Solo vs Group Travel
When deciding to go traveling or on holiday abroad, you have two options. Spread your wings and go solo, or team up with like minded travellers and travel within a group. After traveling on and off for many years and experiencing both, I’m now in a position to be able to share all.
In this blog I will be going through the benefits of both solo and group travel. Each bring their ups and downs, their good days and bad days, however each is equal, and ultimately how you want to see the world, that’s entirely up to you.
For me personally, when I first started traveling, I started out with going on a numerous amount of group tours to various places such as India, South America, and one through south east Asia. At the time and especially as I was young and inexperienced in travel, it was great. You fly to the destination by yourself, and then go to the meeting hotel where the tour starts. Simple and straight-forward. However over time I found my confidence grew and grew to the point where I’d outgrown the need for the group travel idea, and thus my solo travel journey begun.
There is no right or wrong when choosing between both solo and group travel, at the end of the day it comes down to personal preferences and the type of experience you wish to engage in while on the road. Either way, you’re still setting out to see the World and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to connect with and experience many different cultures from all parts of life, something which a lot of people are less fortunate not to see. Even when traveling solo, you are truly never alone, you meet people along the way, you connect, enjoy experiences together and make new friends in that way. You will have that adventure whatever path you choose.
Group Travel
Let’s start off with the group travel option. There are many benefits that come with choosing this route, and many different companies you can choose to do a tour with. Personally I always used G Adventures and they were great, a tour company I can highly recommend. The group leader was always professional and a genuine ‘people person’, and furthermore their local insight shines through. Who more do you want to lead your group than someone who knows the area inside-out. There are also a host of different tour companies I’ve heard great things about from others, Contiki and Intrepid Travel just to name a few.
The major benefit to group travel of course is there is no planning involved, and the itinerary of your journey is ready made for you. The cost of the tour covers your accommodation and travel expenses whilst there, and usually a wide range of activities along the way too. This is perfect for those who want to forgo the stress of handling the logistical side of traveling, giving you more time to sit back, relax, and enjoy your holiday. All the details and dilemmas you may have had to deal with otherwise, tour group travel deals with this for you.
Following on from this, traveling within a group will ease your fears over the safety and security concerns you may have about visiting somewhere alone. Granted, some places on earth will naturally feel safer than others, each place and area of the world offers a different experience through its culture and climate, no two places are the same, especially compared to the comfort of home. Pushing yourself out the door is the first step, then meeting up with others can truly make you feel at home.
As a result of this, as soon as you join the tour, you already have ready made friends. This makes group travel ideal for those who want to go on their journey with like minded travellers and have fun along the way. In my personal experience I’ve made friends with and met some great people on the group tours I’ve completed, some of which I still keep in contact with to this day. Throughout the period of the tour you will all do activities together, party together, dance together, and genuinely experience these amazing new worlds as a group together. That is honestly a great way to make memories to last a lifetime.
Local expertise is a benefit I touched on earlier, and it is one of the best things about group travel. Normally locals, or they just know the destination very well, they provide uniquely valuable information and insights surrounding the history and culture of the country. Furthermore, with their added knowledge, I’ve always found whilst on the tour you always visit places you would more than likely never have thought of and found yourself. For me personally, this has always been one of my favourite things about group travel, the fact that you get to see a different side of somewhere, seeing a country from a local perspective not just through the rose tinted glasses of your own. As an added benefit, the local expert will of course be able to speak the native language, helping you to overcome any potential problems, and also giving you a more authentic experience along the way.
Solo Travel
The thought of traveling alone may be daunting at first, stepping out of your comfort zone can be incredibly hard, but also extremely rewarding. It’s that first hurdle which is always the hardest, the temptation to book that flight, but having mixed feelings about going ahead with the idea. The way I’ve always viewed it, if you wait around for friends and others to join you to travel the world, you may never get the chance to see the world yourself. You and only you alone are in control of your own destiny, you’ve only got one life, if you want to travel, make that jump, and you’ll never look back.
The first major benefit of solo travel is of course freedom. In general, but also in comparison to group travel, this is the biggest plus of traveling solo. The freedom to do what you want, when you want. Get up at any time, go for lunch and dinner at times that suit you, go wherever you want to go at the best time for you. You’re essentially in charge of everything, you pull the strings, and no one else can tell you otherwise.
Following on from this, the flexibility traveling solo allows you to have will leave you wondering why you didn’t go off on your travels alone sooner. You create your own itinerary, tailoring the day to your needs, seeing what you want to see and when. Furthermore, you can spend as much or as little time as you want somewhere, changing plans along the way to your own benefit and desire. For example, when traveling solo you may meet people along the way and decide to spend time with them doing activities on day trips etc. something you can’t just wander off and do within group travel. It’s completely your choice when to move onto the next destination.
This may be a plus or a negative depending how sensible you are with money, but another benefit of solo traveling is the fact you are in control of your own budget. Although group tours tie together all the necessary arrangements, it naturally comes at an extra cost. On the other hand, traveling solo gives you the option of how to spend your money, giving you more financial freedom at a lesser price. You can set your own budget for accommodation, where to eat, put money aside for all the activities you want to complete, basically it gives you the opportunity to use your money doing what you want with it.
Lastly, the confidence and feeling of independence solo travel can bring is priceless. You’ve made that leap, put yourself out there outside of your comfort zone and you’re reaping the rewards for it, no one can take that away from you. The feeling of being able to go to such lengths and travel across to the other side of the world on your own is to be admired, leaving you feeling full of confidence knowing you’ve made that choice for your own benefit, and furthermore because it’s something you’ve always dreamt of doing. If you can travel solo, you can do anything.
At the end of the day, each side of the debate between solo and group travel has their pros and cons, and ultimately counter balance each other. If it’s freedom and flexibility you’re after, solo travel is the way to go. However, if you’re not a fan of planning and want to travel with like minded travellers, group travel is the route to follow. Sure, a con of solo travel is the fact that every little detail of your trip depends on you entirely alone, and a con of group travel is there is a chance there will always be that one idiot within the group, but these are only minor hurdles you have to overtake.
There is no best option, and no right or wrong, the choice between solo or group travel ultimately comes down to how you feel and doing what’s best for you. Whatever you decide, there is a whole world out there for you to explore.