Travelling on own need company

Hi,

I have a load of holidays to take and I want to do something useful with them, does anyone know of anything whereI can join a group of people and go off, or is anyone in the same position as myself, looking at about a month maybe more...

I am in much the same position, I am heading off on Friday for a month starting in England and taking in France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. However I am meeting 5 friends in Majorca for one of the weeks PM me if this sounds of interest to you even for part of it,

C

You may find something useful in the key post on Holidaying Alone.

Yeah I checked out those thanks sueellen plenty of posters on the lonely planet site and gapyear.com. There is another site too gapyearforgrownups.com I think its called

I was in a similar position a few years back and ened up booking a holiday with a UK group called EXPLORE. The group of 16 had a broad range of ages and nationalities and, IMHO, worked well.

EXPLORE's focus was on activity-based holidays. I'm sure there are other options if you are looking for something more sedentary.

The only drawback was that there was no co-ordination in Gatwick so even though there were others from the group on the same flight, we didn't know of each other so I was , in effect, travelling alone until we reached the destination.

Went on holiday with UK company Exodus.co.uk a couple of years ago. A mixture of couples and singles. Was great fun. Would thoroughly recommend it

I've taken two different tours with a company called Insight. You can organise them through CIE or go direct through Insightvacations.com .

I was a bit afraid it would be a crowd of "old fogeys" but both trips were wonderful - one was Italy & the other Portugal, Spain & Morocco. There was a very mixed bunch of people from all over the world & all ages, couples, friends, mothers & daughters etc & a few other singles. They are really for people interested in seeing the sights as opposed to late night clubbing/partying as there are some very early morning starts.

I had a great time & made loads of new friends

Have a look at [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] I see that you can post a photo of yourself here. Better still have a look at your potential travelling mates......

Haven't used them but I get the newsletter from these guys http://www.intrepidtravel.com/ and they seem to be a great outfit, and reasonably priced. I have no association with them, just daydream about doing some of their trips sometimes!

A friend used them for a tour in Australia and had a brilliant time. They do trips all over the world.

Have you considered travelling on your own? If you stay in hostels etc. you'll be meeting people all the time - many of them solo travellers - and being alone you will have the freedom to come and go as you please doing exactly what you want to do. It is a scary prospect, but it also gives you a great boost when you realise that you can go it alone and have a good time.

My mother has gone on a few trips with the PATT club [broken link removed] and found them very enjoyable, including a trip to the Christmas markets in Germany and a long weekend in Paris. She is a very "young" 50-something year old. They do some longer trips to the States and Canada.

You could post a message on http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ stating that you're looking for travelling companions - a mate of mine did so several years ago and ended up joining up with a few groups that went on trips together casually - she had a great time.

Good luck!

There are loads of companies who do tours, which you can join onto - like previously mentioned Explore, Exodus and also Imaginative Traveller, Journey Latin America, Travelbag, Dragoman.

You dont say what age group you are, but having done a couple of those group holidays, I have found it's mostly single girls in their 30s, with a smattering of couples, the odd single guy, and a few older people (60's/70s).

Its a great way to see a part of the world when your friends have no time/inclincation/funds, and all the hard work of organising hotels and transport etc is done for you.
On the down side, your independence is compromised since you are in a group, you may not like the group dynamics, you share a room (unless you pay a suplement) and tend to have little choice of when/where to eat (unless you branch off from the group to eat).

Travelling alone you are completely independent and free, and it's generally very easy to meet people. It can be a lonely though, so depends on ones individual personality as to whether you would enjoy it.

Enjoy your hols!