I actually wrote this post before I left for my Sabbatical and thought it would be perfect timing to publish it as I start my tour of Egypt/Jordan with Travel Talk Tours tomorrow.
Too many of my friends cringe when they hear the word tour and quickly state that they will never take a tour. I think they have an image of retired people being herded like cattle and being on a ridiculous tight schedule but that is not always the case and you don’t have to pick those types of tours. There are so many types of tours to choose so pick one that meets your needs. There are small group tours, tours for your age range, and slower paced tours so pick one that meets your specific needs.
1. Saving yourself the time of pre-planning :
Many of us are too busy in our day-to-day lives to spend the hours needed to properly plan a vacation. Finding the best hotels, deciding what area would be best to stay, researching what sites to visit, what restaurants should you eat at, and how you should get from city to city is simply time-consuming. Taking a tour alleviates you from the stress of planning your vacation. And if you are traveling with someone else it may save you from a couple of fights as well. You only have one decision to make together, where to go.
2. Avoid Stress on Your Vacation:
Since you probably didn’t get everything planned before your trip, there can still be a lot of planning as you travel. But with a tour, you don’t have to worry about how to get from Point A to B since that is all worked out for you by your tour manager. You don’t have worry about what time you should allot for everything that you want to do during your trip so you can fit it all in. You can simply wake up and follow the schedule for the day. Who wants to be stressed during their vacation anyways?
3. Efficient use of your time:
While tours may keep you to tight schedule at times, they aim for you to get the most out of every minute of your trip. They want you to see as many things as possible and don’t want you to miss any must see items in your destination. You don’t waste time standing in lines since they often get you into the major sites using a group ticket with a predesignated time. You simply get off the bus, skip the line, and walk in.
4. Budgeting
A tour can be a great way to set a budget for yourself and stick to it. You have already paid the major expenses upfront and tours clearly mark what is included. Most of them will even say how much you should budget for food for the meals not included. They will also show the prices for the optional activities so you can look at them ahead of time to see if it is something you want to do and fits within your budget.
5. Most tours do you give you free time
It is a myth that tours give you zero free time. You can usually see on a tour itinerary that they will designate certain days or times for you to do as you wish. They will usually include some optional activities that they recommend to do in that destination and even arrange them for the group at a discounted rate. But if you choose to forgo the optional activities then they are happy to point you in right direction for areas to shop or place to eat on the nights that dinner isn’t included.
6.Customized Tours to Meet your Needs
Tours to Fit your Age Range: Contiki caters to 18-35 year olds so sadly this is the last year that I can travel with them.The thought literally makes me want to cry a tear or two. I have taken 4 Contiki Tours to Europe, China, Thailand , and Peru and most of my friends know how much I have loved everyone one of them because they have heard me tell countless stories of my glory days on Contiki tours.
Luckily, I have found there are several other tour groups which cater to 18-39 year old so I guess I don’t have to cry after all or at least I can wait a few more years for that. Some of these tour groups include GAdventures – 18 to Thirtysomethings Travel Style, TravelTalk, Top Deck, and Acacia Tours which is specific to Africa. There is also Flashback which caters to 30s and 40s. I plan on traveling with Travel Talk to Croatia, Egypt, and Jordan; and Acacia Tours to Africa so stay tuned for reviews of those tour companies.
Niche Tours to Meet your Interests:
You could find tours specific to photography, scuba diving, hiking, bird watching, Lord of the Rings etc. Your friends at home might find that interest dorky or weird but how cool would it be to spend a week with people who love the same thing. Whatever your heart desires to do, there is probably a tour out there that caters to it. It can be a great use of your sabbatical time to dig into a hobby that you love.
7. You don’t have to travel solo:
One of the things, I hear time after time that stops people from traveling is having no one to travel with. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have plenty of friends or even a significant other, but sometimes life just gets in the way. In my early 20’s, I had a hard time finding friends to travel overseas with because most of us were broke and living paycheck to paycheck. But travel was always a priority for me, so I skipped buying a new dress or items for my apartment and drove the same car for 12 years to save the money to spend on travel instead. But some of my friends had other priorities. That isn’t wrong, it is just how they choose to spend their money.
Now in my thirties, everyone is so busy that it can be impossible to find date that works for everyone. Or my friends are pregnant so they don’t want to travel during that time. Or they have kids at home and don’t have anyone to watch their kids for an extended amount of time. Personally, I am just sitting here like I am single and childless and thinking about my next travels. If you ask me to take a trip, my answer will 9.5 times out of 10 be yes. So if I can’t get friends together then I take a group tour. Don’t worry about being the only one that booked the tour alone either. On the tours I have taken, generally 75% of the bus arrived solo. You may arrive on the trip solo but you will quickly make friends so you never feel like you are traveling alone.
