♪ ♪
John Wilson: Hey, New York.
it's nice to live in a place with so much fun stuff to do.
But, in a city with so many options,
making plans can be a stressful experience.
(inaudible)
First, you need to figure out what you wanna do.
Then, you need to figure out who you want to do it with.
(clears throat)
Then, you have to set a date and time, uh,
in which you want to execute that plan.
This might sound easy enough, but once a plan is made,
you might begin to feel trapped,
and you begin to see your future in all its banal,
predictable details,
down to the final handshake goodbye.
And during this period, you might begin to daydream
about ways to get out of the plan.
You can say that you're sick.
Or pray that the weather takes a turn.
♪ ♪
You could also just say that something else came up,
but your friends will probably see straight through that.
So, when the day arrives,
you just end up going through with the plan anyway.
And it's exactly what you thought it would be.
When your life is filled with obligations,
it can feel like your fate is set in stone.
But if you never make any plans to begin with,
you can live in a world of constant excitement
and let destiny be your guide.
This way, you could discover a funny new restaurant,
meet the love of your life somewhere,
or see a bunch of cool stuff
you wouldn't have seen otherwise.
So, stick with me, and I'll show you
how to live in a world of endless possibility,
where you won't know where one experience ends
and the next one begins.
And you can finally understand what it truly means
to be spontaneous.
Now, if you're not sure what
spontaneous behavior looks like,
it's easy to find around New York, uh,
if you know where to look.
This person spontaneously decided
to create a traffic jam.
It seems like someone just
spontaneously combusted here.
This person spontaneously rode
their Citi Bike onto the subway.
Then, they took all the stickers off
and put them on the wind-- uh, the walls,
and after they were satisfied,
they spontaneously fell asleep.
Unfortunately,
most of what we take for spontaneity
usually just turns out to be part of a meticulous plan.
-(hoedown music) -This may appear to be
a spur-of-the-moment hoedown,
but nothing could be farther from the truth.
A lot of planning went into something like this,
and this whole spectacle
is part of a carefully choreographed routine.
They may have had to travel far distances to get here
and hire babysitters or reschedule meetings
to make it possible.
And if one person decides not to show up,
it could cause some people to have to sit out
and tank the mood of the whole affair.
To be truly spontaneous, you should avoid anything
that requires a reservation or tickets
that you need to buy in advance.
Having anything on your calendar at all
will create a burden you have to carry with you
until the day of the event,
or possibly cause anxiety,
knowing that it'll be too hard to back out at the last minute,
uh, if you, if you need to.
And no matter how secure you think your reservation is,
the universe will always find new ways to disappoint you.
So, Jason proposed at Rockefeller Center
December 2019,
and by Janu-- end of January,
our entire wedding, vendors, venue,
my outfits, his outfits,
were already booked.
This is actually the contract
I had with Elite Palace.
-Wilson: Oh, really? -As you can see,
it was definitely a beautiful venue.
Um, after New Year's of this year, 2021,
was when I contacted the venue,
and I-- that's when I learned that they sold the place,
and they never told me or any other couples
that they were selling.
And so far, they have my money,
and I've never heard back from them.
Wilson: How-how-how much was your deposit for the venue?
So, up until August,
I had paid $22,000.
Feel like we just got robbed, and if they're listening to us,
we would just like our money back,
and hopefully, you know, everyone else can...
We could find a way to resolve this, you know.
Not just run away from it. It's kind of what they're doing.
Wilson: So if you don't want something like that to happen to you,
a spontaneous trip to the beach can be a great idea
because you don't need to make a reservation to go there.
And the moment you decide to go,
you suddenly feel alive,
and you go to the dollar store, uh, to get some sunscreen.
And while you're there,
you see some other cool stuff that will help you reach
the $10, uh, (burps) credit card limit.
And then when you get in your car,
try to listen to something that you normally wouldn't listen to
while you head in the general direction of the beach.
But then, while you're driving,
you see a store that catches your eye,
and you get out to take a look inside.
Typically, this would be down to here, wider,
longer sleeves, wider sleeves.
Everything is cut down properly to fit a shorter man's body.
Wilson: It kind of reminds me of, uh...
You ever see the movie "U-571"? It's about submarines.
Clerk: For a taller person, you need inseams of 32, 34
because it's gotta be enough to cover
your full body, or you end up looking like this.
-Wilson: Oh yeah. -Clerk: Yeah, oh yeah.
We also own Over510.com,
so once we conquer the short, we'll head the other direction.
-Wilson: You own Over510.com? -Yes.
Wilson: Wow.
And after you're done in there,
you start heading towards the beach again.
