trip switcher

To Tour or Not to Tour

So you want to visit a foreign country and you intend on going later this year, no matter what. You want to go either by yourself or with a close friend but you`re not sure what to do once you hop off of the plane. Should you A) jump on tripswitcher.com and start a friendship with someone at your destination or B) start looking at tour groups to join? While both are viable options, here are some things to consider when deciding which one is best for you.

Convenience

Tour Groups

Once you book a tour, it`s a worry free process from then on. You show up at the departure location with a smile and your suitcase and just go with the flow. Everything`s meticulously planned out and all of the details are covered. Airlines, transportation, local guides, hotels, restaurants, everything associated to your trip has been taken care of. The hassle free aspect of a tour group is its prime selling point.

Trip Switching

While having everything booked is nice, some people may find that the tour group`s pace doesn`t actually match theirs. If you want to stay in a museum longer or are bored with an area and want to leave it sooner, you can`t. You have to maintain the same pace as the tour allows. Spontaneous sightseeing is out of the question as well. If you pass by a nice little restaurant that looks delicious and you`d like a quick bite, you are out of luck. The convenience of having a trip switching friend is that they usually do what you`re interested in doing because they expect to be treated the same if they ever visit you. While they may have some issues about going to certain locations for one reason or another, at least it`s up for discussion, unlike the rigid schedules of tour groups.

Cost

Tour Groups

It seems that an entire tour can be had for the same price of just your airfare if you try booking a plane on your own. Large tour operations get bulk discounts with everything from airlines, hotels, ground transportation, restaurants, sights, attractions and even the tour guides. Some of these savings are passed down to you and there are some great deals to be had.

Trip Switching

While the costs of trip switching and independent travel is higher than joining a tour group, the benefits could be worth it. Your trip switching local friend may have the inside scoop on some deals at certain events and how to get them, which would save you money over being a common unsuspecting tourist, but may not beat the economies of scale discount that the tour groups get. The combined price of your trip will never be as low as a tour group but think of what you`re paying for in a tour group. For example, on day one you will visit three specific locations... What if you`re not interested in seeing location number two at all? Too bad, you`re paying for it whether you want to or not. Would you rather pay full price to see something you really want to or pay half price to see something you don`t? The same goes for meals. Tour groups often have contracts with specific restaurants, whether the food is good or not. Tour group members often do not have a choice but to eat there (and some times, even the meals are picked out for them already). Would you like to be forced to eat a certain meal at a certain place for a discounted rate or would you rather have a say in what restaurant you eat at and what food you order for full price? To some people, paying the full price for better options is worth the extra money.

Destination Access

Tour Groups

Tour groups have special access and can be the optimal choice for certain destinations. For example, the Vatican Museum in Rome is so crowded during peak months that many would-be visitors are turned away after spending hours in line. Guided tour groups have their own Vatican Museum access times and even enter through a different door. On a larger scale, visiting places that do not have direct access routes and/or poor technology (which means it would be difficult to find a trip switching friend that lives there), such as Antarctica or Honduras, would be a much better experience via a tour group.

Trip Switching

While tour groups can get you special access to sights and enable you to travel sparsely populated regions easily, they are not without competition. Smaller venues sometimes cannot handle large tour groups efficiently so they are avoided by the group corporations or visa versa. In this situation you will be in better hands with your trip switching friend. Furthermore, visiting some non-technology enabled areas is not completely out of the question for trip switchers. Rural areas, like a small village that`s near New Delhi rumored to have great restaurants or shopping, will not be on the agenda in tour groups. Your trip switching friend from New Delhi, however, would be able have you shopping in the village in no time.

History and Culture

Tour Groups

Tour groups are excellent for learning about a country`s history and culture in a very constructive manner. The tour guides provided are very well versed and know a plethora of information that even your local trip switcher would not know. You can ask questions and get professional answers, as well as pamphlets and other material capable of expanding your knowledge. Tour groups are essentially dedicated to an educational experience, and more and more are offering hands on opportunities, such as basket weaving in the Appalachian Mountains or gold panning in a river near Barkerville, Canada. Expect to learn a lot in a tour group in a professional, well-designed manner.

Trip Switching

While a local trip switcher cannot come near the historical knowledge and experience of professional tour guides, they do have other ways to educate you on their culture. Trip switchers can give you an in-depth look into the present culture of their country, something that draws the younger crowd. Going to pubs, nightclubs and exotic restaurants can give you insight into how the culture behaves in their free time. How they dress, how they dance, what they eat or drink for fun. This world is almost blind to tour groups but is a haven for trip switchers and just as interesting. Going to historical sites can have it`s rewards with a trip switcher as well. Instead of having to blast through a museum in an hour while listening to a quickly delivered, rehearsed speech in a tour group, you can literally spend all day there reading every display card thoroughly and investigating each relic one at a time. Your time is spent how you like so you could learn as much or as little as you wish.

Socializing

Tour Groups

Tour groups make it really easy to find people to mingle with while on vacation. Many tour groups may even be dedicated to a certain demographic that matches yours, such as single seniors or being a member of a special club. They typically encourage socialization among their customers by arranging group meals, happy hours and other events during the trip. Tour groups are also an excellent way to network. A friend of mine actually got a job and moved to California based on an encounter with a company CEO while on the same tour group together. All in all, tour groups are an excellent way to socialize and pass the time while on vacation, as well as potentially make friends into the future.

Trip Switching

Trip switching or meeting a friend who lives in a foreign country during your vacation is a great way to build a lasting friendship, but it`s not without risks. Your whole vacation can fall apart if you and this one friend have compatibility issues, but that`s something that should be taken care of long in advance of your visit. It`s a little different in tour groups, though. You could be stuck sitting next to someone who doesn`t bathe often or someone who talks too much or has any other kind of annoying habit. Don`t like it? That`s too bad, because you`ll be dealing with him for the balance of your tour, which could be a week or longer. If you have a personality conflict with someone in a tour group and you two do not get along, there is no escape. With a trip switcher, barring you and him or her actually have a conflict, you will most likely meet and mingle with your trip switcher`s friends in some fun environments. If there is a personality conflict between you and one of your trip switcher`s friends, it`s very easy for the trip switcher to simply not invite them out with you while you`re visiting. Problem averted. Furthermore, it`s very difficult to casually socialize with residents while in a tour group because tour groups have such limited time constraints, don`t blend well, and come across with a club or clique type aura. If you`re with your trip switcher buddy, you become less conspicuous and merge well with their society and locals feel more at ease interacting with you.

There are many pros and cons to both trip switching and joining tour groups and I hope I was able to touch on a few of them. All that`s left for you to do is look into the mirror and figure out if you prefer the worry-free group atmosphere or if you would rather strike out on your own and tackle the adventure head on with your trip switcher friend.