Joining a Travel Group - Is it For You?

Belonging to a travel group may not be for everyone. But it may also be the only way you feel comfortable traveling if you do not wish to travel on your own.

Most people who join a travel group are single or their spouses do not enjoy traveling for whatever reason. Or it could be that most of their friends are married and their single friends may not be able to afford to travel. This was the situation for me.

When you travel to different locations, you may not be going with the same people each time. The group I belong to is quite large and usually there are about a dozen trips available to choose from each year.

But people are friendly when traveling and once you share a room (if that is what you choose to do), eat meals together and go on various sightseeing expeditions together, you get to know them and often build friendships in the process. You will find very few that you don't want to spend your time with.

From the last trip I took, there are seven of us that get together occasionally and one in particular I keep in touch with by monthly luncheons. However, we may or may not go on the same trips together again. Most of the people I met this time have done more traveling than I have so may not want to go where I would like to go. But that is fine because there are many other great people in the group. And traveling together is definitely a way to get to know your traveling group better.

When you travel as a group, you fly together, stay at the same hotels, many of your meals are provided so you eat together and when you explore, you travel together by coach bus with an explanation of the landmarks you are visiting. Some share rooms to save on costs while others prefer to get their own rooms. And there is always ample free time where you can do something on your own if you need some alone time or go with one or two others if you are like me and are afraid of getting lost. I have been lost in a foreign city before and I didn't like it.

There's no doubt that traveling with a spouse, a family member or a very close friend is the most ideal way to travel but group travel can include comaderie, hilarity, fun and the chance to make new and perhaps lasting friendships. If a spouse or a close friend doesn't enjoy all of the things you do, when traveling in a group. there's probably someone who will.

So if you are in a position where you want to travel but have no one to travel with, joining a group might be just what you're looking for.

Finding Safe, Appropriate and Convenient Places to Stay When Traveling

The surest way to be confident that you are staying in the safest, best and most convenient accommodations is to have them recommended to you by a friend or someone you trust. But there are other ways of being sure also.

When I have traveled, I have used TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet as well as using referrals when arranging accommodations. But it's also important to talk to everyone who does a lot of traveling and definitely read the reviews before booking. Although with reviews, there are many varied opinions so it is best to go with the opinion of the majority. As in everything, some people are just naturally more critical than others.

When I travel, I don't expect five star accommodations if I'm only prepared to pay for three or four star. For myself, three or four star is quite sufficient. However, my main requirements are safety, cleanliness and convenience, first and foremost. Other things factor in as well but they are secondary.

When we were booking accommodations for traveling in Europe, we were going the hostel route and so our secondary requirements were slightly different. But whether staying in hostels or hotels, top of the list of my secondary requirements is whether there is wireless internet connections available. In Europe and Korea, it seemed to be everywhere. In Australia and New Zealand this wasn't always the case.

Other things to consider (which may or may not be important to you) are: is a breakfast included; how central is it to the attractions you most want to see; is there parking provided and if so, do hotel guests have to pay for it; if you happen to be on the fourth floor or higher, is there an elevator; is there a restaurant in the hotel; is there a pool; is the hotel in a quiet area and, is there a staff member available twenty four hours a day.

When staying in hostels another concern was whether bedding and towels were included; if the rooms were mixed gender or single; if three people, for example, were traveling together, were there three beds in a room and, were the rooms ensuite or were bathroom facilities in the corridor. When staying in a hostel, we thought that the inclusion of bedding and breakfast were important requirements.

So before booking, it is important to ask all these questions to ensure that you get what you want. Nothing would spoil a trip faster than arriving and finding that the things you feel are most important are not available. You can get answers to these questions by either asking someone you know who may be familiar with the hotel, checking online, asking a travel agent or telephoning or emailing the hotel directly.

By being prepared when you travel, you will be more assured of a happy and successful vacation.

