Generally speaking, people like to go on holiday with people they know, so why on earth are thousands of people heading off for treks with people they’ve never met?!
At our company, The Bucket List Company, we offer trips to some of the most amazing places in the world.
Climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro, scuba diving in Gozo, trekking in Nepal; name an incredible adventure destination and the chances are we run a trip there.
But the thing is: Bucket List trips are not your average holidays, for lots of different reasons.
Clearly, we go to ‘bucket list’ destinations; off the beaten track and a world away from a week by the pool in the Canaries, but that isn’t the only big difference.
Traditionally, you’d only imagine going on holiday with people that you know well – your close friends or your family.
And while that does happen at The Bucket List Company, it’s also the case that on a lot of our trips, we put together groups of people who don’t actually know each other, as well as a guide who really knows the area well.
This might seem a bit weird, but we’ve been doing it for a while now, and it works exceptionally well. Here are just a few reasons why:
1. You’re less likely to make bad decisions
When you go on holiday on your own, or with a small group of people you know, it’s up to you to decide on where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and drink and how to ensure that you have the best time possible.
But when you go as part of a tour group, you have someone leading you who already knows where the best places to stay are, how best to get around and the ‘must see’ places in the area.
Plus, because they’ve got insider knowledge, you end up with a more enriching trip than you would otherwise.
2. Make new friends
One of my favourite things about our trips is the way that people who have never met before very quickly become firm friends.
They might be very different people from very different backgrounds, but they’re thrust into a situation where they’re spending a lot of time together, and that means that they get to know each other really quickly.
When you go on holiday by yourself, it’s very difficult to recreate this kind of situation – people generally keep themselves to themselves, and it’s hard to meet people who aren’t part of your group.
3. It’s safer
I can’t overstate the role that a tour leader plays on our holidays. We employ them for the specific job of making sure everyone is looked after, everyone is safe and everyone is happy.
Clearly we can’t be entirely responsible for all the things they do (!), but because the tour leader knows the area, they’ll know where to steer clear of, where there’s a higher chance of crime and how to avoid those sorts of pitfalls.
4. A mates holiday without the stress
We all know how much fun it is going on holiday with your mates, but if you’ve ever been the person organising one of those group holidays you’ll know that the organisation bit isn’t quite as enjoyable.
Let’s face it, no one wants to be the person booking flights on their credit cards and then chasing cash – it’s stressful, and if you’ve got one of those mates that takes forever to pay, it can leave you with a shortfall that you’d much rather avoid.
This is where a tour works perfectly – you can still have your mates holiday, but no one has to be in charge of organising the itinerary or taking the cash – the tour operator will sort all that out, leaving you to enjoy yourself with your friends.
5. Everyone loves a discount
Travelling in a group gives you access to discounts on all sorts of stuff, from activities, to entry fees to food and drink.
6. No more ‘selfie-no mates’
Have you ever been on an amazing holiday with one of your friends or family members and wished you had someone to take a picture of the two of you?
You’re not alone.
The selfie was practically invented for this ‘billy-no-mates’ scenario, but as we know, selfies aren’t likely to win any photography prizes, so if you’d like higher quality photography to remember your trips, then a tour gives you access to lots of people who can help you get the perfect shot that’ll live long in the memory.
Our Bucket List Adventures
If you’d like to find out more about the group trips we offer at The Bucket List Company, click HERE now to check out our adventures.