So you’ve successfully decided on a basic plan. Congratulations! Now comes the hard part – actually making that plan happen.
Booking a holiday gets more complicated the more people are involved. Tensions can begin to emerge which dampen the excitement of a trip – or stop it altogether. Worry not! With tact, patience and careful organisation, you can avoid the drama and sail right into the group trip of your dreams.
Follow the leader?
An optional idea to make the booking process easier is to assign a ‘holiday planning lead’. This person takes responsibility for logistics research and filters that information down to the rest of the group. I would say this is essential in bigger groups just to have a focal point of organisation but it does depend on the group dynamic. You might find everyone taking on one aspect of planning works better for your group.
As someone who cares deeply about quality holiday planning (if you couldn’t tell), I will admit to assigning myself this role if no one else steps up to take it. In my experience, for something to actually happen with a holiday plan SOMEONE needs to drive things along. People have a tendency to get busy and distracted – nothing wrong with that, but I want my holiday!
It is fine to insert yourself in this position, provided you don’t become a dictator about it. Make sure you give people a few options to choose from when you are researching things like accommodation. That way you are still making a group decision. Also never book anything without consulting the group first.
Begin at the beginning
No matter what kind of holiday you are planning, accommodation should be first priority when it comes to booking. You need to have somewhere to stay – even if that place is a tent in a field! Accommodation arrangements also influence pretty much every other aspect of the holiday so it’s good to sort this out as early as possible.
Last-minute holidays can work, but for a group trip, you should be booking things far in advance. I would personally advise three months as a minimum for accommodation. Booking ahead will get you better deals, flexible cancellation policies, and ensure that you can get the exact dates you want. It also gives you more time to save for the trip (and something to look forward to while you’re stuck at work!).
So, what are your accommodation options?
Hotels
Pretty self-explanatory. Classic holiday accommodation, although they can get expensive/inconvenient with larger groups (see Rentals).
That said, a popular budget option for abroad travel is staying at an all-inclusive hotel resort. These can be perfect for an affordable beach getaway, but consider group dynamics before booking. For some people, the dream holiday is lying poolside, sipping cocktails and only moving to pee and get food. For others, this is their idea of hell! Research carefully. Some all-inclusive hotels do offer a variety of excursions that the more adventurous of the group can enjoy while others are relaxing. These tend to be at the more expensive end of the spectrum though so, again, discussion and compromise are key!
Rentals
With groups, it is often easier (and cheaper) to rent a property rather than book a hotel. Air BnB is great for this but there are sometimes cheaper options on more traditional booking sites. Cast a wide net when you are shopping around for a place to stay to make sure you get the best property (and price) for your group. Another advantage of renting somewhere is that you can cater for the ‘maybes’ and ‘flakes’ of the group. It is far easier to add or drop someone to/from a rental than it is from a hotel. Rentals also give you more flexibility in terms of food, See Pangs of hanger for why this is important!
Hostels
Hostels are a classic budget accommodation option for a reason. They are well worth considering, particularly for a ‘travelling’ trip. Many in the UK are more ‘family’ than ‘young-broke-person’ orientated now, which can make them a nicer, cheaper base than a hotel or rental. However, hostels do come with their own issues when it comes to groups. Some people (myself included) are not comfortable sharing bedroom space with strangers for any length of time. I also have friends with extreme bathroom-sharing-related anxiety who would refuse to consider a hostel as an option.
Research and discussion are key and can make a huge difference at this stage of your trip. If your group is big enough you can actually book out an entire hostel dorm so that strangers wouldn’t be an issue. For a little more money, you can also get private hostel rooms that come with an ensuite, minimising bathroom discomfort.
Tents
The cheapest accommodation option in most countries is a tent. Some campsites in the UK charge as little as £10 a night so if you’re on a tight budget this could be an option. Camping is more of an experience than other accommodation though so group discussion is needed before committing to this. There is also more to consider with camping than with any other accommodation type. Are you carrying your equipment to the site on public transport? How easy is it to travel from the campsite? Does someone need to drive? What are you limiting luggage to – what you can carry or what will fit in the car? Is everyone physically fit enough for this? Who snores?
While I know some people use a campsite as a base on holiday, camping is mostly associated with a more active trip. If everyone is on board – great! If not, there are plenty of other budget options available. I would also advise against camping if this is your first group trip together. Even beloved friends can be surprisingly annoying when in close proximity for an extended time. In a tent, there is NO ESCAPE from this – a recipe for argumentative disaster.
Overall
Be understanding of concerns raised by group members, even if you can’t relate. A holiday is only fun if everyone is comfortable and enjoying themselves. It’s not worth forcing anyone to stay somewhere where they will be too miserable to appreciate the trip, even if it does seem a cheaper or more convenient option. As ever be willing to compromise. There are workarounds for most accommodation disagreements. By thoroughly researching your options, you can find something that will please everybody (even if it doesn’t feel that way initially!).
