Pros and cons of traveling abroad. Vacation in a big company: pros and cons

Consider the main pros and cons of independent tourism using the example of visiting
European countries.

Pros:

Saving time on excursions. The solo traveler does not have to go to the meeting point with the group and does not have to wait for anyone. Neither a guide, nor another "lost" from the group, which is sometimes very annoying in an organized vacation.

The independent tourist has no time limits. He does not need to get up very early to visit excursions. He plans the time of visiting the objects at his own discretion. And, importantly, he can always change his plans.

Walking on your own, you can visit more museums, cafes, shops.

The tourist has to communicate with the inhabitants of the visited country. This allows you to plunge deeper into the culture and traditions of the local population, and, accordingly, get more impressions and emotions that will remain in his memory for a long time.

This is financially beneficial. Due to savings on excursions, professional guides, the trip is much cheaper.

Minuses:

More time to organize the trip. You need to buy tickets yourself, book a hotel, get a visa. When buying a ready-made tour for a vacationer, all this is done by the manager of a travel company.

Such a vacation is not suitable for everyone, since at least basic knowledge of the language of the visited country is required, or at least English to communicate with its inhabitants.

In the event of unforeseen circumstances, you will have to solve the problem yourself. In an organized trip, this function, as a rule, is performed by a guide from the meeting party, attached to a group of tourists.

So, both ways to travel, and independent tourism and organized recreation, are good and interesting, each in its own way.

Travelers with an active lifestyle, easy-going, are more suitable for independent tourism. And for calm people who prefer a measured type of vacation, it is better to resort to the help of travel agencies.

Happy travels!

Yes, who cares. Personally, I hate organized tours.

Cons of organized tours:

Often they include unnecessary sponsorship trips to a jewelry or fur store (I encountered in Paris and Turkey);

You are partially dependent on other tourists in your group (they need to pee, souvenirs, they have a crying baby on the bus);

Tours usually have the most popular places for excursions that you have already paid for. And if you want to go to a non-tourist place, and you are going to Versailles with a bus, you are sorry to refuse, you have already paid.

Pros of organized tours:

No need to think about anything: what to do with yourself, how to get to the museum, where to eat, what to see. True, it is not a fact that all places will be good.

Usually it is cheaper due to the travel agency, hotels on the outskirts or those in which the travel agencies have special prices, sponsors, to whose store you will be taken on a tour, etc. Also, bus tours, such as 7 countries in 5 days, are very cheap.

There are very cool tours that are not for everyone, but especially for you. For example, in Ukraine there are guys who take designers and architects on tours. They plan cool and with them you can get, for example, to the workshops of famous architects, where you yourself would never get. Or there photo tours. In short, highly specialized tours that will interest you. Or very expensive and rare tours, such as a cruise near Antarctica.

That is, you can enjoy the tour if planning makes you hysterical and if you don't care too much about what you see on the trip. Paris and okay, it doesn’t matter to you what exactly you see (you will see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre 100%). Or if you find a unique tour.

If independence and quality are still important to you, it is better to do everything yourself.

Pros of self-guided tours:

What you want, then you do - visit the places you want, plane or bus - choose yourself, choose the hotel yourself, everything is up to you.

Sites for selecting tickets, hotels, restaurants, establishments and entertainment give complete freedom (tickets.ua, tripadviser.com, hotels.com, anywayanyday and hundreds of other sites).

The guide (book) often tells everything you need, and if you choose it correctly, you can do without a guide on the bus, as in an organized tour. The Internet, again, knows everything.

You can go to non-touristic places that you will find out about on some local website, and not to tourist mass-market places where the quality is calculated that you will never return, and others will come tomorrow.

Many interesting routes are not subject to organized tours. Hell, we would see the Scottish northern castles, climb the highest point in the UK, visit Glasgow, Edinburgh, Oberdeen, Inverness, Loch Ness, the Isle of Skye in one organized tour. And on its own it is quite real.

