9 Travel Hacks for Surviving a Group Tour

9 Travel Hacks for Surviving a Group Tour

I’ve always been an independent traveller, preferring to travel on my own, with family, or loved ones. I like to do my own thing, arrange my own schedule, and sometimes take naps. Despite this, I recently spent about three weeks in South Africa and Namibia, on two different guided trips. Why? Good question. Simple really, I wanted to visit Africa, didn’t want to travel on my own, and a group tour seemed like the safest and most fun way to do this.

Would I do it again? Definitely- a group tour was an amazing way to travel in places I would prefer not to be alone, I met some fun people and had a lot of laughs, and had a complete action-packed few weeks of hiking, photography, adventures, topped off with a few Windhoek lagers.

Group tours offer set itineraries, with accommodation, travel, sometimes meals, and activities included, led by a tour guide(s). They can range in option from backpacker or camping up to 5-star luxury, and there are a wealth of companies worldwide. I took one tour with a South African company, Bok Bus, and another with Canadian-based G Adventures. Both companies were fantastic, and would recommend 100%.

Having never done a group tour, I really had no idea what to expect. To help others, I’ve put together my top tips and travel hacks for making the most of your tour, and I’ve also got you covered on your next long flight.  Although my trips were in Africa, I’m sure these will come in handy for a group trip anywhere.

Be patient- It takes a long time to do even the simplest things

Tour groups can range in size from a small handful, up to 20-30, depending on your tour. My recent tour in Namibia had 17 people. When you stop at gas stations for a bathroom break, there are two bathrooms and 17 full bladders. A quick lunch break takes an hour, because 17 people have to order, pay, and receive food. Serving dinner and drink to 17 people, plus the tour guide and driver- this is time-consuming. It took a few days to into the routine of traveling with others, but after that it was fine.

My point is, travelling solo means you can suit your own schedule, but group tours require patience.

Be Punctual

A no-brainer, but the itinerary of the tour is dependent on everyone showing up on time, waking up on time, and leaving on time. Don’t be that guy who turns up late- it is disrespectful to the others on your trip, and it also means your trip leader might have to cut out activities, as there may not be enough time to fit everything in on busy days.

If you’re on time, everyone will have a better time, and can make the most of their trip.

AirDrop

Chance are, everyone in the group will constantly be taking lots of photos and videos, and everyone wants a copy of each photo, especially if you’re in them. A simple hack to make this easy is AirDrop– using Bluetooth via your iPhone, you can send photos to any other iPhone in the vicinity, for free, even if you don’t have Wifi, 4G, or reception. Our tour constantly shared photos this way, and it was super easy and fun. So much easier than texting or emailing. The only caveat is that this only works with Apple products.

Use it, love it, Instagram it. But be nice and email the photos to your Samsung pals.

Label Your Stuff

Again, 17 people= lots of room for confusion. If everyone on the bus has bottled water (a must-have in certain countries, like Africa), or wine, snacks, etc., it’s easy to forget where you left something and inadvertently take the wrong thing. Luckily, our tour leader told us about this from Day 1, and brought along a marker for this very reason, therefore avoiding a lot of mistaken identity.

Bring a sleeping mask & earplugs

Whether you’re camping, sharing a room, bunking in a hostel, or just in a guesthouse with thin walls, you’re likely to be in close proximity to others. Earplugs can go a long way to help. A sleeping mask is also key if you want an afternoon nap on the bus, or if you want to turn in earlier than your roommates.

Sometimes a six-pack of beer can go a long way

Making friends is most easiest done with alcohol. On one of the hottest days of our trip, in Namibia, we were camping and had all afternoon to hang around the campsite, Sossus Oasis. It was about 110F, and we had just returned from a day of hiking and dune trekking. Everyone migrated toward the swimming pool, hot and tired, literally covered in dirty and sand, when out of the blue, like a knight in shining armour, one of the guys on the trip showed up at the pool with a few six-packs, having just trekked over from the gas station/corner store/bar. It was a much-needed morale boost, to say the least.

Make new friends for life- or- walk away feeling pleasantly happy that you’ll never have to see these people again. Both are perfectly acceptable

The whole summer camp/lets-be-best-friends forever mentality seems to come up a lot when talking about organised group trips. However, life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, and sometimes your canoe leaks.

You probably won’t click with everyone on the trip- that’s perfectly ok! People tend to naturally gravitate towards others who have similar interests or backgrounds to themselves. You’ll probably meet people you disagree with or don’t like- don’t let it ruin your trip.

Listen to your tour guide

Listen to your guide and bus driver- they are there to keep you safe, and to help you make the most of your trip. If they are addressing the group, listen to them! They are trying to tell you important things so you know how to: not get lost/where to buy food/what time do be back on the bus. Leading tours would be a pretty high-stress job, and the leaders work really hard to ensure everyone has a great time- give them the respect of your attention. (Was amazed how this didn’t always happen, hence my need to include it.)

Make an effort to spend time on your own, if you’re more introverted

It’s easy to fall into the trap, for convenience, if nothing else, of doing everything together with your tour mates every day. If you’re a person who values some alone time, this might leave you feeling worn out and exhausted. It’s good to go for a stroll through town alone, check out a separate cafe for lunch, or turn in early one night, if it helps you feel recharged and refreshed. Personally, I paid slightly extra to book my own room for the duration, as I really appreciate having my own space, but I realise this isn’t possible on all tours, or on tight budgets.

I am sure there’s many more tips I could include, but these are the main ones on my mind. Have you been on a group trip before, or are you solely an independent explorer? Do you have any top tips for others to help prepare for a group trip?