Welcome to Ireland, sir, the portly customs agent said as he scanned my passport. Where will you be staying during your trip?

I dont know. Probably a hostel.

Okay What cities will you be visiting?

I havent decided yet, but probably the big ones.

Do you have any friends or family in the country? Or anyone that you know?”

Nope.

I had arrived in Dublin Airport with a backpack of clothes and books, $10 in my pocket, and no plans of any kind. The closest thing I had to a schedule was my flight back to the States, but that was ten days away and far from my mind. My return ticket was the only reason I was allowed into the country, though apparently they dont get many tourists without reservations and itineraries.

Ive long held the belief that concrete plans are nothing more than obstacles that prevent you from having a good time. Whether Im backpacking through Ireland or embarking on a weekend road trip, I never make a solid itinerary. Beyond a list of things I want to see or do, I let fate lead me around and its never failed to give me interesting and memorable adventures.

If youreskepticalabout the magic of spontaneous living, here are some things to consider:

1) Spontaneity lets you change your mind.

When I bought my tickets to Ireland, everybody told me to kiss the Blarney Stone. It seemed like an inherently Irish thing to do at the time, but once I showed up in Cork I realized that Blarney Castle is the biggest tourist trap in the country. You have to pay to walk onto the castle grounds, pay to kiss the stone, and pay to get your picture taken.

I took the bus to Cork with a Swiss girl I met in Dublin and instead of seeing the Blarney Stone we explored Cork and its surrounding hills. It was free, gorgeous, and better than any tourist destination. People who had to visit the castle were paying money to be disappointed my lack of planning saved me money and that underwhelming sensation of overhyped travel destinations.

Back at the hostel, I talked to a couple from the United States and two kids from Paris. Each of them had detailed schedules for the next day The Lonely Planet says to go here! WikiTravel recommended this restaurant!

They asked me where I was going tomorrow. I still wasnt sure if I would stay in Cork or hop on a bus and head northwest. When I told them my standard travel respond (I havent decided yet.) they just gave me blank stares.

2) Spontaneity lets you find and explore something you love.

When I took the bus form Galway to Giants Causeway, I had to change buses in a small city called Londonderry. I wasnt excited. It looked like a fairly dull city, so I planned to grab a bite to eat and hop back onto a bus.

When I pulled up to the bus station, though, I was blown away by the city. The city centre is surrounded by centuries-old stone walls, perched on the side of the lovely River Foyle and filled with beautiful building and friendly people. I walked around for hours and missed the last bus of the day.

Crap.

I checked with all the hostels in the city they were all full. I finally got a hold of the manager of the local Paddys Palace Hostel. I asked her if there was anything she could do.

Sure! Just swing by and you can crash on a couch.

For about 10, I was able to sleep in a hostel that was fully-booked. I ended up partying with a bus tour of Australian and New Zealand travellers we had a BBQ in the backyard and went pubbing at a local bar. I had no intention of even seeing Londonderry, and five hours later I was dancing to live Irish music and talking to an Aussie guy whose was a sheep sheerer as a career back home.

If youre ever in Ireland, visit Londonderry. It might be as big or famous as Dublin or Belfast, but it is undoubtedly my favourite city on the island. If I had made reservations or followed a strict schedule, I would have missed it completely.

3) Spontaneity is more exciting.

When I finally got to Giants Causeway, I decided to spend my day walking along the cliffs. This led to getting caught in a ferocious rain and almost falling off a cliff.

When I went to Belfast, I wandered around the Protestant neighbourhoods wearing an Ireland jacket (for those of you unfamiliar with the Troubles, thats like wearing a pro-Israel shirt through Palestine). I didnt plan it that way the street looked interesting, so I walked down it. Next you I knew, I was surrounded by British flags and Queen Elizabeth murals and strangers kept glaring at me. When the sun set, the drunks yelled at me so much I had to take off the jacket and hold it under my arm.

Spontaneity ensures that you wont have a vanilla moment. You wont be chauffeured from tourist trap to tourist trap, buying useless trinkets and taking boring photos. Youll be forging your own way, exploring new places, meeting new people, and making it all up as you go.

Whats not exciting about that?

4) Spontaneity is more peaceful.

Yes, youre going to have adventure when you live spontaneously. But youre also going to find moments of absolute tranquillity. Because you travel according to your own feelings, you have the leeway to take a day off and move slowly.

