Group travel often gets a bad wrap. There are so many misunderstandings surrounding it.

I often hear reservations like, “I value my freedom too much to travel with a group,” or “I would, but it costs too much!” I was a huge skeptic myself before I dipped my toe in the group travel world, but let me tell you, it was a GAME CHANGER.. And in all the best ways. I found myself questioning how it had taken me so long to discover the wonderful world of group travel.

I’m here bust a few myths surrounding group travel and let you know some of the top ways it will actually enhance and benefit your travels to travel as a group.

Reason #1: Shared Experience

Group travel provides an opportunity for people to connect and bond with one another. Shared experiences create memories that are unique to the group, fostering a sense of camaraderie and friendship among the travelers, many of whom start out as strangers.

I’ll never forget returning from my very first trip abroad and beaming through my jetlag to recount every single magical moment I had experienced on my adventures in Eastern Europe. By the second -or third shepherd reference, my well-meaning, but totally-disconnected-from-my-experience mother’s eyes sort of glazed over into a polite, but impersonal gesture of thats-nice-but-I-couldn’t-really-care-less. Nothing is quite as defeating as coming home from a life-altering experience, willing and eager to share the magic that you learned, only to find a not-so-enthusiastic audience. They weren’t there with you and they simply don’t get it. It can feel very isolating.

With group travel, you have the bond of sharing your life-altering experiences with several people. You can reminisce and connect over your memories together for years to come.

Reason #2: Enhanced Safety

Traveling in a group can increase your safety in several ways. A group of people is less vulnerable to potential threats compared to an individual. Criminals are less likely to target a larger group, as they tend to look for easier targets. Additionally, when you're part of a group, you have people you can rely on in case of emergencies or unexpected situations.

I know with Land + See, one of the unspoken perks of our groups is we often have many medical professionals that tour with us. I’ll never forget seeing a man collapse on a ferry to Santorini and watching Dr. Tony spring into action! We have been so lucky than none of the medical mishaps have happened to our travelers, but there have been more than one occasion where our heroes have saved the day. It definitely gives me peace of mind knowing we are in such good hands.

Whether it's a medical issue, getting lost, or running into difficulties, having others with you means there are people to help and support you.

And lastly, traveling with others can provide emotional support and reduce feelings of vulnerability, especially in unfamiliar or challenging environments.

I’ll never forget a particularly tearful, but supportive afternoon in Austria where a female traveler and I completely bonded over our past. I haven’t seen her for years, but I am confident if I picked up the phone tomorrow she would be by my side in an instant, and vice versa.

Reason #3: Cost Savings

Group travel allows you to have a custom-tailored travel experience at a fraction of the cost of solo travel. When you travel with others, you can split the costs of various expenses, such as accommodation, transportation, and food. Sharing these costs can significantly reduce your individual financial burden without compromising on quality.

I’ll never forget my first group travel experience as an adult. Jordan and I had traveled to Paris with his family just the year before so I naively assumed I’d already “seen what there was to see” on the re-visit a year later. How wrong I was. Because we were with a group we had the means to have a private driver on call for us and hire private local guides to show us the city through their eyes. Our Parisian guide, Mario, made the city come alive for me—as if I was seeing it for the very first time. The history, the art and the culture started to feel like it was a part of my own narrative. I simply hadn’t experienced anything like that when I was visiting on my own. While I was a tourist, my experience wasn’t just that of a tourist—I had someone showing me their personal favorite places off-the-beaten-path, translating what certain looks or gestures meant to true Parisians, sharing anecdotes and stories of his family and personal meaningful details of the places we would go—sometimes exposing unflattering or comical aspects and leaving me with a plethora of inside jokes and fond memories. This magic didn’t just “happen,” we were able to afford a much richer experience because we were splitting the cost with so many other participants. Hiring Mario would’ve been intangible on a single traveler’s budget.

Group bookings often come with bulk discounts for things like flights, hotels, guides and tours, and the reasons make sense. Travel providers are more likely to offer better deals when they know they have a large group of customers. Additionally, by sharing a hotel room or vacation rental with others in the group, you can split the cost of the room, leading to substantial savings compared to booking a single room for yourself, helping you keep costs low or allowing you the wiggle room to indulge in something a little fancier than you might be able to afford on your own.