But unfortunately, it starts to rain pretty hard.
And after sitting in traffic for a while,
you realize you have to use the bathroom pretty bad.
So get off at the first exit you can
and ask the motel if, uh, you can use their facilities.
They say that it's for customers only,
but thankfully, the rooms are only $15 an hour.
There was still plastic wrapping on the lampshades
and a bunch of burn marks on the sink.
And when you look on the internet about it,
it seems like they might actually
have a problem with bedbugs.
So, you hang your stuff on the shower rod,
and since you still have an hour left
after you did your business,
you text a friend who lives nearby to see
if they want to come join you
and you decorate the room
with the stuff you got from the dollar store
while you, uh, wait for their response.
(clears throat)
Unfortunately, it turns out
they were in the middle of doing some work.
So, you spent the rest of your time there
watching TV
and staring out the window at
all the other people who decided
to be spontaneous.
Your girlfriend is really good at planning things,
but you started to argue a lot recently
because she says you refuse
to commit to anything.
So, you make a loose plan to
get a couple's massage at a spa
upstate, uh, over the upcoming weekend.
When you get there, you walk inside to ask the receptionist
if they have any openings that afternoon.
But unfortunately,
it turns out they've been booked for months.
(Receptionist speaking)
Wilson: Um... No, I'm okay.
-I'm okay for now. Thanks though. -Alright. You're welcome.
So you look up what else is nearby,
and it turns out you're not too far from
the world's largest garden gnome.
She says that she, she likes it,
even though you know
she'd rather be getting a massage right now
instead of standing on frozen grass,
looking at a big statue
of a small man.
♪ ♪
When you're spontaneous for long enough,
you get used to going to the second-best version
of whatever you're trying to do.
You end up having to sit
in the first row at a movie theater.
You can only see free comedy shows.
And, after a while, you start to wish
you could do coordinated things with the people you love.
But, you remember there's a good reason
you never try stuff like that.
When you were growing up,
your dad would always try to bring you to places,
but they would always turn out to be closed when you got there.
This happened so often that
he eventually started a blog called Closed Places,
where he started posting photos of each incident
as a way to deal with the pain.
This kind of scared you from making plans
because they never seem to work out very well.
So, you just stumbled through life like a piece of driftwood,
letting the world shape you
instead of trying to control anything.
♪ ♪
Almost every single thing you've ever recorded
is the direct result of randomly being
in the right place at the right time,
and it terrifies you to think that you could have missed out
on all this great stuff
if you had made plans to begin with.
But, doing things impulsively doesn't always work out
the way you hoped it would, either.
Maybe your trip to get a massage was disappointing
because you expected it to work out a certain way.
♪ ♪
And the only way around the family curse
is to become a truly spontaneous being
and remove anything
that even resembles a plan from the equation.
How-how-how do you define intent?
Well, intent is an operation in the mind,
and it's defined, in the jury charge,
by looking at events that occurred both before the act,
during the act, and after the act.
It can be formed over a long period of time,
or in a split second before the act occurs.
Wilson: Is there a way to prove
that I accidentally went to the beach?
Well, you'd have to look at all of your behavior
and communications
before you arrived at the beach.
So, if you MapQuested
that you were going to a baseball field
that wasn't near the beach,
that would be evidence that you didn't intend
to go to the beach. If when you drove,
you were supposed to have made a left,
and you made a right and headed towards the beach
without realizing it, and you can show that
you intended to go left,
but you made a mistake and went right,
that would be relevant. If when you got to the beach,
you said, "My god, I'm at the beach.
I don't want to come to the beach," and you left the beach,
that would show that you made a mistake.
You went to the beach unintentionally.
♪ ♪
Wilson: Everything he said made sense.
But, that seems like a lot of work,
and you're not sure if it's worth all the effort.
You always admired your landlord
for being able to just pack up and move to Las Vegas,
and it was refreshing to think
that you could still be spontaneous at that age.
She actually gave you her new address when she moved away,
and you're sure it would make her really happy
if you just showed up unannounced and surprised her.
And maybe you can learn a thing or two about
the right way to be spontaneous while you're there,
so you impulsively buy a ticket to Nevada
to surprise your former landlord.
When people decide to go to Vegas in movies,
they usually just seem to effortlessly appear there.
But, there's a lot of stuff they don't show you.
These are all the magazines you can buy.
These are all the snacks.
This is what it's like to wait for a hamburger
at... uh, fuckin' Shake Shack.
This is what it's like to wait to board the plane.
And this is what it looks like when you get on.
This is the cab ride to where you're staying.
And this is the line to check in to the hotel.
(clears throat)
It was really busy, and the only room
they had available was really expensive.
