Here Are 9 Things I Learned About Travel Groups After Going With My First One
Not totally what I expected.
At the beginning of this year, my parents and I took a trip to Ghana with a travel group. It was my first time doing one, and so I decided to share what the experience was like for anyone who’s curious about trying them. Here’s what I learned on mine:
1. There are different types of travel groups for different age groups and identities.
The travel agency we used was Let Sparks Fly, a company celebrating Black women through group travel. My mom chose the group, and so my dad and I were two out of three men in the whole group. The whole group consisted of about 30 people, mostly older individuals in their 40s and beyond, so I was the youngest attendee (I was 28 at the time).
2. We got lanyards with name badges on them to wear. This was sent in a care package that came before the trip, which also included our daily itinerary.
3. We were (mostly) booked and busy!
Every day, we had an itinerary of excursions that would start somewhere between 7 and 9 a.m., and our day would often end between 8 and 11 p.m. after dinner. However, the last couple of days were “leisure days” where there was no itinerary and we could do whatever we wanted.
4. The itinerary included a really wide range of activities and experiences.
We visited several historical sites, including the W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Centre and a couple of slave castles. We went to several villages and learned about the culture and art (and got to make some). We also hiked and walked a canopy bridge that’s suspended over 130 feet in the air. And we went shopping and spent a few nights at cozy lounges for dinner and drinks.
5. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were included in the fees that we prepaid for the trip.
Most days, we’d have breakfast at whichever hotel we were staying at. Then we’d typically have lunch at a restaurant that was near one of the excursions we were doing, which the travel company had booked a few tables at. Dinner was either at the hotel or at a nearby restaurant or lounge that the travel company had booked a table at.
6. We traveled everywhere by a coach bus. Not just to and from our daily excursions, but also from hotel to hotel.
7. We moved to a new city every two to three days (it was an 11-day trip).
We stayed in three cities during our time there, so we’d only be at a hotel for two or three nights before loading up the bus with all our suitcases and heading to the next city. We stayed in Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast, but often visited other towns during the day as part of the itinerary.
8. The bus rides to the next city we were staying at would range from an hour to five hours.
However, the coach bus had AC and was well-stocked with snacks and beverages, and, of course, we made stops for bathroom breaks.
9. And finally, the excursions are optional! You don’t have to go to something or even spend the day with the group if you don’t want to.
Though everyone in the group went to most of the excursions, there were one or two occasions where someone would stay at the hotel or do their own thing while the rest group went out for the day.
Or sometimes, people would go out with the group, but stayed on the bus with the driver while we did certain activities because they were tired, not in the mood for that activity, or had had enough of the Ghanaian heat for the day.
If you’ve done a travel group, what was your experience like? Do you have any tips? Let us know in the comments!