Planes, trains or automobiles?
So you have somewhere to stay but how will you get there? How much travelling will you do while you’re there? Are you staying in multiple locations? How are you travelling between them? All important questions when planning transport.
First, consider whether your trip is ‘static’ (based in one place) or ‘travelling’ (lots of different bases). This should have been established in the initial plan. If static, people don’t necessarily need to travel in the same way. If someone would rather go for a budget coach than spend money on flights then that’s fine. Just as long as you all end up in the same place!
Some of the group might feel anxious about travelling alone so there may have to be compromise between cost and practicality if you decide to all travel together. Separate travel can also cause problems with finding each other at your destination (particularly abroad). Stay in touch and agree on a place to meet when you all arrive. This could be your accommodation, a nearby landmark or an eatery depending on arrival time differences.
You might think about car rental if you are staying somewhere more remote or want greater travelling freedom while you’re away. This can work really well but is usually more expensive than public transport. In many countries, age plays into the cost of renting a car as well so make sure you know what you’re committing to. There are a number of online tools that can help with this. I like Rome2Rio, which provides clear cost comparisons for all forms of transport but there are a lot of good options out there.
Pangs of hanger
Probably one of the most contentious subjects of any trip is food. The amount/nature of food planning necessary is very dependent on group and holiday type.
If you are staying in non-catered accommodation, you should establish expectations for the restaurant-to-cooking ratio before you go. This can depend on trip length and location. Eating out for a few days might not cause too much of a budget dent but can be harder to keep up for a week.
If you are going abroad, make sure everyone appreciates the differences in food costs of the country you’re visiting to avoid surprises later. Food causes some of the biggest dramas on group holidays so try and get everybody on the same page before you arrive!
In the face of food drama, it is tempting to have everyone buy their own and deal with the issue that way. In my experience, this can actually make things worse! People can get territorial over their food, there may be limited kitchen space that everyone is trying to use – I wouldn’t recommend it, personally.
That said, if people have dietary requirements, then split catering may be necessary. Cooking simple dishes, like pasta, where ingredients can be added at later stages is one way to deal with this. With more serious food allergies you may need to commit to a fully self-catered holiday. Also, remember that not every country has the same food standards/information as we do. Make sure that people will actually be able to eat wherever you go!
Now we’re getting somewhere
Once you’ve explored what you need to book in advance, you need to make sure everyone knows what’s happening. A ‘booking timeline’ can be useful here. This doesn’t need to be anything formal. It’s just about communicating what needs to happen with who and when. This is particularly important if you are the one booking everything and need to collect money.
Setting up payment deadlines for the basic trip costs also gives people who are unsure about their finances a chance to see whether they will be able to afford to go. All other trip costs are optional so setting out the fundamentals is really useful for budget planning.
Speaking of other trip costs, it is a good idea to look ahead and see if there’s anything you want to do on holiday that you need to book/pay for in advance. You don’t necessarily need to set out an itinerary. Just get an idea of activities/locations you might need to save a little extra cash for.
Learning opportunities
Again, I turned to my expert panel of experienced holidaymakers to share their wisdom about the booking stage of vacationing:
- If there is a large group of you, and it is an option, arrange a food delivery for the day you arrive – this way you can start enjoying your holiday without having to worry about getting food in for everybody.
- Make sure everyone has realistic expectations of how the costs of food, transport etc. will be split – there is nothing worse than bickering about money on holiday.
- Speak up if there’s something you want to do – it doesn’t matter if not everyone wants to join you, it’s your holiday too!
- Encourage everyone to research where you’re going and make suggestions about what to do – as well as being fun, this can help reaffirm what kind of holiday everyone’s looking for/expecting.
- No matter how chill the group is BOOK STUFF EARLY – the longer you leave it the more expensive it will be.
- Be proactive – don’t worry about annoying people, they will thank you when they have an amazing holiday!
- If you do need to back out (for whatever reason) do it now – people may be disappointed, but it’s far more frustrating for someone to decide they can’t make a trip when everything has been booked.
- If you are on the fence about going on a trip for financial reasons, think about whether you will actually be able to enjoy it – if you think you’ll spend the whole trip worrying about money, either contact the group with an alternative, cheaper trip suggestion (they may go for it) or accept that you may have to sit this one out (the stress is not worth it!).
Next time
By following all the advice in this post (which I know you have) you are now one step closer to having that drama-free group trip. In the third and final instalment of this series, I will tackle perhaps the biggest challenge of all – ‘How to not murder your trip-mates’.
How to have a drama-free group trip: Part three – How to not fall out
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Written by Kirsten Rowland
Illustrated by Francesca Mariama