Travelling and Stress

Is there stress in travelling? Or is it the stress of preparing for a vacation and what may happen on the trip? What can you do about it? From experience, I know there is some stress when planning a trip on your own. What are the hotels, or the hostels, (as in our case), like? Will you be disappointed? Are they in a good area? Are they clean? Are they central to what you want to do? Are they close to the metro stations? Do they offer breakfast? Do you have to take your own linen and towels? (This is sometimes a requirement in some hostels). Are the rooms ensuite? Do they have WiFi and internet access? How many are in a room and are they same sex rooms or mixed gender? Do they take Visa or cash only? What are the check-in and check-out times? Do they have a custodian on site 24/7? Do they offer laundry facilities? A lot of these concerns will apply when booking hotels too, particularly lower budget ones and especially when travelling internationally. And we had to make a decision about how long we were going to stay in each place and where we wanted to visit in our limited time.

To try and avoid as many problems as possible, we thoroughly researched each hostel or hotel, the area, where the attractions were and the metro stations and read all the reviews. Reviews were difficult because there was such a variety of opinions so we went with the majority. We were very fortunate that in all of the places we stayed, they were all decent, fitting most of our criteria. There were some that were better than others but we considered ourselves lucky in the ones we chose. And only once did we end up with a man in our room but this was taken care of quickly and with no problems.

There is also some stress in determining what your travel options will be. When we went to Europe, we travelled within the cities either by metro or by walking. We did an awful lot of walking. Between cities we travelled by Euro Rail except between Paris and Switzerland, we travelled by the TGV railway system which was much quicker. Trying to decide which Euro Rail passes to get was difficult too, i.e.: how many days would we need, how many stops were we going to make, how many countries would we be stopping in, etc. And then after those decisions had been made, it was necessary to determine the time schedules for each and on what track or level they were leaving.

After those decisions had been made, we had to decide what attractions were important to see and on what days, depending on our arrival and departure times, and in what order so as to be able to see as much as possible. We knew we wouldn't have time to see everything and there were three people who may have had differing views. In this respect we were in agreement with what we all wanted to see.

There is stress, to some degree, even when travelling with a tour group. What are the people going to be like? Is there going to be anyone who is difficult, are they going to be friendly and inclusive? And if you are sharing a room, what will your roommate be like? What is the tour guide going to be like? Is the trip going to be as enjoyable as you thought it would be? Are you going to see all that you expected to see?

There is no way to completely avoid stress altogether either before, or while you are travelling. But some suggestions are to read reviews avidly, know as much about the area you are visiting before you go as possible, and best of all is to have word-of-mouth recommendations from someone you know and respect.

But once all the decisions have been made, hop on board and enjoy your next adventure.

The Pros and Cons of Tour Travelling

There are pros and cons to both taking a tour and to planning a trip on your own and being in control of your own destinations. I have done both and have enjoyed each one.

Pros of Tour Travelling:

- Everything is looked after for you, i.e.: your large pieces of luggage. You just have to look after your personal items and get where you're suppose to be on time. When travelling on your own, you are in charge of all your luggage and it can be a lot of hard work depending on the type of travel and places you are going.

- Many of the meals are included. You don't have to scout around or find suitable restaurants. For the meals not included, restaurants or at least areas, will be recommended to you with suggestions of places to stay away from.

- You have a pretty good idea of what your trip is going to cost you. There will be extra costs but you can limit them because you know what they will be, i.e.: optional tours, the meals that are not included and of course, souvenir shopping and general spending money.

- You have many friendly (hopefully) travelling companions, especially if travelling on your own. And often there is the option of room sharing to cut down on the costs.

- When travelling in a group there can be a lot of laughter and camaraderie adding to the enjoyment of the trip. I found this definitely to be the case.

- Your various modes of transportation have been taken care of for you. You don't need to find out train schedules and prices, metro stations and if in a foreign country, how to get along with a language unfamiliar to you. All will be taken care of for you.

- There are explanations and historical commentary about the areas you are travelling through. It's always nice to get to know the area you are travelling in. Tour travel means you will know without having to search it out yourself either before your trip or after.

- The included meals are usually quite good and almost always includes breakfast and many of the dinners.

- Besides the optional tours you can choose to take, being on a tour includes many interesting places you may not have been able to get to on your own or have known about. An example of this was when we were in the Outback and we went into the bush and had dinner; when we were able to try some bush food of the variety that the Aboriginals eat, and the opportunity to be able to try and throw a boomerang.

- During free time, you have the option of staying with members of your tour group or exploring on your own. The choice is there to be able to do what you want.

