If you love to travel, odds are you have at least thought about taking a group trip. If you haven't, you may after reading this blog! I have now taken a few group trips with different companies (Go Ahead Tours, AMA Waterways and Gate 1) and all were amazing experiences. There are a lot of advantages to signing up for an organized group trip, but there are some disadvantages that you should consider before making your final decision.
Based on my experience, here are the things that I love about group travel and those that can be a bit frustrating. Let's start with the positives (which definitely are more numerous).
PROS:
All you have to do is pay and show up. Each travel company offers a variety of itineraries to locations all over the world. The hardest part will be deciding which triip you want to take. Start by deciding where you want to visit and how long you want to be away. That helps narrow down your choices. But once you land on an itinerary that meets your travel dreams, all you have to do is sign up, pay and show up! The company takes care of everyting else from accommodations, transportation, tours, and some meals. They arrange amazing tours with local tour guides who provide so much history and inside information.
A local tour guide giving our group a tour of the historic city of Toledo, Spain. They transport your luggage from place to place! This is a HUGE Pro for me. If you follow me regularly, you know packing is not one of my strengths and I always end up with a fully stuffed large suitcase. It is such a benefit to just show up to my hotel room and my large luggage is already there waiting for me. When I am traveling on my own I struggle and sweat getting that bad boy up and down stairs and to the next location. This Pro alone is almost enough to outweigh any of the Cons I list below!
My LARGE suitcase that magically arrives in my room on group trips. You have built in travel companions. If you are single, but are wary about travelling solo (or maybe you want to change it up after a few independent trips), a group trip is a perfect solution for you! This last group trip I went on I was with friends I already knew, but the first group trip I took I was by myself. It was my first "solo" trip and it was great to have people to eat with and explore with. But there is usually a good amount of free time built into the schedules so I could also take some time to myself to relax or do some independent sightseeing.
It is a great way to meet new people. Similar to the point above, it is so fun to meet all the different people that sign up for these trips. My travel groups have had people of all ages from different locations with diverse personalities. I have met people traveling with their adult children, friends traveling together, couples and other solo travelers. It is amazing how quickly you can get to know people when you are sharing the adventure of exploring the world. By the end of the trip you realize that you will miss seeing this group of people every day!
We expanded our friend group on this trip! You end up seeing locations you may not have considered if you planned your trip yourself. On every single group trip I have taken, we stopped in locations that I would not have thought to include in my itinerary. Many of these places turned out to be my favorite stops! One of my all time favorites was Annecy, France. I had never heard of it before and it was so quaint and beautiful. I loved it so much I have considered temporarily moving there and would have never have discovered it if I hadn't been on the group trip through the Alps. On my most recent trip to Spain on of my favorite spots was Ronda, a small town sitting on the top of a gorge and home to one of the oldest bullfighting rings.
Exploring Ronda, a place I didn't know about! Experienced and knowledgable tour guides. The tour guides that lead the trips are multi-lingual eliminating some of the language barriers that can arise when you travel internationally. They are very knowledgable about the areas that you are visiting and provide you with relevant history and facts about each location. I feel like I learn so much more about the areas I am visiting when I go on a group trip than when I am traveling on my own. The guides are also great resources for local hotspots to visit when you have free time to go off on your own for a bit. Additionally, should an emergency arise while you are travelling the guides can assist with getting the resources you need. On my most recent trip one of the passengers cracked her tooth and our guide was able to get her to a local dentist to take care of it with minimal interruption.
CONS:
Less flexibility. One downside to a group trip is that you have less control over your itinerary. While most group trips do build in a decent amount of free time for you to go off and explore on your own, it is still on strict schedule that is part of a larger itinerary. This aspect can be a bit frustrating if you find you don't have enough time to fit in all the things you might want to explore or if the time allotted for "free time" doesn't match up with plans you want to make.
Limited food options sometimes. If you are a picky eater, the group trips can be challenging. On group dinners, the whole group usually gets the same dish (a local favorite). As a picky eater, this has been difficult for me. I told myself I must always try what is offered, but often it is not something I really enjoy. This is totally a ME problem and I really wish I was a more adventurous eater eager to try local specialties. Unfortunately that is not the case so I usually end up leaving meals a bit hungry. I always make sure to pack some snacks so I have something to eat when I get back to my room.
Potential for unpleasant group dynamics. I have not had this problem in any of the group trips I have done. However, as you don't have control over who is in your travel group, there is always the possibility that personalities in the group don't mesh. Hopefully you will be as lucky as I have been and will enjoy your travel companions.
As you can see, the pros of going on a group triip seem to outweigh the cons. However, I would say that the lack of flexibility may be the biggest factor to consider if you have specific ideas of what you want to do on your vacation. I have had amazing experiences on all my group trips and I highly recommend that you give group travel a try. I can personally recommend Go Ahead, AMA Waterways and Gate 1 Travel. Check them out...you will not regret it.
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