Take the Flight: Why the Best Experiences Aren’t Always the Most Efficient

Last week, I did something very inefficient and a little bit foolish.

I found a cheap flight to Cleveland and decided to check something off my bucket list: visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

First flight out. Last flight home.

No hotel. No long weekend. Just get on an airplane, spend the day exploring Cleveland, and come home that night.

Was I in the air almost as long as I was actually in Cleveland? Almost.

Was I wrecked for the rest of the week? Absolutely.

Was it an efficient use of 24 hours?

Not remotely.

But I'm pretty sure I'll remember that day for the rest of my life.

The Part That Wasn't on the Itinerary

I went to Cleveland because I love music and had always wanted to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I expected to spend a few hours looking at memorabilia, learning some music history and checking another experience off my bucket list.

Then I got to the third floor.

As I was walking past the “Music of SNL” exhibit, I heard a band warming up. It turned out they were doing live-band karaoke. Museum visitors could choose from more than 100 songs and get up and sing with the band, right there on the spot.

The guitar player looked in my direction.

“Hey, want to sing a song with us?”

Absolutely.

But then I had another thought.

“Yes…but can I play guitar AND sing with you guys?”

It was a slightly ridiculous question.

I wasn't invited there to perform. I hadn't practiced with these guys. I certainly hadn't brought an instrument.

But I asked.

And to my surprise, the answer was yes.

A minute later, the guitar player handed me a beautiful acoustic guitar, got me plugged in, set up my monitor, and I started strumming the opening chords to 4 Non Blondes' “What's Up?”

I threw my phone at some poor German woman and asked if she would take a video.

And for the next three and a half minutes, I was playing guitar and singing with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's house band.

A small crowd even started to gather.

Standing there with a guitar strapped around my neck, looking around at an actual band playing along with me inside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I had one of those moments when you think:

How in the world did I end up here?

But I Asked

I've thought about that moment a lot since I got home.

I didn't fly to Cleveland to play guitar.

It wasn't on the itinerary.

I didn't know it was an option until about 60 seconds before I was doing it.

But I asked.

And I've realized that a surprising number of the most memorable experiences in my life have started that way.

Sometimes it's saying yes to something unexpected.

Sometimes it's asking a question that feels a little audacious.

Sometimes it's being willing to look foolish.

And sometimes it's simply putting yourself in a place where something unexpected can happen.

None of those things is particularly efficient.

Maybe We're Optimizing for the Wrong Thing

We spend an enormous amount of our lives trying to become more efficient.

We optimize our schedules. We optimize our travel. We optimize our workouts, our careers, our finances and our time.

And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm as guilty of it as anybody.

But I've started wondering whether we sometimes optimize the spontaneity right out of our lives.

If I had evaluated my Cleveland trip purely on efficiency, I never would have gone.

Fly halfway across the country in the morning, wander around for several hours, then fly home that night?

That's objectively ridiculous.

But efficiency and value aren't always the same thing.

There are experiences in our lives that make absolutely no sense on a spreadsheet.

And twenty years later, they may be the ones we remember most.

Take the Flight

I don't think the lesson is that everyone should start booking unnecessary same-day flights across the country.

But I do think there's something to be said for occasionally choosing the experience over the efficient option.

Take the trip you've been talking about.

Walk into the room.

Say yes when somebody asks.

Ask the slightly ridiculous question.

Because we don't always recognize important experiences when they're beginning.

Sometimes they look like inconveniences.

Sometimes they look like detours.

Sometimes they look like a cheap flight to Cleveland.

And sometimes they look like a guy holding a guitar asking:

“Hey, want to sing a song with us?”

Say yes.

And every once in a while, ask if you can play guitar, too. 🎸