On my last day in Dublin, I was walking back from Phoenix Park and stumbled upon Collins Barracks, an old military garrison that is now part of the National Museum of Ireland. It had free admission, so I walked in on a whim and started wandering around.

It was a Sunday afternoon, so the museum was empty. I wandered into a small exhibition of ancient Buddhist tapestries and fell in love with the collection. I spent the entire afternoon in that one room, studying the tapestries and reading about their history. It was just me and Damien Rice on my iPod I didnt even notice as the hours flew past.

If I had planned my trip out in advance, I would have never seen those tapestries. I would have never spent those peaceful hours in the museum. I would have been hopping on buses, racing to get to museums and shops before they closed. I would have stressed out about getting pictures of everything before my flight left.

Instead, I had the most peaceful afternoon of my life.

Im notorious for my inability to make plans. I decide things on the fly and it always seems to work out. Some people couldnt imagine visiting a foreign country without a plan, a guidebook, or even a map, but its the only way I know to travel.

Whether youre visiting a foreign country or just planning what to do this weekend, remember that at a certain point plans need to fly out the window and we need to live in the moment. Do what you want to do when you want to do it everything else will sort itself out.

“Hell of a game last night.”

The strange man looked at me as he dried his hands. I laughed and nodded and hoped that he didn’t go into more detail.

Fortunately, he muttered something about overtime and walked out of the bathroom, leaving me to wash my hands in peace. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I hadn’t watched a game all season. I hadn’t followed the NFL since the Ravens won the Superbowl in 2001.

It’s not that I dislike sports. On the contrary, I’ve played soccer, football, rugby, and volleyball competitively and I enjoy learning and playing new sports (my recent acquisition is Hurling, which rocks as only an Irish sport can). On any given weekend I’m involved in some sort of pick-up game and I keep a football and rugby ball in my car at all times.

I just object to televised sports. I don’t even watch the Superbowl (I know, saying that is like committing American sacrilege). Here’s why:

1) Regular sports make you fit; televised sports make you fat.

Go join a local pick-up game of football or basketball and tell me how you feel afterwards. Exhausted, sweating, gasping for air? That’s called exercise, and it’s good for you. Substitute it for ESPN and pretty soon you’ll be in better shape than you’ve ever been.

Now tell me how you feel after eating buffalo wings and drinking beer every Sunday afternoon. If you answered “fat,” you’d be absolutely correct. You don’t do anything when you watch a game, so you eat awful food to give your hands something to do. This means that the more sports you watch, the bigger you get.

2) Regular sports are exciting; televised sports are excruciating.

There’s no better feeling than catching a pass, juking the defender, and sprinting down the sideline toward the end zone. The glory of speed mixes with the smell of grass and sweat and the sound of your teammates screaming behind you as you near the goal. You feel victorious, like a Roman gladiator who just vanquished his opponent.

And there’s no more boring feeling than watching endless commercials for beer and cars, waiting for the referee to review a call or sitting through a half-hour halftime show that nobody actually pays attention to anyway. I get pumped up when I play sports, but I just get tired when I watch them. Sleep is more exciting to me than watching sports on tv.

3) Losing at regular sports makes you better; losing at televised sports makes you bitter.

I’m awful at basketball. I don’t think I’ve ever won a game on my own, actually. But every time I get a chance, I hit the local court and go up against guys ten times better than me. I get beaten and they leave victorious, but I stay behind to practice. For an extra hour or two, I’ll run up and down the court, dribbling and shooting, practicing layups and learning how to juke. My constant thrashings are the fuel that makes me work harder than anyone else so that one day I’ll walk onto that court and be better than everyone else.

Contrast that with sports fans whose team just lost. They swear and yell and argue and drink, but they never provide solutions. They never accept responsibility. It’s always the ref’s fault, or the other team (cheaters!), or the head coach, or one unpopular player or play. You never hear them say, “You know what, we deserved that. They were obviously a better team than us.” Instead, they have rivalries and animosity, feuds and fights.

4) Regular sports build camaraderie; televised sports build nothing.

You’ll never be closer to your friends than when you win a game with together. You’ll never have your friendships tested and reaffirmed than when one of you loses the game singlehandedly. But at the end of the day, everyone shakes hands and all those little league values reappear — teamwork and sportsmanship become more than buzzwords on motivational posters. They become something real.

