Does Anyone Actually Enjoy Group Travel?

In our last debate, we delved into the contentious matter of splitting the bill when embarking on group travel. A heated discussion amongst our editors revealed an even juicier question lurking in plain sight: Would you even be on said group trip in the first place? As people sounded out their answers it became increasingly clear that many at Condé Nast Traveler avoid group trips altogether. Whether for reasons underlined the last time—one too many travel companions that took their time to pay back their debts, or failed to do so entirely—or because of trauma incurred from being the perennial trip planner, members of the team have strong feelings. 카지노사이트

This doesn’t mean, however, that all of us draw a hard line. With the right mindset and proper boundaries in place, many agree that group travel can be pure magic. Do you enjoy group trips? Our editors weigh in below.

Yes, but only with people I truly love
My ultimate fantasy is having all the people I love together at once, so group trips (especially when I’m curating the crowd) are something I look forward to. Sure, you have to be more easygoing than when you travel solo, and sometimes you’ll compromise on the restaurant you eat at, but I’m there for the group hang first and foremost. I take enough other trips—solo, work, just me and one other person—to get my fix of total-itinerary-control elsewhere. But I do feel strongly that you should only go on group trips with people you would be happy doing absolutely nothing with—mainly because that means they’re worth spending your time and money jetting around for, but also because the details of everything else fade into the background when you’re just glad to be together. Maybe my experiences have been so favorable because I’m selective about the group trips I join; but I do think everyone should feel empowered to say no to group trip invites they aren’t stoked about—if you’re just going out of obligation, you’re really going to hate it when they pick that mediocre breakfast spot. —Megan Spurrell, senior editor

Yes, but I won’t plan them
As the big traveler amongst my friends and family, it’s normally up to me to help plan the group trip. Planning isn’t my favorite, because with large groups there are so many voices chiming in with strong opinions. People might want to do their own thing and it takes a lot of time and effort to curate an itinerary that everyone is going to like. I’m also the type of person that wants to make sure everyone is having a good time, so I tend to worry if my friends or family are going to like the plan I helped create. Being invited on a group trip is different—I can just show up and go with the flow. But in the end, I get to be around the people I love, share laughs, and experience a new place together. —Kayla Brock, associate social media manager

Yes, but on the condition of equity
Group trips are some of my favorite memories. It makes my heart so full to shuck off the sometimes tedious humdrum of doing the same day-to-day group restaurant dining, city walks, and home game nights for the excitement of a brand new destination and its accompanying experiences. However, a key element of success—at least for me—is a sense of shared responsibility amongst your traveling crew. Maybe one person does the grocery shopping for your Airbnb while somebody else makes the dinner reservation for the next day. Or you each take a day to plan a full itinerary, keeping in mind things that everyone might enjoy. Without the divide-and-conquer approach, it can be a lot to ask of one or a few group members, and can quickly leave people feeling resentful or just plain exhausted. Group travel tip that I’ve been itching to try that I think has built-in support for an equitable experience? A group cruise! It’s on my list for 2023 and I think it’ll be the perfect way to escape with all of my loved ones without leaving a lot of planning work to be tackled. —Lara Kramer, associate director of audience development

No, not always
Don’t get me wrong—I love my friends and have some great memories from group trips—but I find that sometimes when traveling: the more people, the more stress. Group trips can feel like you’re back in school working on a group project and there’s the student who plans everything, the one who is slow to respond to anything, and the one who does nothing to help. I hate any type of conflict with friends, so I prefer to avoid being annoyed if some of my friends (that I love!) fall into some of those roles. It can be difficult to plan an itinerary that pleases the whole group, and people tend to have different expectations for how things will go. This doesn’t mean I’ve sworn off group trips entirely, but I am very intentional about who I’ll go with, and make sure it’s a trip that I’m excited to be part of. —Meaghan Kenny, associate commerce editor바카라사이트

Rarely, if ever
I love a good small group trip—but I find that it can be difficult to pull off a successful one, especially as the person who usually gets stuck with all the planning. I’m happy to research and book things, plus craft a very loose itinerary for a group (and as a guides editor I nerd out on it, honestly), but when a group size hits any more than four people there’s almost always someone who ends up unhappy with the plan (and who wasn’t vocal about it when all the decision making went down). It’s never a surprise to me when this communication breakdown happens, but it does have a way of making things uncomfortable for everyone involved, and a vacation is no time to be uncomfortable! Give me a small getaway with three of my closest friends, or my husband and another couple, any time! But I’ve found that anything bigger toes the line of social exhaustion.—Shannon McMahon, destinations editor

Almost never…save with family
I have a lot of accumulated trauma from group trips undertaken in the past. My last one involved playing credit card roulette for the best room in the rental (that I wasn’t in charge of booking), sharing a toilet with failing plumbing, and extremely bad snacks. Granted, this wasn’t a group of best friends, but I’m loath to travel in large groups even when there are close friendships involved. On one such occasion, a couple decided to let their marriage unravel in front of us. As the trip progressed, it became apparent that the end for them was nigh—and our trip was irrecoverable. Since then, my kind of grouping involves meeting and hanging out with locals in the places I visit. Or traveling with just one close friend. These better suit my traveler personality, and I end up having an exponentially better time. My only exception to this rule is traveling with family—we’re all apples that fell from the same tree, and are generally agreeable around each other even over long periods—something that flummoxes my husband no end. —Arati Menon, global digital director 온라인카지노