Especially for Sabbatical travel, you most likely won’t find a travel companion that feels comfortable taking the same amount of time off of work as you. So this can be the perfect time to try out a group tour. I have met several friend on my tours over the years that simply did a group tour in the middle of their solo sabbatical travel around the world to mix things up and help them from feeling lonely on the road. Or they would do a group tour at the beginning of their South America adventure in order to help find some people who might be able to travel with them for a bit after the tour ended as well.
8. Making Lifelong Friends
I still keep in touch with people I have met on all of my group tours even if it is just through Facebook and Instagram. That counts, right?? I even traveled to Australia in February of 2018 for a wedding of my friend Millie who I instantly connected with on my China Contiki Tour in 2011. I wasn’t the only one from our Contiki China tour that came to her wedding. Ty flew all the way from Phoenix as well. Millie’s husband wasn’t on our original tour but we got to meet him during one of our mini tour reunions in Vegas.
9. Friends from All-Over the World Can Mean Free Accommodation in Other Countries:
People who love to travel tend to have the same mind set of help others afford travel when possible. I have personally hosted several of my old tour mates when they have found themselves in my town. It is great way to catch up with them, show them around, and I was more then happy to give them a place to stay knowing they would do the same for me in a heartbeat. I don’t know how many times I have been offered places to stay by old tour mates and taken several of them up on the offer throughout the years. If you are taking a long term trip like a Sabbatical then this can help you meet people in other countries to stay with or meet up with during your time away.
10. Whirlwind Romances happen on tours:
Single and ready to mingle?? I don’t know how many times I have seen romances blossom on the tours that I have taken. You spend 24 hours a day with people so it is only natural that some people may hit it off romantically. This can be a great way to get yourself over an ex boyfriend/girlfriend. Plus what a great revenge, to have your ex have to see pictures of you living it up on vacation in the arms of someone else? Even if you aren’t trying to get over an ex, who doesn’t like to get caught up in a whirlwind romance? If you don’t believe me, just watch the Bachelor! I had a romance or two in my times abroad and they added some great memories to my trip. The hard part can be keeping that relationship alive once the tour ends but it can be fun will it lasts. I don’t know anyone personally that has married someone they met on tour but I know it happens. Or is that just in the romantic comedies I have been watching?
11. Safety in Numbers
There are certain areas that can be considered dangerous to travel especially if you are a single woman traveling alone. Many people respond to hearing Egypt, Jordan and Turkey in my destination list with, “Are you sure you want to go there?” “Or Is it safe to travel there?” While I have had friends travel to those areas by themselves, I personally feel safer in a group. Not to mention, I will get to avoid some of the questions from local men of “Where is my husband”. Sorry fellows, I don’t have one and that isn’t completely crazy in the US.
I believe they are dangers no matter where you live these days and I hate to see that as a reason that some people chose not to travel. You could get in a car accident a block from your house, you can’t avoid all dangers in the world but you can make smart decisions. I have been mugged by gun point before but it wasn’t on one of my many trips abroad it was literally right in front of my door in Chicago at 10pm on Friday night. Ever since that incident, walking alone at night makes me nervous. So a group tour where I will make friends to walk around at night makes me more comfortable. Of course, there are other options such as cabs or Ubers. I always tell people to use the same common sense abroad that you would at home.
12. Bridging the Gap of Foreign Language Issues
Usually at the beginning of the tour, the tour manager will go over the common phrases that you should know such as hello, good afternoon, thank you, etc. Many times they will know more then just a few phrases so they can help translate questions during your tour. Not to mention they have already purchased your tickets for sites so you don’t have to stumble through some of that interaction with locals not speaking the language.
13. Knowledgeable Tour Guides
Thoughout your trip, the tour guides may give you some mini history lessons that I probably wouldn’t have taken the time to ever research myself. It makes the site that much more impactful when you know how it was built or why it is there and when it came about. They will often deliver these talks on the bus on your way to the landmark. It is easy to want to be lazy on vacation (or at least I like to be) and not read the pamphlets given to you. This makes it easy to just sit back and listen. Also they often use local guides for major sites which can offer additional insight and are truly a local expert.
If I had to pick one type of travel to do for the rest of my life, I don’t know what I would do. I can’t pick just one. The truth is that I just love travel no matter what form it takes but I do hope that you would take a tour at least once in your life so you can understand my passion for them.
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