Am I? Quick answer no, but externally my body is yelling yes.
I’m 34 this year, I can’t be arsed planning jack shit, so maybe group tours are the way to go from now on. That way I can get my lazy arse on a overland truck/bus, learn the basics of the language and learn the highlights of the countries I visit without having to spend 1 billion hours learning about the place, how to get there, what to do etc. Which used to be the fun part, but now I find myself getting annoyed at hostels with those people that snore just that little too loud, or enter their beds loudly at 3am after having a fantastic night out!
I even thought about starting an instagram account for hostel shamming, like passenger shaming but for hostel life since I spend some much time in them.
Now I’ve been traveling the world for over 12 years, in that time I’ve only seen 40 countries, so I understand the purpose of slow travel, and I’m a cheap arse with accommodations, transport etc, so I’ve done the hard yards and have some absolutely amazing adventures. But something that I love is joining a group, here’s why….
- You meet people from around the world, all different backgrounds, and are very handy contacts for the future *couchsurfing*
- Safety in numbers, I know that most countries are safer than the media states, but I like to travel to those that get a bad wrap, and while I’m built like a chic who can throw a good punch I still like being around other people when in those zones. Sometimes when backpacking solo there’s been a sense of unease…luckily I’ve only had a few moments, a few people trying their luck to do stanch and grabs, hasn’t ended well for them. But I’ve heard every horror story, and seen the aftermath of some tourists unluckily moments.
- You learn more, people ask questions you may not have asked, thinking on a different path than you means you may find out some cool extra info, leading to new places, knowledge or adventures.
- This is your chance to find out more about other peoples cultures too, you may think that group travel is normally just a bunch of 18-21 year olds getting drunk (ok if you book Contiki then yes your probably right) but companies like G-Adventures, Tucan Travel have a more varied age/nationality pool on their tours, some 60 year old Germans with so many stories, or people from countries you have never heard of or always wanted more info on…people love talking about themselves on tour, now is the time for some investigating.
- You can be whoever you want to be, group tours can be short breaks, if you want to be someone else for 2 weeks, go ahead, just remember to not add anyone on Facebook haha.
ABOVE ALL, my favorite thing about group travel is:
I DON’T HAVE TO THINK…no looking for accommodation, or thinking about how to get from point A to point B, activities are planned or suggested, and if optional then someone’s gonna help you book it, meals are often as a group….BUT you can escape the group, there is always opportunities to get away from the group and do your own thing.
Certain tour companies take you to places that normal backpackers just wouldn’t go or do, why, because they have the numbers and constantly returning to these spots so they have the “buying power” to do these things.
BLUE EYES OPEN 