The Cons of Tour Travelling:

- The destinations may not be exactly what you would have chosen on your own. Tours often include certain areas, i.e.: you may go to a particular park, a certain area in the city, or a factory that you may not have wished to do had you been on your own.

- The trip is generally more rushed than it may be if you were travelling on your own. You are more in control of your travel decisions if you have planned your own trip.

- You have the opportunity to change your mind about what you're going to do on any given day and do something else. You are more able to be a free spirit.

- Your time is your own and your decision whether to spend the day relaxing at some wonderful beach you've just discovered or enjoying other experiences. When travelling with a tour group you don't have this opportunity. You go where they go, when they go or you get left behind.

- You can better make the decision about how you are going to spend your money. When travelling on your own, you may decide to stay at budget hotels or even hostels which is not done when travelling with a tour group. You may decide that by doing this, you'll have extra money to be able to see more of the attractions. This is also the case when travelling by train and public transportation versus flying or going on tour coach buses.

For myself, visits to different countries would determine which way I decided to travel. I think on a trip to Africa and going on safaris, or going to Brazil, I would choose to join a tour group. But if I was going to visit Ireland and Scotland, I would rather plan my own trip, choosing my own places to stop and possibly rent a car for travelling. Any decision, by necessity, would have to be based on whether it is a single person, a couple, or a family, and even the age of the travellers would need to be considered.

When I went to Europe with my daughter-in-law, we planned our own trip, staying in hostels and travelling on public transportation. It worked well for us. The only tour we signed up with was one to Pompeii. Both ways of travel, however, have their pros and cons and each must be evaluated on their own merits.

Europe - The Best Way to Explore Your Destinations

Our main modes of transportation consisted of the Eurorail, TGV, Metro and walking. But, as with every other aspect of trip planning, it is important to research because there are numerous options available.

There is the choice of whether to get first or second class train tickets. There really is a difference between the two although in the end, both get you to where you want to go. With first class the seats are very comfortable with lots of leg room and ample space for luggage, as well as drinks are offered by passing porters. We chose this option because of the length of time we would be spending on Eurorail while travelling through three different countries.

However, from Paris to Switzerland, we chose the TGV train system which travels at 320 km hour and often faster. This cut our train travel for this leg of our journey from over six hours to about three hours. We chose not to make reservations which would have been an additional cost, deciding to take our chances on not having to wait. Because we left early for the train station, and because the trains leave hourly, we were fortunate in not having a long wait time.

While in Switzerland we were able to use our Eurorail pass. If we had not had this pass, we would've had to purchase Swiss passes for transportation while in Switzerland. Our Eurorail pass also gave us passage on the ferries in both Lucerne and Interlacken as well as the cogwheel trains we took up Rigi Kulm Mountain and Jungfrauloch Mountain in Switzerland. When we purchased our rail passes, based on the fact that we would be travelling to three countries, we got the three country, six day pass which was ideal for our requirements although as it turned out, the two country pass would've been sufficient since the TGV had to be purchased separately. The cost of the pass is determined by the number of countries you visit and the number of days you are using your pass. Purchasing Eurorail passes outside of Europe is cheaper. The open tour bus in Rome, however, was an additional cost. When travelling by train, we had to try and beware of what the station before our stop was so we could get our luggage and be ready to leave the train when it came in to the station.

While in Paris and Rome, we used the Metro system of transportation or by walking to our destinations. Both Metro systems were quite easy to use and in Paris in particular, almost every station had people available to answer questions. Also in Paris, the route you needed to take to get to the trail level you wanted was very clearly marked on the walls at each fork. While in Rome we only used their Metro system one day and had clear instructions on which line we needed to take and the station we had to get off. In both Paris and Rome Metro systems, the next station is shown overhead on a flashing sign so you are given ample warning.

The only taxi we took while in Europe was to the airport to catch our flights home. We could have taken a shuttle or bus to the train station which, between connections, would have taken several hours. For an early morning flight, and with the difficulty of having luggage to worry about, the cost of a taxi was well worth the extra money spent.

Before travelling, make sure to research, plan and organize so that things will go as smoothly as possible and time isn't wasted trying to get information when that time could be spent travelling and getting to your point of destination more quickly. This is especially true when your travel time is limited as ours was - three countries, eight cities and other specific areas in just two weeks.

