Photo Courtesy of - N i c o l a
Whether you’re with extended family, a bunch of close friends or your child’s entire soccer team, traveling in a group can be taxing on a physical, mental, emotional and sometimes financial level. There’s a lot of extra planning and care that has to be taken into consideration, and many people don’t realize it until they’re already well into their trip.
At E-Z Rent-A-Car, we’re all about making traveling easy, stress-free and convenient. That’s why we’ve come up with a list of tips for people vacationing in groups to make it as smooth a trip as possible. Here’s how to stay safe and sane with your group on your next adventure away from home:
1. Create a “must-do” list and stick to it. Traveling to any new location opens a world of options for you to take advantage of while visiting. Unfortunately, vacation time is usually limited, so you often have to pick and choose the most important places first. With a large group, it becomes even more of a headache to coordinate. So, in order to keep it simple and organized, ask your group to take a poll and vote for their top three destinations to visit. Make a list of the top picks (however many you think you can fit into your trip) and stick to those. If there’s enough time for visiting other places, then great. If not, at least you’ve chosen a few that the majority of people wanted to see.
2. Find group discounts. If your group is big enough, you might qualify for some really great discounts to attractions, hotels and activities if reserved in advance. Almost every major attraction and hotel offers group rates that are significantly cheaper—keep this in mind so you can enjoy more for less!
3. Pack lightly. This is a bit of helpful advice for any traveler, but especially for those traveling in groups. The reality is, with more people comes less space. Less space in rental cars, tour busses, subways, hotel rooms and more. Plus, there’s a good chance that you’ll need some space in your suitcases to bring a few items back with you, so packing lightly will avoid having to buy another suitcase and pay for extra checked baggage on flights home.
4. Assign responsibilities. No matter what ages the members of your group are, there are always responsibilities that can be assigned in order to make things run fluidly. If you have a group of young adults and adults, learn what people’s strengths are and assign duties accordingly. For example, one person might be the one to be in charge of making reservations to different attractions or restaurants, while another might be responsible for taking photos and collecting memorabilia of the trip. If you have a group of younger kids or pre-teens, you can still assign duties like having a line leader who helps keeps the group together, a co-pilot who helps with reading off directions, a games coordinator for entertaining the group when there is downtime, etc. Similarly, with older kids and teenagers, this includes making rules about curfews, meeting spots and times, etc.
5. Communicate. This is an important one for traveling with older children/teenagers. Be sure to always have a way to communicate with each other, whether that means by cell phone, two-way radios, or other similar devices. Be sure everyone is on the same page about what to do if separated in a big city, or where to meet if someone gets left behind.
6. Tip well. Of course, traveling with a group can get pricey—especially if you’re the one footing the bill most of the time—but if your group is especially rowdy or needy, it might be a good investment to tip people (servers, bellhops, tour guides, etc.) who might be providing your group services more than once while visiting. By tipping a bellhop or a maid an extra couple of dollars, they might go out of their way to assist you even more during your stay.
7. Have a plan when things don’t go as planned. It’s Murphy’s Law. And any experienced traveler should know to plan for it. When things don’t go the way you’d hoped they would, be sure to have a back-up plan in place. A hotel lost your reservation, an attraction is closed for the day, etc.—no matter what the problem, you have the ability to turn it around and be positive (and not waste any time).
Traveling with a group doesn’t have to be stressful. Make your experience unforgettable with these group-travel essential tips, or check out our other travel resources, like special E-Z discounts, tips, travel-related blog posts, special coupons and more.
Photo Courtesy of - Thomas Hawk