Whether you’re hiring a guide or renting a vehicle or bus, splitting the costs among group members can make these services more affordable for everyone and they definitely make a tangible difference in the quality of your travel experience.

Reason #4: Diverse Perspectives

Traveling with people who have diverse perspectives can be immensely beneficial in several ways. For instance, interacting with people from different cultural backgrounds allows you to gain a deeper understanding of their customs, traditions, and ways of life. This exposure can help break down stereotypes and promote empathy and respect for cultural diversity. You may encounter a variety of perspectives, not only with the locals you interact with, but within the dynamics of the group itself. Traveling with individuals who see the world differently than you do can open your mind to new ideas and ways of thinking.

I’ll never forget this amazing dinner we had in the home of Albert and Bergthor in Reykjavik, Iceland. Albert is a world-reknown opera singer, and Bergthor is a chef. Together we spent an incredible evening learning about Iceland, equality, naked grandpas and how to do the coolest new dance moves. I hesitate to admit this, but had we known ahead of time that Albert and Bergthor were a same-sex couple, it’s possible we would’ve had some preconceived ideas about what we would experience, but by allowing that wall to come down and meet them on a human level first, it challenged our bias and taught us valuable lessons in humanity.

Diverse perspectives challenge your assumptions and encourage you to question your beliefs, leading to personal growth and intellectual enrichment. By experiencing diverse perspectives firsthand, you are more likely to develop a sense of tolerance and acceptance for people who are different from you. This fosters a more inclusive and harmonious society and quite simply makes the world a better place.

Reason #5: Stress Reduction

Traveling with a group and having a full-time group leader can indeed reduce stress in several ways. The most obvious way, is with the addition of a group leader.

With a group leader in charge, you don't have to worry about planning the itinerary, booking accommodations, arranging transportation, or managing logistics. The group leader takes care of these tasks, ensuring a smoother travel experience for everyone. A group leader can be experienced in handling various travel situations, including emergencies. Their knowledge of the destination and local customs can enhance safety and security for all group members, reducing individual stress related to unfamiliar environments. And lastly, in regions where language or cultural differences may be a challenge, having a group leader who is familiar with the local language or customs can facilitate communication and create a more enriching travel experience.

When you travel, things happen—it’s just the nature of travel. Don’t let the stress of the unknown fall on you to figure out. Join a group that has a knowledgeable and competent group leader that knows what their doing and has a proven track record.

No one wants to spend their vacation time putting out fires. When you envisioned this trip, you saw yourself lounging by the sea, eating gelato, and exploring to your hearts content. Group tours allow you the freedom and flexibility to enjoy your vacation, so you don’t come home needing a vacation from the vacation.

Obviously this isn’t an exhaustive list of all the benefits to group travel, but it at least gives you a small taste of the some of the top ways that group travel can enhance and even improve your travel experience.

I know there are a lot of misconceptions circling about the realities of group travel, but chances are, if you ask someone who’s tried it, you will learn that the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Take it from me, the biggest former skeptic of them all–take a sip of the group travel Kool-Aid. Not only does it stand a great chance of whetting your travel appetite, you may just find that fully immersing yourself in the culture without the stress and worry of coordinating it all, is your new “thing.”

Happy travels, friends!

Like Martin Luther King Jr., I too have a dream. While the impact is different, and my reach far smaller, I believe our purposes align.

There is a lot of hatred being spread nowadays. Parties are divided, bombs are being dropped, and more and more it's becoming socially acceptable to attack each other based on our differences--differences of opinion, differences in political alignment, worship practices (or lack thereof) and a multitude of other hot button items that we let divide us. Somewhere along the line we have forgotten that what makes us different from one another is beautiful and cause for celebration, not a reason for ridicule and division.

My dream is a simple one. It won't draw large crowds around our nation's capitol. It won't be written about in the papers or taught in the classroom, but it's driven by love. I believe that by simply exposing ourselves to the very things we know so little about, we will gain an insight and an understanding to the very differences that divide us, and maybe, just maybe, we will see that we aren't all that different after all.