Cons of self-guided tours:

You have to plan a lot and rely on yourself. Often this means buying tickets to the museum on the Internet, otherwise there will be a huge queue (Uffizi, Louvre);

You can get into a bad hotel with bedbugs (Paris :)), travel agencies usually choose trusted hotels, because of the reputation and all the cases;

Some places can only be reached with a group, or it is easier to get with a group or an organized tour (in some collections, group-only excursions, cruises, etc. are most often an organized tour).

It's a little harder to find a guide. I don’t know, somehow we never had the practice of ordering a city guide from the Internet without recommendations. It is always either a blogger-guide whom I read long before the trip (London, Stockholm), or on the recommendation of friends (Tallinn).

In short, an independent trip is usually easier and more pleasant to organize for yourself in simple places (cities and countries in Europe and the USA). It is easier and safer to take a tour to exotic countries, as I understand it.

It's not the same for everybody. Last year my friend and I were looking for where to relax, looking for options where we can surf (I have dreamed of trying for many years). The newbies themselves did not know how. At first we wanted to get there ourselves, find a rental of boards and try it ourselves, but in the end we decided to choose a paid surf tour. And you know, we never regretted it at all! chose the surfvan camp at your own risk - thank God. everything went very well)))

Reply

Better solo travel. Get out of your comfort zone, improve your languages, ride local public transport, rent from locals, eat with locals, go to different places, watch what group guides don’t show, get into stories that will be interesting to tell. Take risks and discover new things. And you will be happy!

Traveling alone is definitely better, and here's why:

1. Self-planning is the way to travel on any budget. No one in the chain between you and the computer has their own margin for food, flights, housing and all that.

2. Self-organization is zen. No one but you is responsible for jambs, delays and failures. And since there is no point in blaming yourself, you will only have to accept the universe with all its surprises.

3. Complete freedom of movement. Nowhere and never will you feel so many emotions as at the Bangkok train station without scoreboards and signs.

Hold on, friends.

Better water or beer?
Here is the same thing. You need to ask yourself a few questions, in the spirit of "what do I want to get from the trip? what resources do I have (time, money, etc.)?", and accordingly, based on the answers, it will be clear what is better in this case.

If you want to lie on the beach for a week in Turkey, because the budget is limited, too lazy to organize, and besides, you don’t know languages ​​​​and are afraid that they are needed (actually not) - then why not buy a tour.

And if you are interested in walking around Venice, then vice versa - there is no point in contacting the company - you will overpay for the tour, and the hotel will most likely be offered to hell knows where.

1) If this is a European city, then, of course, a trip on your own. Book a hotel on one of the many sites, upon arrival, buy a "city name_card" (in many European cities such cards are sold for a period of one to 3 days, they usually give free travel on public transport and free or partially discounted passes to museums), up to the suburbs have public transport, you can take an audio guide there, and if you arrive before the opening, then walk through the sights in front of all the tourist crowds. Good things about such a trip: you don’t depend on anyone, you walk wherever you want, you eat wherever you want, you merge with the city, and not with the guide’s herd. But for this: you need to plan in advance what you will visit tomorrow, after tomorrow, etc., do not spare your feet, because there is a lot of walking, it is advisable to know English.

2) If this is a trip around the country, then the question is in the budget. Everyone writes about tours like huge buses filled with time-oblivious women, sober men and their squealing offspring (hello, typical Turkey). Of course, such a journey is comparable to a descent into Hell. Another case: a driver-guide in a good car for a small company or family (assume that you don’t drive / are afraid to get confused in the maps / can’t cope with driving on unusual terrain / take a break from the steering wheel and calmly look out the window) - believe me, this is very well and helps to know the country from the inside. However, this is a tour, not a solo trip.

3) There are concept tours, that's another story altogether.

4) Destination: The difference between East and West is great, if you are not going to experiment by placing yourself in the condition of a newly hatched chick, then it is better to use a tour operator.

Depends on what you want from this trip. I will write about excursion trips, because I am not a fan of beach holidays.

When buying a ticket through a travel agency, you, of course, overpay, but then you don’t bother with the route (you just pre-select from several presented), accommodation, excursions, guides, and mode of transportation. Sometimes you don't even bother with food. They just pick you up at the airport, put you on a bus and take you to where they planned. You just have to relax, listen to the guide's stories and buy souvenirs. And another bonus: most often groups go to museums faster than individual visitors.

