Travelling in a group is easier but limited...

My experience with group travel

So I am lucky enough that travelling the world is one of my most treasured hobbies, a bit of an expensive one but it’s the best one you simply can’t disagree. So considering I hadn’t been on a big trip since 2016 I thought this year was my year, so last Christmas I booked onto a trutravels tour group to Vietnam, this country has always fascinated me. From the pretty lanterns of Hoi An, the crazy windy roads of the Hai Van Pass and the beautiful sea coves around Halong Bay. I just knew this was the place I had to go.

So, I booked 2 weeks off work and had everything planned to go but then life got flipped turned upside down and I actually got offered a new job in the tourism industry which if anyone doesn’t know I’ve been waiting for forever, so I really could not turn this down I just had to get my foot in the door now I had the chance - so upon accepting I told them about my holiday and they agreed that since I was missing part of their training session I would just begin my contract at the end of May. 

This then left me with the best opportunity I’ve ever had… a free month to travel to anywhere else I wanted to! I was not going to pass up this chance, so I handed in my notice and began my last 4 weeks before departing on a holiday of a lifetime to Vietnam and… Cambodia :) I chose Cambodia because it’s the next country along, I knew absolutely nothing of this country and thought it was be the time to learn something exciting and new. 

I’ve always chosen to do a tour because it’s easier to make friends, I’ve been on 3 tours previously and each one has exceeded the last so I had no doubts this was going to be the same - and I have such a lack of confidence when it comes to making new friends especially the boys (they always seems to want something more get a grip hun) and the girls I meet always seem to travel in packs so I’ve always felt like a bit of a burden on them and that they don’t really want me around, and everyones always in the same boat on in tour groups and the hassle of booking accommodation and transport is literally non existent because it’s all done for you. I

I love group tours but they are extremely group dependent, if you don’t gel with the group from day dot, then you’ll be the one left out of the ‘clique’, fortunately it wasn’t like this and everyone got on well, there was only 11 of us on this tour so it was easy to find time to get to know one another. 

I travelled a day earlier than the tour began just to settle into the new country and to get over any jet lag, and boy am i glad I did this. I started in Hoi An and being there a day early meant I got 3 full days rather than the 2 that we we allocated by the tour and I honestly believe if you want to do and see everything maximise your time here, having the extra day meant I could have a cheeky stop in one of the tailors to get a couple of outfits made for me, as well as a pair of subscription sunglasses for £30 (back home you’re looking at over £100 easily. Insane!) the following day I met up with the group and it’s super nice to be able to just go for dinner with people as I wasn’t staying in hostels at the time it’s harder to meet similar young backpackers at the hotel, so we stuck as group and quickly became a close knit community. 

The days were nice and the itinerary was super fun, some highlights of this trip were; driving along the Hai Van Pass in open top jeeps, the karaoke night in Hue & Castaways.

I feel there were some activities in northern Vietnam that I missed out on that I would have loved to visit such as the abandoned water park in Hue, and I definitely need to visit Mui Ne & Ninhvana in the south, so I’ll be going back to Vietnam in the future.

The real fun started when we arrived in Hanoi. Our trip included a 2 night / 3 day stay in Ha Long Bay on a private island called Castaways, it’s pretty much a big weekend beach party but more people join and this was my first experience of more ‘solo’ travel (if you can say that) I was happy to mingle with the newbies that joined us and I was having so much fun making more and more friends on the island. If you’ve never shotgunned a beer, then Castaways is the place to learn, get ready to shotgun a been every 15 minutes you’re awake on the island. It’s gets pretty rowdy but it’s a good laugh and I wouldn’t change any of it, I’ll 100% do it again some day.

Leaving the island and heading back to civilisation with the worst post-alcohol-hangover/flu, we all knew we had to rest for atleast 2 days or more, so we booked into a hostel and I think I slept for the majority of the next 2 days. My last night in Hanoi however I felt 10000x better and I moved over to VBH hostel where I met up with the girls I met at Castaways previously and had 1 more wild night out in Vietnam but I embarked on my solo travels in Cambodia.

Lots of love

Hol x