3 simple steps to planning a successful group holiday

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Travelling is exciting, isn’t it? You get to go on a plane, try new cuisine, see some of the most beautiful beaches and take some of the most incredible photographs. When done right, it’s an experience that will create positive memories for a lifetime. One factor that could make your travel experiences even more exciting is leaving the country and going away with a group of your mates. It makes perfect sense in your head, you all get along so well at home, why not take all the fun you’re having abroad with you. Well… Somethings are easier said than done.

I’ve been on a total of six group holidays (by the time this post is published it will be seven) ranging from groups of three to six people with both males and females groups, and I’m very fortunate to say that each trip has been a success. (Quick shout-out to all my mates I’ve travelled with, you’re amazing!) Although I am fully aware that sometimes planning a trip and travelling as a group can get a little tricky.

I thought why not create a simple and straightforward guide for those who would like to plan a group trip and haven’t been so successful with planning a group trip. So here’s a 3 step guide for you.

First thing I will say is if you know you have problematic friends I.E… the one who is always broke and or the friend who acts out when they are drunk. You may want to leave them behind. If they are challenging to deal with at home, why would you expect any different in another country?

Step 1) Now that that’s out of the way, here’s how to manoeuvre your way through the planning process.  The first thing you need to do as a group  is establish a location, the purpose of the trip and dates. If you know you want to a party holiday, then Bali isn’t going to be the spot, is it? Here might also be an excellent time to discuss budget and talk money. Miami and Ibiza are both great partying spots but come with very different price tags. Find out what your friends can afford and try and compromise on a location that suits all. The next step here will be to pick a hotel and look out for things such as the distance of your hotel from a popular landmark or tourist attraction, if they have a pool, distance from the beach, any nearby public transport and the distance from the airport. Whichever factors that may be important to you for your trip. Research!

Zante – Greece 2016 (What a throwback!)

Step 2) The Hard Part – Securing the trip -Once you’ve gone through step one which shouldn’t take any longer than a week to confirm it’s now for people to put money where their mouth is. I’d say this is the hardest part because this matter is time sensitive and the longer you wait to book the more expensive your trip may become. Here you need to make sure everyone is on the same page.  Simply set deadlines that everyone is comfortable with and be clear about the deadlines, make sure everyone is okay with this deadline. Provided you’re an even number you can book in twos which could make things a lot easier. Depending on your deadline this part should take no longer than a month.

Step 3) The Final part – Time to Plan – Now that everyone has paid off their deposits. Yayy lol. You can now iron out details of daily activities which will be in line with your purpose for the trip.  Also, you can discuss other varying factors for your trip and how much money you’ll bring. You could maybe designate one area of the trip for each person to focus on I.E one persons books transfers and another researches activities to do ect.

Here’s a tip – The sooner people are aware you want to go on the group trip the better. Giving people advance notice gives them time to warm up to the idea and save their money which will make the planning process and “the hard part” run more swiftly.

I hope my advice will take you far and wide across the globe.

Till next week.

Lots of Love

Sasha