Travelling Europe - The Hostel Way

On our first trip to Europe we decided to stay in hostels, mainly for economic reasons. When planning our trip, there were many things to consider before booking our accommodations.

These considerations were: cost, location, wifi accessibility and availability to transit and the major attractions. We also wanted a room that included breakfast, an ensuite bathroom, if possible, and a room with same sex occupancy but not a dorm. Because there were three of us this sometimes presented a problem and we had to sacrifice some of our desired requirements. One of these was ensuite bathroom which proved not to be particularly bad, and in some cases preferable, because often the separate bathrooms were larger than the ones in the room. Breakfast was the next thing on our list that we were willing to give up. Availability to transit was the most important even though we walked many miles each day while touring the cities we visited.

We began our search through hostels.com about five months before our planned departure. This was necessary because of our specific requirements and even then, in some cases, were unable to find what we wanted. Specifically, there were not many rooms for a group of three, same gender. While we were in Interlacken, Switzerland, we had a room for four and on our first night there were just the three of us. But on our second evening we returned to the hostel to find a partially clad man shaving at the sink in the room. Initially we thought we had the wrong room and, apologizing left, only to discover that he was to be our new room mate. My companions and I felt somewhat uncomfortable with this new development, particularly since we, by unspoken consideration for each other, confined ourselves and our things to our own bed areas. In the obviously short time the new arrival had been an occupant in our room, he had managed to disburse himself freely throughout the entire small room. Fortunately, there was another room available to him and we paid for the fourth occupancy to our room. In hindsight it was all quite humorous but I'm sure somewhat embarrassing for the poor man.

When doing our search for hostels, we read visitor reviews for each one but often these were more confusing than helpful because of the extremely diverse opinions of those who had stayed. Often reviews ran from extremely favourable to highly negative. As a result, a lot of our decisions were based on what seemed to be a dominant impression of the reviews. But like most things, reviews are subjective in most cases rather than objective.

Our hostel in the colourful Montmartre district of Paris was conveniently located to Metro and a short ride to the Champs-Elysses where many of the major attractions are located. It did have an ensuite bathroom and although very small, was convenient. Breakfasts consisted of cereal, croissants, fruit, coffee and juiice which was quite sufficient to jump-start our energy levels for our busy days. The age of the majority of visitors was in the twenties to early thirties range with few being older. We found this to be the case in most places we stayed except in Italy where there were more older visitors in the hostels. But everyone was always friendly regardless of age or language spoken.

In Lucerne we stayed at a lovely clean hostel for three with a separate bathroom across the hall. It didn't include breakfast but met all of our other requirements. Being close to transit in this case was not a requirement because the town was quite small and everything was within walking distance, the trains, ferry and most attractions. In Interlacken, although the city was much larger, the trains and ferry were very close and although they did not serve breakfast, they did have convenient kitchen facilities.

In Venice, Italy, because my daughter-in-law is Korean, she made arrangements for us to stay at a Korean hostel which was on one of the canals. Transportation was not a consideration in Venice because the main way of getting around is by walking. They did serve a breakfast which was a rather large feast, Korean style. The hostel in Florence was a room for four which we shared with an older lady from England who said she had travelled considerably, always staying in hostels. She said she quite enjoyed her experiences with hostel stays. Breakfast and dinner was served for a nominal fee, bathrooms were down the hall and it met all of our other requirements.

Our hostel in Rome was probably the best. Although they did serve a very basic breakfast, we were gone by then but they did have kitchen facilities where we could prepare anything we wanted for ourselves. We were within walking distance from Metro and within walking distance of some of the attractions, i.e.: the Colosseum, Paladine Hill and Trevi Fountain, although admittedly, they were extremely long walks.

When booking stays at hostels, it is important to note whether linen and towels are included. In some places they are and in others, rental is required. I brought my own towel but in most of the places these things were either included or were a very nominal charge to rent. Some places require that payment for rooms must be cash and other places will accept credit cards. We also did a thorough online search of the areas we were looking in to see what was available regarding restaurants and, was there a curfew, was it a noisy neighbourhood and was there a staff member on site at all times.

We were very fortunate with the hostels we chose, finding them all to be clean, comfortable and for the most part, meeting our requirements. It is certainly an inexpensive option when travelling not only for the young but for older travellers and families as well. I would certainly choose a hostel adventure again in the future.