But, you had waited on line for so long
that you just ended up, uh, taking it anyway.
(clears throat)
The next morning, you get up real early
and take a cab out to your landlord's house.
She has no idea that you're coming,
but the front gate seemed to be open.
So, you walk inside the vestibule
and give the doorbell a try.
(door bell rings)
She doesn't answer at first,
so you wait a second
-and try a few more times. -(ringing)
And after that doesn't work,
you go around to the, the side
and try to get her attention.
Hey, mama! Hey, mama!
But after about 20 minutes of trying to make contact,
your surprise visit doesn't
seem like it's gonna work out either.
♪ ♪
You had never seen this part of Las Vegas before.
All the houses were nearly identical
and set up with mathematical precision.
For such a carefree city,
there seemed to be a lot of order here.
Downtown, the streets are in a perfect grid,
and all the people seem to be moving
in a very predictable flow.
Everyone stuck to the designated pedestrian zones,
and the escalators brought them over the freeway
in a very orderly fashion.
And in the area right outside your hotel,
all their performers are forced
to stand inside tiny little circles,
or else they might get fined by the city.
Even the people they hire to clean up the streets
are in perfect synchronicity.
And they had absolutely no tolerance for anyone
that violated time limits.
-What happened here? -(truck humming)
Wilson: Can you leave it parked for too long?
Long time. Since 1:00. That's why.
♪ ♪
Wilson: After walking around for a bit,
you noticed you were close to City Hall.
It's a side of Las Vegas you also never see in movies.
And since you had nothing else planned,
you decide to drop in.
They had a bunch of stuff on the agenda,
but it was hard after a while
to tell what was actually important.
The main event of the afternoon
was a birthday recognition ceremony
for a beloved city councilman.
And they even surprised him with a full mariachi band
that played on the floor of the council chamber.
(mariachi music)
It looked like it really surprised everyone,
even though it must have taken a lot of planning
to make something like this possible.
(mariachi singing in Spanish)
(song ends)
(applause, cheering)
Then as you were leaving,
you happen to pass by the City Marriage Bureau.
You know that Vegas is famous for impulsive weddings,
and you thought maybe you could find some people there
who were just as spontaneous as you.
So, how long have you been planning to get married?
Oh, we've been together 25 years.
We thought it was about time.
-Wilson: Oh, really? -Wife: Yeah.
♪ ♪
Wilson: You thought that maybe you had talked to the wrong couple,
but the more you asked around,
the more it seemed like they,
uh, weren't an exception.
How-how long have you been planning to get married?
I think, what, since last night?
-No, it's... -No.
We've known each other since junior high.
He proposed four and a half years ago, and...
We've been married 15 years in November,
and so we wanted to do our renewal this year.
We renewed our vows after 26 years of marriage.
-Wilson: Oh, really? -Yes.
Wilson: You two-- You guys didn't just meet?
-No. -No. No, no.
No, 31 years ago, we met.
Wilson: Oh... Okay...
So, if you can't find
what you're looking for at the chapels,
go back downtown to the casinos,
which might be the last place
you're guaranteed to find evidence
of truly spontaneous behavior.
But when you get in there, it seems like
people just plant themselves in one place
for hours at a time,
playing the same game without any interruption,
hoping that things will eventually just...
go their way.
-Do you believe in kind of luck at all? -(machines beeping)
Not really, no.
You know these are fixed. Nobody's gonna win big here.
(music from machine)
It all depends on the, uh...
the... What do you call it around you?
The vibes you have,
if you have enough sleep,
if you feel good, if you're not tired,
uh... such and such and such.
-Wilson: How do you feel right now? -I feel good. Yeah.
Wilson: You try to play a couple of games yourself,
but all you did
was end up wasting money
that you didn't want to spend.
And after a while,
you begin to question
whether or not you'll ever be able to break this curse.
Do some people have like strategies
to, to kind of increase their chances?
-Manager: Yeah, they think they do! (laugh) -They think they do,
and we love it. You know...
Being a casino host, you kind of love it
because it's just gonna make them think
-they're invincible. -Manager: Don't you love it when a guy goes,
"I got a new strategy for roulette?" I'm like,
-bring it on, sir. -(laughs)
Some people are natural-born losers.
No matter what they do, they just can't win.
And it's whether they're betting sports,
playing poker, blackjack, slots, they just can't win.
They just-- No matter what they do,
they have no luck. And if they do win,
if they do win, they blow it--
they can't wait to get back and blow it all back.
It's just, that's, that's...
I've seen it year after year,
week after week, day after day. It's crazy.
