Travel in a group and discover an extraordinary way to explore the world! Traveling with a group or with your friends can lead to exciting experiences, crazy adventures, lots of laughter, and boozy moments. Whether you want to have an awesome beach party in Mexico or sail through the brilliant blue waters of Greece, group travel doubles the fun. Moreover, traveling in a group makes it safe and sound to go around, as there is safety in numbers.
On the other hand, group travel might sound intimidating. Spending a few days to weeks with a group of people, sharing different perspectives, and having distinctive needs are challenging. However, you can get the best out of your group trip with proper planning! So, how to plan a group trip?
Say goodbye to the tension and say hello to the fabulous experiences! In this article, we will show you the best ways to plan your perfect group trip. So, check it out before you call your friends to travel with you!
Travel in a Group: How to Plan a Perfect Trip – Summary
- Plan the Trip in Advance
- Choose the Leader
- Work Together on Figuring Out the Trip
- Agree on the Budget
- Download Travel Planning Apps
- Get the Best Out of Google Suite
- Let Everyone Have Their Free Time
- Hand It to Group Travel Companies
Plan the Trip in Advance
Traveling in a group means you will have a quite number of people going with you. So, to make it convenient and stress-free, early preparation is a must. Planning a trip in advance allows you to arrange the itinerary and essentials neatly.
You have more time to book flight tickets and accommodation for the group, as well as secure them at lower prices. Moreover, you can have more time to research the destination and choose the places that suit the group. Additionally, early planning gives your group less reason to cancel the trip last minute. With that being said, planning the trip in advance gives you tons of benefits!
Choose the Leader
When ideas are running wild, and tensions are rising, it would be nice to have someone to cool them down. That’s why a group leader is essential if you are traveling in a group! You can choose someone in the group to be in charge of your trip. A leader doesn’t just mean someone who can lead the way, but they can be the decision maker or fun factor of the group.
However, if one person for everything sounds too hard, you can choose multiple people to be in charge of something. One person for accommodations, one person for itineraries, and others. Discuss it with your group and go with what fits you perfectly.
Work Together on Figuring Out the Trip
Here is the fun part of group trip planning: teamwork and discussions! Make sure to include everyone in your group during the planning process. It is great to choose destinations, itineraries, and activities that everyone likes. Thus, sit together with your group and talk about the trip. Ask questions to each other, let crazy ideas pop out, shoot recommendations to the table, and write them down.
However, this planning step might be overwhelming. Your group might stumble upon different preferences, too many ideas, and expectations. So, we have these prompts to help you plan and discuss the trip. Ask your group about the following:
- Trip style: What kind of trip would you like to go on? Do you want to travel in full backpacker mode or boujee? Do you guys want it to be an active, outdoorsy trip or a calm, indoor one? It is first and foremost to discuss!
- Activities: What kind of activities that your group would like to do? Relaxing city tours or adrenaline-rushing hiking trips? Culinary hunting or hidden gems scavenging? Note down what the group likes and consider adding it to the itinerary
- Transportation: What are the transportation modes you would use during the trip?
- Accommodation: How would the group like to stay? Does everyone comfortable with sharing beds? What are the facilities that the group needs?
- Time: How long will the trip take?
Agree on the Budget
Here are the most important things when planning a group trip! Setting the trip budget in advance is important for planning the whole trip. Put in mind that everyone in the group might have different budgets. There are some who like to splurge, while others tend to go for affordable options.
Thus, setting the budget makes it convenient for everyone during the trip. You can choose whether you want to spend more money on an Instagrammable villa or save it for other amazing activities. Moreover, agreeing on the budget makes it easier for you to split the costs, as everyone will spend roughly the same amount.
Download Travel Planning Apps
Mobile apps are the most effective ways to keep on track of your travel essentials. Yes, you need something to help you track the costs, locate your travel buddies during split-up, find accommodation, and more. Then, you can download these awesome applications to help you during the trip:
- Travefy: An itinerary management app. You can easily drag and drop itineraries to the app and choose the people who are in charge of them.
- Troupe: Vacation-planning app with features like polling, reminders, and maps
- Splitwise: Track your group expenses and split the bills easily
- TravelSpend: Another mobile app for tracking costs. Has the option to change currency, which is very helpful for traveling.
Get the Best Out of Google Suite
Another good option to document, plan, and arrange your trip is by using Google Suite. Tools in Google Suite, like Google Drive and Spreadsheets, are shareable and easy to use. You can make a folder or file and let everyone in the group have access to it. Then, here are some Google tools that can help you in planning your group trip.
- Drive: Compile photos and videos from your trip in a folder. It has a huge space that can fit your large files. Moreover, Google Drive is shareable and safe.
- Spreadsheets: A great tool to keep a track of your travel plan and expenses. You can write down itineraries, schedules, costs, and ideas in the sheets. Also, you can download travel planner templates to make your life easier
- Docs: Microsoft Word-like tool. Use it to write down plans and itineraries. Also, a nice tool to keep a note of important and fun things that the group needs to know.
Let Everyone Have Their Free Time
Traveling in a group means you will go to exciting places together and share tons of fun times. On the other hand, it is important to arrange a free time for everyone. You and your travel buddies need time to recharge and relax. Besides that, free time also allows you to wander around places that are not on the itinerary or do a fun activity by yourself.
Hand It to Group Travel Companies
Are you looking for the easiest way to plan a group trip? Then, let a group travel company take charge of your trip! There are lots of group travel companies offering tours, from small group trips to large, 20-people group trips. They plan the perfect trip for you while you can sit down and relax.
Hosted group trips have become one of the easiest ways to travel. You can book a trip with your friends or even go solo. Thus, the greatest thing about group trips is that you can sit back and relax while they arrange everything for you. Nowadays, group trips are available worldwide. Whether you want to explore the beauty of European cities or go island hopping in Southeast Asia, there is always something for you!
Go on Awesome Group Trips with JoinMyTrip
Yes, group trips are a fantastic way to travel the world because you can make long-lasting memories and share an awesome time with your buddies. Then, are you thinking of going on a group trip?
Sit back and relax, JoinMyTrip got your back! JoinMyTrip offers fabulous small group trips to hundreds of destinations all across the globe. The trips are hosted and arranged by experienced travelers who are crazy about exploring the world. On these trips, you can get unique itineraries, thrilling experiences, and like-minded travel buddies! Sounds like an awesome way of traveling, right?
Start traveling with JoinMyTrip and get a taste of an authentic way to travel!