I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them. – Mark Twain
After coordinating small groups of travelers in five different Italian villas over the years, I have become something of an expert in group travel. I know that some of my friends think I’m crazy for traveling this way, but I don’t care. I love it.
I love the flexibility of rising and setting. I love not knowing where lunch will be that day. I love shopping in the village mercati for the freshest food possisble and then cooking it for the group that night. I love feeling a part of the village and getting to know (or at least recognize) the locals. I feel connected to the place much more than I do when I’m in a hotel, having to leave my passport and keys at the front desk every time I want to take a stroll.
Imagine you and your significant other plus six or eight of your (currently) closest friends on foreign soil — and nobody knows the language. Imagine them driving at high speeds around the idyllic countryside, then trying to park in the cities. Imagine them trying to figure how the meters work. Imagine them ordering lunch, buying shoes, asking for directions . . . there’s no end to the amusement!
The good news is that you can have all these adventures — and introduce your friends to a great way to travel — for generally a lot less than you’d spend at a hotel for the same period of time. And you’ll have a lot more stories to tell.
How to get started? There’s lots to see on the internet. First, I’d suggest going to www.parkervillas.com and ordering their gorgeous (free) catalog. Part of the joy of travel is planning where you want to go and with whom, and the catalog provides a real “wish book” experience for those of us with wanderlust. There are lots of other sites, too. To continue your armchair travels, I recommend looking at Suzanne Pidduck’s site www.rentvillas.com and Suzanne Cohen’s www.villaeurope.com.
But before you go, here are some ground rules that I have found to be very useful. They’re my Top Ten Tips for traveling with a group:
- Talk budget before you commit, so you’re clear about everybody’s expectations. Just because one person is used to spending $500 a night at a hotel doesn’t mean everybody else can.
- Decide what amenities you want before you commit, i.e., number of bedrooms and baths, pool or no pool, city or rural, washing machine, etc.
- Have a gathering or two before you leave and assign people tasks, i.e., what is the history of the area? What are the recommended restaurants? What are the traveler’s “dos” and “don’ts” according to the experts? What should you not miss? What are possible side trips? What are possible traps?
- If more than four people are traveling together, hire two cars. In Europe, especially, they’re small; also, it gives the group options about where to go. I discovered the hard way that there is really no 6-passenger car in Italy, at least. And if the police catch you with 6 people in a 5-passenger car, the fines are very steep.
- If someone wants to fly stand-by, they are responsible for getting to/from the hotel or villa themselves. Nobody is going to waste a day waiting at the airport for flights to come and go.
- Clarify how expenses will work. We have everybody pool the equivalent of $50 into a bowl and whoever goes food/wine/supplies shopping uses that money. When it runs out, we all put in another $50. We also have a loose agreement about meal plans: breakfast at the villa every morning, lunch out most days, dinner in most nights. But we always treated ourselves to one or two nice dinners out during the week. If there was extra money at the end of the trip, we divide it equally or put it toward the last night’s dinner out.
- If you can swing it, take a side trip. A night or two in a cozy hotel away from the group is a great way to expand your travel experiences and stay positive about the group dynamics.
- Share your experiences as you go: what to avoid, where the best public bathrooms are (you may have to pay), must-see sights and must-buy souvenirs. Nobody wants to feel like they’ve missed something special.
- Build a compatible travel family; someone who sleeps until 11:00 every day is going to be a real annoyance to the early risers in the group.
- Be flexible, be flexible, be flexible!
Buon viaggio!
Linda Dini Jenkins is a card-carrying Italophile, travel planner, freelance writer, and amateur photographer. Travel is her passion, so writing about her travels just comes naturally. She hopes all her travelers find a way to express their joys, surprises, and fears as they travel and gives every traveler a nifty journal to help smooth the way. Learn more…
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