When planning a trip on your own, you take it all upon yourself. You need to shovel a lot of information about the city or country where you are going to find out where and why you should go there :) You buy air tickets, look for accommodation, find out how you can get to this accommodation. If transfers are provided, you also need to buy train / bus tickets. But there are pluses here: you go wherever you want, you do not have to listen to the guides' ranting (if it depresses you) and make sure that you do not lag behind the group; you are the king and god of your journey, everything depends entirely on you; you can go to super-interesting, non-pop places; you lie down and get up at your convenience. And it's also much cheaper!

Personally, I went on tours and on independent trips. I love this and that. I mostly travel on my own, but when I have extra money and I don’t have the strength to explore the country on my own (previously waiting for travel planning), but I want to go on vacation, I go to a travel agency

For me, independent travel is preferable. Sometimes you start to prepare for half a year, and this is already a great pleasure. I buy a bunch of books, a map, watch historical films, read reviews from other travelers. Finding a place to live is a special pleasure. When traveling around Europe, we ignore hotels, we book accommodation on airbnb.com We always take country houses near the area we want to explore. Having a good kitchen is so important! It is very inexpensive to live in a real medieval house! But about the cost of independent travel, I do not agree with those who write that you can save money on this. Traveling in a rented car across Europe will still cost at least 2 times more than a package tour, although it is worth it.

There is no single answer to this question. Depends on direction and what you want.

Usually an organized tour, especially if it covers several countries or cities, allows you to free your head from organizational issues and put all your strength into the perception and development of what you see. For relative comfort and efficiency in terms of time, you pay here with standardization and a somewhat incubator approach.

Traveling on your own is more fun because you can completely tailor it to your needs, interests, budget, and pace of learning. However, this requires a lot of time, emotional and physical costs, which are rewarded with interesting discoveries and adventures.

Some companies offer a combination of these two approaches, and this is probably the most advantageous option. Last year I had a chance to go on a two-week trip to Vietnam with the world famous company Intrepid. We had organized basic things, such as transfers between cities and overnight stays in hotels. Everything else was optional - additional excursions, entertainment, going out, dinners, and so on. And we ourselves put together the most interesting and relevant program as if from Lego, while there was enough time and opportunities to explore the area on our own.

I am always for independent travel, because it assumes that unforeseen circumstances will arise that will need to be resolved, you can run into some kind of adventure, and so on, in general, everything will not be monotonous.

Agreeing with all those who have unsubscribed, I’ll add that if you are just starting to travel abroad, you are not very fluent in the local (where you are going) language and not very well in the subject of where to learn-buy-live-be, I would advise you to go a couple of times with a group. You take a closer look, learn the basic things that relate to travel, etc. And then you can already go to an independent level. I traveled with groups for several years, and then it so happened that I went to Ireland "wild" - with a plan, a hotel reservation, a paid excursion to the cliffs. After this trip, I realized that I would not go with the group anymore))) This is such freedom! But it requires at least minimal preparation of the traveler :)

Everything happens in life. Even if you and your girlfriend agreed to go to Turkey together a year ago, this does not mean at all that it will be so. The first thought that comes to mind after the collapse of plans is to also stay at home. But then, having thoroughly analyzed and weighed everything, more sensible thoughts come to mind: “Can I, all so mature and self-confident, not take care of myself? vacation?.." Well, let's evaluate the "pros" and "cons" of a holiday alone.

pros

Vacation of your dreams. Freedom is an amazing thing. But you need to be able to appreciate its advantages and take full advantage of them. At first glance, it seems that there is nothing worse than losing the opportunity to go on vacation in a cheerful "native" company. But let's look at it from the other side. Now your choice of country, resort, tour duration, free time is not limited by anything - neither the preferences of your girlfriend, nor her whims ... You can choose an excursion to your taste or go to the beach, start a holiday romance and not listen to your girlfriend's indignation and resentment , which in the evenings will have to independently look for a company for pastime. In other words, you can realize the vacation of your dreams - without any restrictions, doing only what you really like, without taking into account anyone's interests and tastes.