My dream is to show people the world--to connect them with cultures other than their own. Maybe they are fascinated by them, maybe they are frightened. Whatever the approach to diversity, I want to bridge the gap. My favorite fictional character, Atticus Finch, forever immortalized in Harper Lee's groundbreaking novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" urges his young daughter, Scout, to try to put herself in someone else's shoes. "First of all" he said, "If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view [...] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Travel has allowed me to have the experience of walking in someone else's shoes--and somehow I find it impossible to leave unchanged. Experiencing life the way the locals do forces you to see the world through their eyes. I've left pieces of my heart in all corners of this world.

In Romania, left with no alternative but to converse in what little French we each knew (I spoke no Romanian, she spoke no English, and we both studied French in school), Itsa and I bonded over her love of all things Leonardo DiCaprio, or was it a passion for pistachios? I probably should've paid a little more attention in Madam Macias's French class. The family shared a one bedroom apartment, raised their own chickens and fed us goat cheese from the family goat and strawberries fresh from the garden. Men went to town in horse-and-buggy carts, and gypsy women in brightly colored silk scarves begged on the street corners. It was a way of life completely opposite of my own, and yet, it felt like home.

Spending a year in Micronesia had me eager to immerse myself in the local culture. I would ask the island children to teach me Pohnpeian slang. "How do you say goodnight?" I would naively ask nine-year-old Abuk. I later learned that the "Pwisen en Malek" I had been greeting everyone with had quite a different meaning. Instead of 'Good Evening' I had essentially been calling people "Chicken Sh*t". Abuk would laugh at me for weeks. I learned that the Micronesian people believed themselves to be descended from sacred Eels. I climbed Sokehs Rock and scoured the mysterious ruins of Nan Madol. I watched as tribal leaders made Sakau from the root of the kava plant and looked on as Nole tediously carved fish hooks out of ivory nut. Mr. Benjamin taught me how to tie a piece of coral to a water bottle with fishing line and I caught my first fish with no rod. I decided to forego the traditional eating-of-the-fish-heart that locals said would cure seasickness forever.

Yannis taught me how to twirl konboloi, Greek worry beads, when I'm anxious. Biagio introduced me to fried cheese and I've never been the same. Mario taught me that French men find beauty in a woman's ankles and that not repeating "Bonjour" back to someone is considered incredibly rude. Jose explained to me that the reason Spaniards hang pork legs upside down in their shop windows is to pay homage to their past--a time in history when Jews and Muslims did this to prove they'd converted to Catholicism. From Bianca I learned that no one in Austria has actually seen the film "The Sound of Music"--it is a completely American phenomenon. Sabrina told me that given the history of Nazi Germany, many German's struggle with patriotism. Sailing across the Nile, Taha taught me that the according to the quran, Moses had to have his brother Aaron speak for him because he burnt his tongue on hot coals as a young child in a test given by the Pharoah.

Travel made these connections possible. Sure, I could've purchased a Groupon, strapped a camera to my neck and taken a selfie in front of the Statue of David, but instead I chose immersion. It's so easy to feel like we are connected to the world because we have access to the travel channel or we've stepped foot on a cruise ship. The truth is, you have to get out and see it for yourself. It isn't until you meet the locals and experience what life is like for them that you start to understand the similarities we all share. Sure, their terrain might be different than yours, they might speak a different language, or even practice a different religion, but at the heart of it all we are all human beings with the same struggles, the same goals and the same common denominator--this world we live in.

First of all I encourage you to get out there and see this world as often as you can. It has so much beauty waiting to be discovered--so many meaningful connections are at your fingertips. Don't just listen to other people talk about travel. See it for yourself. Once you've taken that leap, and it is a leap my friends, look for enriching travel experiences. Find ways to interact with the culture and people. It's easy (and tempting) to hop on a Royal Caribbean cruise or hit an all-inclusive resort, but are you really experiencing the true culture? NO!

If we are ever going to bridge this wide gap that's forming between so many of us, we have got to take steps toward understanding one another. Travel is that step my friends. I know it can be scary. I know there are a lot of what ifs. But what if, instead of letting fear consume us, we seek out the things we don't understand in an effort to find clarity? We may just find ourselves out there too!

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Top 5 Ways You Benefit From Group Travel

And so it begins...