Do you love to travel? How do you know if group travel is right for you? Are you not quite sure if you prefer to explore on your own? Do you worry about not having someone there to capture all of those Instagram-worthy moments while you’re out on an adventure? There are many things to consider when making the decision on whether or not you should embark on your first trip with a group. Your experience on the first trip usually determines if you will continue traveling in groups in the future.
Before we get into deciding whether group travel is right for you, let’s first familiarize ourselves with what it is.
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What is group travel?
When a collection of people decide to plan and book a trip together, usually under the same reservation, that is considered group travel. Group trips may come with a discounted rate on hotels or flights, making them enticing to most travelers. The number of people involved can range anywhere from 10 to 40, with completely planned itineraries and accommodations made by either a travel agent or the participants themselves. It can be an all-girls trip, guys’ trip, work trip, family vacation, or a trip curated by your favorite Black travel group.
Are group trips for you? If you can relate to any of the items below, they may not be your thing.
You prefer to go with the flow.
If you’re the go with the flow type, group traveling is not for you.
Group travel requires you to be considerate of others’ time and that means sticking to the itinerary and showing up to all designated meeting points on time. Those who like to sleep in, stay out late, or just hit the town whenever the urge hits them, are usually not fond of being tied down to itineraries. In fact, they prefer waking up and just seeing where the day takes them.
It’s not that you’re an inconsiderate person. It’s just that you’re an inquisitive wanderer with a different agenda from the rest of the group.
You want to be in charge of your own trip.
As we previously stated, group trips are pretty much pre-planned, either as a group or by the group. Once the itinerary and accommodations are set those are what you will have to stick with. That means that you do not have the freedom to venture off and do your own thing whenever you see fit or make reservations at another hotel just because you don’t like where the rest of the group is staying. If you made plans with the group, you stick with the group.
Having to relinquish control can be extremely difficult for someone who often prefers to be in charge of their own trip planning. If this is you, you’ll probably want to stick with solo trips or trips with one or two other travelers.
You're not a people person.
There’s nothing wrong with self-awareness. Some people aren’t good at making friends and they know it. If that’s you, and you’re okay with that, group travel is probably not your cup of tea.
One thing many people enjoy about group travel is the ability to bond with old friends, or in many cases, make new ones. Whether you’re on a zipline excursion or sunbathing on a yacht, it’s a chance to be extremely up close and personal with other people. But what if that’s not your thing? Don’t sweat it! A lot of people aren’t always in the mood to be social. If that’s you, group travel may not be for you.
You're not sure you can make the deadline.
This probably should have been the first indicator, as it’s the most important.
Planning for group trips requires that all deposits and payments are made on time –– no exceptions. Because certain discounts and prices depend on the number of travelers, when you commit to attending a trip, others are depending on you to honor that commitment in order for them to lock in certain costs at a set amount.
And you have all intentions of honoring that commitment. Often times we want to travel somewhere but unexpected expenses arise, dipping into our travel budget. Next thing you know, we can’t make the trip and we’ve let everyone down.
If you find that you’re this person more often than not, it may be best that you don’t plan any group trips for a while.
You're just not 100% all in.
Group travel takes commitment –– commitment to the destination, commitment to the itinerary, and sometimes even commitment to the restaurants where you choose to eat. You have to make sure that you are 100% all in before signing up to joining a trip.
If you know that you may want to partake in only certain parts of the trip while others don’t look quite as appealing, maybe you’re better off customizing a similar trip for yourself separately.
You're Not Open To New Things
Being able to step out of your comfort zone is crucial when traveling with others, and that’s true everything you plan to do during your trip. There’s a high probability that you’ll end up doing something you’ve never done before, never thought about doing, or never wanted to do, but you’ll have to because it’s the consensus of the group. If you’re not up for biting the bullet and taking one for the team, we recommend focusing on vacations more curated to your tastes.