All people are brothers. If in everyday life we ​​are rather accustomed to gloomy faces in public transport and a supermarket, then on vacation you will quickly wean from them. On vacation, people are relaxed, so everyone around is friendly, open for contacts, and any acquaintance takes a matter of seconds. Wherever you go - to the beach, to a restaurant, a bar - interested and pleasant interlocutors are waiting for you everywhere. And here it's up to you to decide - with whom to spend today, and with whom - the evening.

New friends. If you come to rest in the company, then stay with it throughout the vacation. also allows you to make new acquaintance, replenish your contact list and spend time with "fresh" people. Romantic proposals will also come to you much more often if you go alone, and not with a cohort of friends, when it is not clear from the outside whether you are free or busy. It's no secret that it's always easier for men to get acquainted if a woman is alone, and not with a girlfriend.

Pride. Loneliness does not allow many of us to feel confident. That is why people do not dare to go to distant countries alone. If you have overcome your fear and self-doubt, you can be congratulated. After all, you conquered yourself, your fear.

Minuses

Money loves an account. Traveling alone is always a bit more expensive than traveling with a group. Firstly, a single room is always more expensive than a "half" of a double room. Secondly, these are related expenses - for example, paying a taxi to the airport, tips (if you are relaxing together, you can leave tips in turn) and much more.

Security questions. An unpleasant situation can happen to anyone - no one is immune from this. For example, if your wallet was stolen from you, in which all your funds were located, it will be problematic to deal with this trouble alone. If a friend is nearby, she will help. In addition, if you are traveling alone, you have no one to leave your things with, and you have to carry them everywhere with you. Even on the beach, you have to look at your beach bag for fear of missing things.

"The lady handed over in luggage ...". Reasonable rest is reasonable in everything, including in matters of luggage. Holidays with a friend allow you to take along a hair dryer, shampoo, shower gel, hairspray and the like. This will save space in your suitcase and allow you to fit another stunning dress. If you are traveling alone, you have to rely only on yourself.

It's more fun together. It's really more fun together, whether you're on a transfer or waiting to board a plane at the airport. You can make plans together, "poison" anecdotes or remember funny stories from life. Yes, there is little to talk about! In the end, you have a great opportunity to "get worn out", because on weekdays you mostly do it in ICQ or on a mobile phone. If you are traveling alone, you will have to entertain yourself on your own or "molest" fellow travelers, looking for a pleasant companion among them.

One head it's good, but two better. If you combine your knowledge of English with your girlfriend, it will probably be much easier for you to express yourself on vacation. And if your friend graduated from a foreign language or a school with an in-depth study of a foreign language, you can even feel free and at ease. This applies not only to English. Perhaps your friend is more technical than you, like how to adjust the hot water in the shower or adjust the air conditioning in the room. In something else, you may be more informed and talented, for example, in the ability to bargain. By combining your knowledge and skills, you and your friend are simply invincible!

They say that one is not a warrior in the field. But you are not in the field, but at the resort, and you will not have to fight. Except with your own fears. Enjoy your vacation, even if you are alone! Believe me, your loneliness will be short-lived...

So ended my legal two-week vacation. It remains only to enjoy the tan that has not yet faded, review the photos and share your impressions! Perhaps the most striking impression was that for the first time we rested not as a single family, but as a large company. That's what came out of it.

7 adults and 6 children

Yes, yes, this is the company we went to Bulgaria this year! Four families with different needs, characters and life principles and a different number of children from one year to 8 years old ... The result is not so terrible, in fact, we still managed to relax! With adventure, of course.

pros

When I returned, I, of course, began to analyze all the "charms" of such a holiday. Here's what I thought.

First, about the pleasant.

1. Children are not bored. The most important plus is that if there are children in the company (even if their age is from one year to 8 years), they will not be bored anymore! Phrases like "mommy, play ... blind ... read ... catch a bug ..." can be forgotten. Our children were happy to race to build sand trenches, eat dubious-looking soup, and even fall asleep "who is faster."

