Group Trip Preparations Tips

Preparation month for us! A month more and we are off to this year's destination. Europe!

This year, we have set a $3000 budget all in for this trip (inclusive of pocket money). With the route that we want to take, our budget is pretty tight. Since we are not joining a tour group, we all have to do our homework and get the best deals that we can find.

Planning is one phase of our trips! Its time-consuming but it builds excitement and brings out our resourcefulness and teamwork. Seriously! Being in a group of travellers, you learn compromise, kindness, generosity, teamwork, resourcefulness, tact and being a cheerleader. It's like preparing for an event and dealing with different suppliers and team members. It's a plus if you have known these people for a long time or have been with trips with them before. If not, just remember that you can learn new things from them all the time. You all have one thing in common, you want to take the next great adventure!!! :-)

Here are some tips I can share for a group preparing for a trip.

Themes.
a. If you are in a group, agree on a theme for the year or the whole reason why you are all travelling. This guides the decisions that you make. (ex. our group choose places that would be harder to go to when we are older... Cambodia, India... Morocco. This year, we decided on a European destination but will still fit our budget... the decision... EASTERN EUROPE!)

Destination decision
b. Once a theme is decided, choose the destination. Everyone has to agree with the destination. No half-hearted group member. Each should be excited with the destination. Remember, it's their vacation too!

Timing
c. This could prove to be a problem since not everyone can take leaves at the same time. We normally approximate the time or month a year before. This way, we all have enough time to file leaves, prepare, save and research. Take into consideration the travel destination and the climate on the month you decide to visit. This can make or break your vacation.

Intentions
d. It would be good too if each person can tell the group what their main reason is for travelling. If one chooses to shop more than the others, the itinerary should be flexible enough that the shoppers can have their shopping time and the more culturally oriented ones can go on about seeing other places than the mall. Remember that you don't always have to stay together as a group. Having one companion each is a must though.

Research
e. Research! Research! Research! Study the place you're going to. Do they have Unesco World Heritage sites? Do they have a lot of shopping places? Which places do you want to visit first? What's the city center? What can you find around the City Center? How far are the sites from the City Center?

Assign. Assign. Assign.
f. No one person should be assigned to take care of everything. Each person in the group should be assigned to a task. (Ex. one can be assigned to research on flights, another to the tourist spots, another for restaurants, another for nightlife -- you all need a drink or two to meet the locals, right?!?! ;-)).

Collate!
g. Collate and evaluate. Once data is ready, share it with the others. Meet for dinner or email. It would be nice if you can all meet up. It's nice to start getting to know each other or just sharing the excitement of everyone for the trip.

Flights
h. For flights, show at least three different options. Cost is almost always the biggest consideration so show different flights from cheapest to most expensive. Next consideration is the date and time... do you fly on weekdays or weekends? Day or night? Remember that you don't all have to fly together if it really is not possible but make sure that everyone agrees to meet in the place of destination on a certain date so that the tour can commence on that date.

Accomodation Selection
i. If flights are tricky, you should look into this more closely. There might be people in your group who are picky with accomodations. First, agree on the amount to be spent on accomodations so you have a baseline on whether you will choose a 4 star, 5 star hotels or apartments. Next, give options of different hotels with cost per night or the whole time of stay so they can all vote and agree on the accomodations.

Places to See
j. There might be tons of places to go to in one place. Choose the best ones that you can go to in a day. Write them down and schedule which ones to go to at certain times of the day.

I'll stop here for now. There are so many tips. I'll add more later.