Traveling in a Group: Collective Adventures
Not all travel is done with just a few intrepid people. Often, trips and tours are composed of people traveling in a group, specifically celebrating events or tours.
This article talks about traveling as a group, meaning four or more people. The advantages and challenges of traveling with others are important to understand before getting on the road.
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Advantages
Traveling in a group has some great advantages. More people generally means more safety, since large groups of watchful people are bad targets. Muggings almost never happen when the mugger is outnumbered. While large groups must still be wary of pickpockets and scams, the security of a crowd is undeniable.
More Resources
Traveling as a group lets individuals splurge a bit more when pooling resources. Does every person need a personal cookpot on a camping trip? No, cooking gear can be handled by a single hiker.
Likewise, a member of the group carrying a mini project for movies or a waterproof deck of cards for everyone can provide entertainment without weighing everyone down.
Coordinate what each person is going to bring and shed extra gear so there’s no overlap.
Companionship
Traveling in a group practically guarantees a companion for almost any activity. Were you interested in seeing the sun rise, but everyone else had a late night? There’s a much higher chance somebody is willing to wake up early with you when in a group.
Wider Range of Activities
There are many activities which can’t really be done without being in a group. Certain river rafting tours, horseback treks or other large-group tours require enough people to split the cost to make it feasible.
Great Community Fallbacks
If something does go wrong on your journey, the group will have more resources to combat it. Lost a phone cable? Somebody can share. Did your map get wet? That’s okay, your buddy picked up a spare.
Having a group can mitigate problems while traveling.
Language Buddies
If you’re traveling somewhere to learn a new language or practice an existing one, a group is a huge asset. Language fluency is primarily learned through production, so having someone at a similar level to speak to can improve fluency rapidly.
Wider Skill Sets
One of the best advantages of a large group is a wider talent pool. If only one person knows how to rock climb or sail, that’s fine. They can guide and coach everyone else. Perhaps only one member of your group speaks Polish fluently. In Poland, that’s more than enough.
Challenges of Group Travel
Despite its many advantages, group travel has several challenges included. Being prepared for these can help streamline the travel experience so nobody feels left out or stressed.
Different Energy Levels
People have differing levels of excitement for differing events. This often causes some group members to surge ahead while others hang back, or perhaps stay home resting for a day.
This is fine, provided group members don’t end up on inverse schedules. Allow people what time they need to recover so the big, collective activities can be enjoyed by everyone.
Split off Squads
Sometimes, when traveling in groups, smaller groups of two or three will branch off to do their own thing.
This works out well if group members have different interests. But if many people in the group would like to be included in an activity, it limits the experience to just a few people.
Heading off in a smaller squad is fine. Just let the rest of the group know where you’re going and invite them along if they’re interested.
Overwhelming Others
As a large group traveling, your crowd of people can quickly overwhelm everyone else in an area. Six noisy guys celebrating in a bar might completely miss the fact that they’ve ruined everyone else’s meal with their cheering.
Try not to overwhelm the locals. If things are getting rowdy, just direct a few peoples’ attention to others in the room. Once the social bubble is broken, people are good about managing noise and energy for everyone else.
Hard to get Personal Space
When traveling as a group, expect personal space to be at a premium. Make sure to find time to get some solitude and recharge time. If someone in the group wants to read or stay behind to recover, grant them whatever space you can.
More Expensive
Sometimes, traveling as a group can save money. This is especially true when finding group tour deals or promotions.
However, by and large, group travel is more expensive. More plane tickets are needed, larger accommodations are required and more food is eaten.
For bigger trips, consider having one person use a travel-rewards card or cash to pay for most group activities. Refund that person before the trip, so they have a bulk of cash to cover the big expenses, without relying on people paying back later during the trip.
This method helps a group stay on budget while also providing commitment to the group’s most-anticipated activities.
Only as fast as the Slowest Member
When traveling in a group, everyone can only move as fast as the slowest member. This is true on zip lines, rafting rides, treks and tours of the city. When planning on destinations and activities, assume that someone is going to be ambling. Groups require more cushion-time factored in than solo travelers.
Difficulty in Transport
Often, groups are hard to transport. There might not be enough seats on a bus or in a car for everyone to pile in.
When planning a group trip, do your best to pick transportation systems that can handle bigger numbers. For example, it’s probably cheaper and easier to use a metro in a city than three separate taxis.
Planning a Group Trip
When planning a trip with multiple people, coordination becomes very important. Everyone needs to express the amount of money they’re able to spend and the activities which are a top priority.
Make sure to have a meeting with everyone to go over your schedules and goals. Additionally, keep your plans in a shared document, such as a Google Docs or through Wanderlog.
If people need to buy individual tickets, make sure to get individual confirmations written down somewhere. For example, if you’re going on a trekking tour of Iceland, everyone should confirm their plane ticket, arrival time and method from the airport to the hotel rendezvous.
Photo Pool
At the end of any trip, everyone is going to want to share photos. Rather than blowing up multiple social media streams, it’s better to pool photos in a single group file share program.
For people looking for good photo-sharing options, Dropbox works fine. However, if you’re expecting a large number of high-quality snapshots of your trip, MEGA is what I use.
MEGA.io is a form of secure cloud storage. The platform has multiple plans, but the most popular has 2 TB of storage for $9.97/month. Generally, I purchase an account for the duration of the trip, plus one month. Everyone uploads photos as we go along and can easily download their favorites.
Recognize Your Main Planner
Group travel doesn’t just happen. There’s always one or two individuals who handle the vast logistics of getting everyone, everywhere, at the right time. Where do you meet? Where will you sleep? How is everyone arriving? What activities are planned?
While some people are well suited for this, it’s still a major effort and time sink.
Be sure to thank the brains behind every group-travel operation.
Spread Out the Cash
When traveling in a group, expect everyone to want to make their own personal purchases. Encourage everyone to bring some cash. This gives everyone personal, easily trackable spending power and makes sharing bills much easier.
If you need to transfer money after splitting an unexpected dinner bill, currency transfer apps such as Venmo are still a great option. Just make sure the app has a secure internet connection needed for a transfer.
Advanced Reservations
Bigger groups tend to have less flexibility but more spending power. As a result, it’s a good idea to make major reservations well in advance.
Book your accommodations, activities and flights early so everyone is on the same page and you can secure good prices prior to the trip. Last minute purchases in a large group are tough, since there might not be a way to accommodate anyone.
Assign Meeting Points
It’s important that everyone knows the correct meeting point and times. Even if everyone plans to stay together, it’s still a good idea to point out a decent meeting area if someone gets separated. This can save a lot of headaches if a person needs to stop for the restroom or wants to briefly meander away to see something interesting.
Overall, group travel is a great way to see the world. There are more people to share experiences with, allowing everyone to share the joy. When heading out in a large group, be prepared and enjoy the collective adventure.