♪ ♪
Wilson: Maybe it's naive to think
that luck will always guide you to the right place.
And even if you want to control your destiny,
there will always be some invisible force
stopping that from happening.
So, you just go back to your room
and watch the same old TV shows
instead of trying something new,
and spend the rest of the night
thinking about all the things that got you here.
The next morning, you were walking around,
trying to make the best of the time you have left,
but, unfortunately, your visit happened to coincide
with one of the worst heat waves
in the history of Las Vegas.
And you seem to be the only person left
walking around on the sidewalk.
You started feeling really dehydrated
and needed some air conditioning,
so you walk into the first open door
you can find to get some relief.
And when you start to look around,
it seems like you've just walked into
the middle of an event.
You see a bunch of signage everywhere
for something called MPI,
but you don't know what any of it means.
What does MPI stand for?
Meeting Professionals International.
Wilson: And as you continued talking,
you realized that you had actually just walked into
a convention for convention planners.
There were plans about making plans with other plans.
Plans for days,
as far as the eye could see.
They had a lot of food.
There were dozens of places to chill.
And Usher was even there,
and you wondered what kind of person it takes
to be part of something like this.
Everything that you do in life,
if you don't have a well-executed plan,
it's fraught for failure. The better your plan,
the better the meeting's gonna be, the better event,
And I love it when you see a plan put together,
and it comes together months later,
exactly as you thought.
I always have a POA, plan of action,
and a backup plan. If that one doesn't go as planned,
I know what I'm gonna do next, so.
I think just being brought up in the meetings business
and working in it so long,
you just always have another avenue to go down
in case you hit a roadblock.
Whenever you're having a bad day,
pop in your, uh, your AirPods,
turn on your favorite rock tune, and start,
you know, thinking about ways you can drum up new business
and how you walk to the beat of a different drum.
That gives you fuel. That gives you motivation.
That gives you-- That gets you fired up.
Woo! Woo! Woo!
♪ ♪
Wilson: Everyone here seemed so much happier
than all the other people that you met at the casinos,
and you envied the confidence they had
in organizing such complicated events.
You even happened to meet the guy who actually planned
the whole convention for convention planners.
And even with the amount of pressure
he must have felt,
he was still one of the most centered people
you had ever met.
He even invited you to a big party
they were having that evening to celebrate
all the successful plans they've made over the years.
They had really thought of everything,
and it made you realize
how good things can get
when you commit to something.
And when you're getting a drink,
you actually run into someone
who works for the resort
that you tried to get a massage at.
You tell him all about what happened to you,
and he just laughs
and tells you to call ahead next time.
And at one point you saw a couple of people
jump into the pool,
which you didn't expect to happen at all.
But after a few seconds,
a bunch of other people joined them,
and they all started, uh, uh, synchronized swimming.
Even though it was clearly planned well in advance,
it still created a wave
of genuine excitement across the crowd.
♪ ♪
-(saxophone playing) -I stayed there for hours,
drinking as much shitty beer
as I possibly could.
(saxophone music)
It was honestly one of the most fun parties
I've ever been to.
And it was all because they had a plan.
(saxophone continues)
♪ ♪
(music fades out)
(inaudible)
So the next morning,
you track down your landlord's phone number
and call her to tell her that you're in town.
It turns out she was busy at the moment,
but you make a plan
to meet up later that afternoon.
She's really happy to see you,
and she gives you a big hug when you show up.
(inaudible)
She shows you around her new house,
which has a bunch of big rooms
and places for stuff that she likes to make.
She even has a nice little backyard, too,
where she plants stuff and gets to relax.
And before you know it,
you've settled back into
the same old routines.
And she does your laundry so
you don't have to go back home
with any dirty clothes.
(clears throat)
Maybe it's okay to have a plan
because otherwise, the people that depend on them
won't be able to enjoy your company.
And at the end of the day,
no matter how spontaneous you think you're being,
your heart may have had a plan all along.
-I'm gonna miss you. -Mama: I love you.
-Wilson: I love you, too. -Mama: And I hope I see you.
Wilson: I know. I see you soon.
♪ ♪
It was nice to get back to New York though,
where it still feels like anything is possible.
You missed the sound of the train and
all the different places it can take you,
even if you're not sure which way you're going.
(Wilson speaking)
Wilson: Where's it going?
Wilson: Oh shit.
When you live in a place with so many possibilities,
it can feel like you're doing
the wrong thing all the time.
But as long as you're open to surprises,
the city will never let you down.
So, don't worry about planning too much
because you'll always end up somewhere you didn't expect,
whether you like it or not.
(waves washing ashore)
This is John Wilson.
Thank you so much for watching.
♪ ♪