Group Tours or Independent Travel
- You guys had gone on your own and not through any group tour….how was it?
- Did you face any problem? Any language issues?
- How did you manage the travel and what about food?
- Was it costlier than group travel?
- A funny one was, “Alone with your spouse for 22 days… How did you manage without any arguments or did you have many?”
These were some of the frequent questions by family and friends on our return from Europe.
While discussing with them, we realized that people were not very keen to take a group tour, but, the fear of going alone was forcing them to. The fear of not knowing what you might get to eat, fear of carrying your own stuff, fear of local travelling, local language and similar ones.
The idea behind this blog is to clear, at least some if not all, doubts and fear people have towards going the individual way.
Most of the travel blogs are targeted towards backpackers or tourists who want to travel for a very long period of time or individuals inclined towards adventure tourism like climbing, rafting, skiing, and the likes.
A lot can be found on the net for these but not much for couples who want to visit major tourist attractions and then do some more. They want to get a feel of the place. They would like to eat local food, experience local culture, interact with locals and shop where they do. And all this at a bit of a relaxed pace.
As compared to backpacking individuals, which by the way has its own charm, normal travelling couples look a bit of a damp squib. It should NOT be.
Combining some elements of group tours and backpacking with individual travel, à la luxury backpacking for couples, one can make their next trip a very exciting and memorable one.
And as for the point of having arguments with your spouse. No, we did not have any……and even if you have a few, it’s OK.
Remember, at the end of it, “Travel makes the bond stronger….Go for it”