre without booking in advance. There are also fewer "family" slots and great chunks of the day where the pools dont pay enough lifeguards for kids to swim so its adults only. So it gets where everyone is turning up between 2-3 and 3-4 so the changing room is ramned at 5 to 2 and again at 3. People walking in ad hoc spreads the arrivals/departures more evenly!

I used to go ad hoc to places on a rainy day. Now we simply dont go at all.

This. I quite like booking things sometimes amd obviously for paid event type stiff is essential but I do miss being able to just turn up to some things because of a last minute decision to go. I liked the low stress of it . No rushing to not be late for a slot, no problem if you decide to do something else last minute. Yes it might be disappointing if it is full when you got there but the fact that it was not a usually a big thing meant I''d do something else instead, often...

I mean having to book dump runs is I feel a bit too much organisation and commitment in my life. Yes yes I know the queues are now a bit shorter than they sometimes were on a Saturday or Sunday but having to book a slot on a Tuesday morning just adds pointless minor time bssed stress to my day.

It really is not a big irritation but I do miss it too. Going to the cinema was something I never used to pre book. Nowadays we pretty much always do though sometimes we still just turn up and buy a ticket - living life dangerously obviously 😉

My executive functioning is poor, I struggle with planning too far in advance. What if Im ill, the weather is shit, the car breaks down, I put off doing stuff altogether. We are caravanners, I will book stuff when Im on site and have worked out what we want to do.
I felt pleased with myself for booking a hotel for an event in November yesterday. I only did that because im going with others and it will book up.

Also our local swiming really irritates me you have to book 7 days before and if you don’t book on that exact day it will be full. They book 90 min slots but that means everyone (like 200 people) iare arriving at the same time and leaving at the same time. You spend at least 20 min queueingto get in (or arrive 30 min early to wait ) and have to leave 20 min early to get a changing room (and even then it’s a struggle) utter chaos!

I’m also nostalgic for the pre booking everything days - and also simpler booking when if you did need to book, you phoned reception and didn’t need a million passwords for everything (although I realise I’m sounding like a grump old woman now!!)

We got tickets on the day this summer, but I did have to buy them on my phone despite being at the gate

Hotline for the really big events I think. We've got an old Oasis promotional poster for Knebworth and there are several phone numbers on the bottom.

I also remember queuing up for hours to get gig tickets at local venues in my teens. Happy days!

There are some things where I am glad of being able to book in advance and at home, but like the OP do miss the ability to make a decision to do something today and be able to.

I prefer booking and knowing that we definitely able to do whatever it is we have booked for.

Some of these examples I am not sure how you would get around without booking - the person waiting til midnight to book a space in a sports session. Surely if it's that popular then wouldn't the same issue occur without booking and if there is a limited capacity you would be turning up and potentially being told to leave if they did it on a first come first served basis on the day?

It's the same with holiday parks. People moan about booking swimming slots but I don't mind. I think it's because I recall pre COVID having to queue one in one out, as everyone's argument is that you don't know what the weather will be when booking but if it is wet then obviously everyone wants to go. I like knowing that we will definitely get in and not have to wait in a long queue with kids getting impatient and the not knowing how long it will be til our turn.

Me too.

That's crazy. We went in 2012 and there were no tickets involved, you just strolled through the gate.

I totally agree OP. This particularly winds me up on holiday - I don't want to be rushing around to make it to pre-booked attractions. If I'm planning one activity in the morning then I don't necessarily know how long it's going to take to know what time to book the next thing in the afternoon.

Where's the spontaneity? I really miss spontaneity!

I find it really stressful too.

I understand that it is sensible and needs to be done but I hate the feeling of having to commit, both financially and emotionally, to something which is happening months into the future.

I also find hard core planning people really stressful to be around. I get that it's important to be organised in order not to miss out on things or disadvantage other people: I understand when its something like booking accommodation for a wedding that it's necessary. But I really really hate it when people chivvy me to make decisions on something way into the future when it isn't necessary just because they want to be in control of stuff and "know for their diary".

A colleague recently was expecting me to confirm what train I would be getting to get to a meeting in a local town four months from now and it stressed the hell out of me.

People need to learn the difference between "it's necessary to book to get in" and "I want to know for my overzealous diary management so I'm going to nag the hell out of others until they make a decision".

The latter ends friendships.

This the absolute worst example of it for me and means I rarely go to things that need me to book weekly. If something happens at a set time each week, you should be able to book and pay for a set number of them once.

This means the person running it has to do most of the organisation though as they have to keep lists of who has paid for which sessions etc. Weekly booking is easier for them so they outsource the admin to the attendees

I dunno, in London I'd say things have gone back to bring walk-in other than venues, restaurants and museums/galleries that you always had to book in advance because they were popular.

I do miss that the local rubbish dump stopped having a booking slot system, as that was actually really good.

I hate it. Before all this booking slots kids/teens could go swimming for a whole afternoon with their friends. Now its 50 mins which really isn't long. It might be ok for adults or smaller children. But for children/teens going with friends its not long at all

I also hate booking. I think the fact that things are booked out these days is because booking online is easy. In the past you could always book restaurants etc but you would have to know they existed (no google), hope they had nice food (no pics or menu online) look them up in the phone book, and ring. It was therefore more normal for people to just show up and because most people didn’t book, there was space.

it’s probably only the last 10 years that you could casually search for restaurants on your phone and even more recently (Covid) that you could easily book online

@Thepeopleversuswork I have one friend like that. I have to book to see her three months in advance. The rest of my friends will just message and say are you free this weekend, fancy...
Much better. I agree people wanting to book things up months in advance stresses me out too.

I live near a tourust site. Pre covid, you could but tickets online, but there werent arrival slots. Now there is.

Despite this, there can be massive queues to get into the car park. Over a mile long (but it includes all the locals who just want to go about their daily business). The time slots do spread out the arrivals, because thouands cant enter at the same time. Or leave at tge same time.

But there are still complaints.

I hate the skip the line bollocks on holiday. Pay for something approximating a decent access. Did one in Istanbul that involved rushing, then congregating in a cafe for an age before being marched over to Topkapı palace as a huge group. It was either messing about like that or queuing for hours.

Totally agree OP

It's Christmas, it's not a covid thing but how the world has changed. As kids we went to a local church bizarre and saw father Christmas now for my kids to see him they are things booked months in advance. Yes they are more magical but we also loved what we did

It's annoying when you prebook in advance (because the website tells you that's what you have to do) and then you have to set your whole day in stone because you've got a booked activity. You end up trying to sort all your activities out around that one activity which, when you turn up, you could have just come at a more convenient time because half the people there didn't prebook at all!

I guess some sites want your money in advance, and if you prebook they've got it whether you turn up or not. I spent a quite fraught day in Edinburgh because I'd booked the Castle and Holyrood (at different times, obviously) and therefore didn't spend as much time as I wanted at one site because we were booked at the other, when it looked as though we could have had a leisurely walk around both places rather than dashing to comply with the booked time!

I miss it too. You could be a lot more spontaneous. I preferred just turning up on the spot.