2. Mutual assistance. The second plus concerns the unfortunate mothers who are forced to drag their children with them to the toilet or take “Panamanian-vodichka-favorite toy” into the room. After all, there is no one to leave with ... Except when you are relaxing with friends and relatives. They can easily leave their blood for a couple of minutes. The main thing is not to forget at the same time that not only you came to rest, and therefore no one is obliged to babysit someone else's child for hours while you are lying on the beach or shopping.

3. Pleasant company. The third thing that pleased me was the opportunity to spend an enjoyable evening playing games, talking or having a glass of wine. Given that the weather this year at the resort was changeable, we really had a good time.

Perhaps that was where the fun ended. Now for what I didn't like.

1. Schedule. It's different for everyone. Someone sleeps during the day, someone is used to going to bed closer to one in the morning, etc., etc. If you adapt to everyone, you can pretty spoil your nerves. Therefore, we follow our schedule, and, if interests and opportunities coincide, we get together.

2. Waiting. Sometimes this moment could bring even the calmest person (me) to hysterics. Just by agreeing to go to the beach together, on the way, half of the company had seizures of sclerosis (forgot some water) or diarrhea (in children, as a rule). And the whole honest company was nervously waiting for the “latecomers”. On the third day, a magic phrase appeared that cured all diseases in one fell swoop: “We don’t wait for those who are late! Meet me at the beach."

3. Interests. Have you ever tried to go shopping with a group of more than 3 people? And don't try! Bad business. At best, someone will get lost and you will have to return home separately, at worst, you, who are absolutely not interested in bed linen, will have to wait for hours for your comrades in this undoubtedly interesting store. I preferred to get lost!

In my vacation, there were an equal number of minuses and pluses. To be honest, there were much more funny and funny moments than negative ones. Am I ready to gather a rather big company again and go on a trip? I'll say yes!

Have you had such an experience in your life?

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The convenience of the services of travel agencies and travel agencies is undoubted - they save our time. And if you want to get a ticket and all the necessary documents for it in 15 minutes - insurance, visas, etc., then welcome to the travel agency. Many travel agencies offer a wide range of services, up to assistance in obtaining a passport - which means that you do not need to take time off from work and stand in line to submit documents - the travel agency will take care of many stages of this difficult task, for a fee, of course.

Those who travel abroad for the first time usually want to buy a tour from a travel agency. But experienced travelers prefer to plan and make their trips on their own - this has its own huge advantages.

Pros of solo travel

Saving money.

You do not pay intermediaries, do not pay for mandatory excursions and unnecessary meals (for example, many do not go to breakfast in the morning), and thus you can save a significant amount.

Independence from dates and imposed tourist routes.

When buying a tour at a travel agency, you do not have the opportunity (without fines and loss of money and nerves) to change the date of departure / departure or the route of the tour in the future. Also, you will not be able to choose another hotel, flight, etc. at will. Ready-made tours are usually designed for a certain number of days: 3,5,7,10,14. But what if you suddenly want to stay in the country you like for a couple more days? The rigid framework of the tour will not allow you to do this. And in independent travel all this is possible.

More impressions and opportunities to get to know the country.

On an independent trip, you will see much more than from the window of a tourist bus. You will not depend on the schedule of excursions and guide services. On an independent trip, you will have to communicate more with the local population, you can choose any, including a non-tourist route, which will tell you much more about the country than the main tourist attractions.

Opportunity to learn (practice) a foreign language.

No language course will be useful without live practice and communication with native speakers. And where, no matter how you travel, you can practice your English (German, Spanish, Hindi, etc.)? Travel and learn languages ​​and cultures of different countries!

Cons of solo travel

Everything has its pluses and minuses. However, according to reviews of travel enthusiasts, there are not so many disadvantages of independent travel, and they are completely covered by rich pluses.

The disadvantages of independent travel can be called the fact that you have to spend your time choosing and booking a hotel, buying tickets and planning a route. You will also have to independently apply for a visa to visa countries, make insurance and get to the hotel on your own (from the airport or railway station). In case of any problems deal with the hotel. Luggage, etc. you will have to do it yourself, the representative of the travel agency who resolves such situations will not be with you. In the journey itself, you will have to use your knowledge of foreign languages ​​and a certain amount of ingenuity.

All this seems scary only at the first time. And then you will already know how to proceed!