When you sit on the couch and stare at a television screen for three hours, you don’t develop any connection with the people around you. Sure, you might have fun bashing the refs or praising your favorite players, but there won’t be any growth. There won’t be any positive change in your relationship. And to have the opportunity for progress and to not take it is the gravest sin a person can commit.

5) Regular sports create memories; televised sports create monotony.

Who won the Superbowl last year? And the year before that? Who won the last World Cup? To be honest, I don’t know the answer to any of those questions. Whenever I watch a game, I forget what happened as soon as it’s over. Every team looks the same to me. Every stadium is identical. Nothing changes and I don’t care enough to remember any of the particulars.

But I remember every touchdown I’ve ever scored. I remember every rugby try and every soccer goal. I remember the glory of victory and the agony of defeat. I remember every detail, every piece of minutia. I remember everything because I was there. Because I was the one scoring and winning and losing.

In the end, life comes down to action. If you choose to watch sports on tv, you aren’t actually doing anything. You become a passive entity. But when you play yourself, when you join the competition with your own sweat and blood and breathe, you enter a world of life, with all its glory and struggle. You become an active member of the world. You live like you couldn’t live any other way.

Do you have any cocky friends? You know, that guy who thinks that they’re more intelligent, talented, and special than anyone else. The supremely cocky kid who thinks that he is destined for greatness?

I’m that guy.

I’m arrogant. I’m confident. I’m convinced that I’m better than everyone else around me. In my vision of world history, I’m a going to be a protagonist, not a bit player. I am the center of the world and the apex of human evolution.

I piss people off alot. Friends and foes alike have compared the size of my ego to that of a planet. I do and think what I want and it invariably offends or upsets someone.

And I’m okay with that. The truth is that the human species would not have evolved without people like me. Modest people don’t change history. Nobody runs for president without thinking that they’re more qualified than everybody else in the country. Nothing would get invented — only the arrogant will stand up and create something that doesn’t exist outside our wildest fantasies.

If you want to do epic things, you have to be epic yourself. Humble people don’t think that they can change the world. They can’t imagine inspiring millions or setting the world on fire with an idea.

But the cocky do it every day. Why? Because we know that we can and anything short of our dreams is failure. We’re driven not by a desire to be happy but by an inherent need to be the best. Because we know that we can rich the pinnacle of greatness, nothing else will satiate us.

If you are one of the elite, give yourself a pat on the back for being awesome. Don’t worry if people tell you to tone it down or to get off your pedestal. Keep your pedestal and make it taller — the voices of your naysayers will fade as you ascend into the glory of your potential.

If you believe that arrogance is bad and that cocky people all need to shut up and get over themselves, take a second look at the world. Your government, your history, and your culture are entirely created and sustained by the sweat of people who believe that they alone can make a difference. Look through a history book and study the key players in history: Julius Caesar, Emperor Chin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan, the American founding fathers, Winston Churchill… and on and on and on. All of them were arrogant enough to reshape the structure of the world.

Are you religious at all? Name someone who started a religion who wasn’t supremely confident in himself. Jesus, Muhammad, Moses, Siddartha, Joseph Smith — they might have been humbled before their god, but they still saw themsleves as the only beacon of light and truth in an ignorant and evil world. Even god is cocky — read any religious text and tell me that its god is humble.

For some reason we revere excellence but detest confidence. During the 2008 elections the pundits made a fuss over whether or not the candidates were elitists. Personally, I would hope that my leaders are better than anyone else. I don’t want an average person running the country. Or running anything, for that matter.

But there is a definitive rule for ego: if you aren’t the best, be quiet. When I play basketball, I don’t talk trash. When I’m singing in the car, I don’t compare myself to Josh Groban. I’m supremely confident in activities in which I excel and I’m humble where I recognize my mediocrity. This treatise isn’t condoning empty braggadocio and unfounded arrogance. At all times we have to be honest with ourselves and recognize our own strengths and weaknesses.

So yes, when I tell you I’m going to visit every country by the time I’m 25, I’m not bragging. I’m stating a fact. When I say that I’m going to turn Your Best Weekend into the premiere lifestyle design website and that my upcoming book will reach the NYT Bestseller List, I’m not pining over a distant wish. I’m making a statement based on my own confidence in my talent and dedication.

If my attitude offends you, get used to it. The meek might have inherited the earth, but the confident are here to conquer it.

