Why Travel With A Group?

I was asked this question the other day, "Why would I want to travel in a group?" And my honest answer was simple:

I wouldn't. 

Want to know why? Because there's a million reasons not to travel with one. More flexibility, less people holding you back, too many decisions to be made, too many options, schedules, paces etc. It all depends on who you are at the end of the day, and I like to make fast decisions with little resistance. But for me? The more streamlined, the better. 

But as far as group travel goes? It's tiring. It's cumbersome really. It can definitely be a drag when it's done the wrong way. 

Of course, that might be the 8th grader in me who hated touring Washington, DC and New York with 300+ students back in the day...

But I digress...Unless you go with people who know what the hell they're doing, and where they're going, group travel can definitely be a drag. 

There's no shortage of travel companies out there to tour with. Intrepid, G Adventures, EF Travel, Explorica, Student Universe, Travel For Teens, Top Deck Travel, STOKE, Bus2Alps, EuroAdventures, FlorenceForFun, SmartTrip and the list goes on and on and on...

And those are just the ones I know of offhand. That being said, how do you choose a tour provider? SHOULD you even go with a group? Does it depend on where you want to go, or is it more of a reference? Have you heard of them before? Has a friend toured with them? 

There's TONS of travel companies who specialize in SOMETHING. Everyone has a focus. Whether it's small group adventures, single travel, hiking excursions, ski trips or something, every tour operator and agency has a specialization, so picking one comes down one simple question. 

"Does this company have the same hobbies and interests as I do?"

Does this company even like what I like?

At the end of the day, that's the question you should be asking yourself. Every tour agency LOVES travel, so that's not really a hobby or similar interest. Every tour company also MOSTLY has their itineraries down. Bumps in the road DO happen, and while those cannot be helped, each one of these companies exist because of who they know and where they have gone before. Everyone has the logistics down, that's not the issue and shouldn't be the worry when it comes to thinking about signing up for group travel excursions. 

What else do they do? Who are they? What do their people, their guides, their company ethos say about them? 

For me, I worked in group travel for a long time. As a tour guide and a manager, and the people we had on our trips came on it for one single reason. They loved our staff. They 'dug' what we were about. They liked hanging out with us on the trip and outside of it too. And we enjoyed hanging out with them! 

So, in short. My advice and original answer to the question of, "Why would I want to travel in a group?" was asked from someone in the travel industry. The person actually kind of rubbed me the wrong way - and if he was my tour guide, I wouldn't have wanted to spend my money and time with him. It's that simple. The travel industry is pretty brutal, but every encounter is a networking chance and potential transaction for life. Not just monetary, but relationship-wise. 

In the travel industry, your customers are your gold - and they should be treated that way. And that's part of our ethos at VoyEdge RX. We cap our trips off at 30 people, put two staff members on a tour and are aiming to make every moment on the trip streamlined, filled with excitement and knowledge. We know your time off is important and should be maximized in every possible way. 

I know once our tours kick off the summer, the difference will show. Our attentiveness, streamlined approach and willing to give it all for our clients will pay off into the ultimate adventure. 

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, I'd love to hear from you in the meantime. Just shoot me an email at: cam@voyedgerx.com

Hope to see you on a trip soon!