“Jake, don’t fall!” my then-girlfriend shouted across the roof. “You’re my ride home.”

I laughed and looked down at my toes hanging off the side of the roof, eighty feet above the concrete sidewalk below. The autumn moon lit up the UMBC campus and Baltimore City reflected softly off the Chesapeake Bay in the distance. I watched as drunk college kids stumbled back to their dorms. My biggest goal since I’d transferred to UMBC was to get onto this roof and I had now accomplished that mission, with the help of a friendly janitor and an unlocked maintenance room.

It was more spectacular than I’d imagined. To this day, the view is one of my favorite of Baltimore and the openness of the roof made it a delightful and mildly hazardous operation. The fact that we would be expelled if we were caught added to the excitement.

But we weren’t caugh that that night (and our subsequent visits) remains one of the highlights of my university career.

I’ve always had a fascination with the unknown, so my proclivity toward restricted areas seems to come naturally. In college I did most of my studying in the faculty-only lounge and used my spare time to fully explore the campus, to include the roofs and tunnels and even the Physics Building’s half-million dollar telescope. I go hiking in state parks at night and if I ever see a door that looks linteresting, I walk through it regardless of “No Entrance” signs.

In this article, I’m going to talk about reasons why you should want to explore those places that you don’t have access to, how you go about getting in without being caught, and certain guidelines that you should follow.

Reasons to go into restricted areas:

1.They’re more interesting than open areas.

Restricted areas are off limits to the public for a reason. They have hazardous environments, house expensive expensive equipment, or are the best places to meet famous and important people. They are almost always more interesting than the touristy, boring things that are open to everybody. On the roof at UMBC, there was a very real possibility of falling to my death or severe injury. There were no handrails or nets to prevent my skull from slamming into the concrete. But the dangerous height made the view incredible — the risk was necessary for there to be that reward.

The UMBC telescope is worth half a million dollars — more money than I will make in several years. If anything had gone wrong when I was allowed to play around with it, I would have been seriously screwed. But the telescope and its computer survived and I was able to see some remarkable shots of the planets and distant galaxies.

And finally, the cool people all hang out in restricted areas. If you get backstage at a concert, you’re going to meet the performers. If you get past the receptionist at a congressional office, you’re going to meet a senator or congressman. Using the techniques outlined in this article, I’ve managed to meet U.S. Senators, foreign diplomats, NFL coaches and players, comedians, and even royalty.

2. It’s a challenge.

There’s nothing more fun than successfully infiltrating a restricted area and exploring a fascinating and off-limits location. My friends make bets to see if I can talk or walk my way into certain places. Sometimes it’s as simple as convincing the Coldstone manager to let me behind the counter to serve ice cream to everyone and sometimes I have to persuade cops to let me into a closed-off park or event.

3. Even if you fail, you have a cool story to tell.

I’ve been caught a few times and been asked to leave once or twice. I once had to do a short service project for UMBC after some friends and I climbed through an unlocked trap door in one of the academic buildings (see the letter below). But nothing bad has ever happened and I have a huge amount of stories that involve me going somewhere I’m not technically supposed to go. These experiences add drama and excitement to one’s life and make for perfect storytelling material.

4. You’ll set yourself apart from the crowd of cowards.

Imagine sitting at a concert with all your friends and listening to them wonder what it’s like backstage. Instead of joining in on the pointless imagining, you walk straight toward the entrance and get backstage as they’re frozen in place, too terrified to follow you. Then imagine going home and hearing all of them talk about nothing else for the next week. Imagine them sending text messages and Facebook comments and tweets all starting with, “OMG, guess what Jake did this time!”

Curiosity is the nectar of adventure, and hidden and secret places possess infinite possibilities of delight and excitement. And luckily enough, it isn’t hard to get inside most places. Here are the most reliable methods — you’ll notice that I never mention rappelling, Vulcan neck grips, or parachuting in under the cover of darkness. These are all fun to do, but we aren’t talking about spy missions here. The following techniques are painfully simple and have a ridiculously high success rate:

1. Walk in.

By far the most effective technique, this one is sneakily difficult to pull off perfectly. The secret is confidence. Walk casually and don’t look around to see if you’ve been spotted. Smile and greet anyone who walks past as if they’re a distant colleqague (a good “Hi, how’s it going?” always works). If you look nervous you’ll probably be stopped and questioned. If you act like you’re supposed to be there, people will believe your body language and leave you alone.