“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
My husband and I love to travel in a group, either with close friends or family. Half of our travels have been with family and friends and we have enjoyed all of them! One of the best things about traveling with groups is that you have fun no matter what the situation is. Another great reason to travel in groups is safety. Finally, a bonus reason for traveling with a group is that you actually save more money than traveling alone! Wondering how? Keep reading!
1 Accommodation
This applies if you book through sites like Airbnb, where you can book a whole house instead of rooms. For our (cancelled) trip to Guatemala, we had booked a whole house which can accommodate 4-6 people. We only had 3 people for the trip, but even if we had 3 additional people, it would have costed the same amount. Hence if we had 3 additional people, the price per person would be much less. Booking hotels may be more expensive in this situation, so I highly recommend booking a whole house or a full apartment if you are with a group.
Check out this Airbnb post to see what other benefits there are to budgeting your accommodation.
If you’re new to Airbnb and want $55 off on your first stay, click here!
2
Transportation
Often times, taxis can hold around four-six people, depending on where you are. You will probably pay the same amount for a 20 minute ride for two people as you do for six people. When you are in a group, calling a private taxi (and the convenience of it) might be better than using local public transportation. During our trip to Spain and Morocco with my parents, we used Uber, private rides and public taxis to get around the city instead of using public transportation.
*For long distance trips however, you save money when you take public transportation (see this next example).
3 Safety
You are likely to choose the more expensive option during travel to be safe when traveling alone or with 1-2 other people. When you are with a bigger group however, you can be a little bit more assured on the safety aspect and choose less expensive and more adventurous routes. This includes choosing cheaper public transportation for long rides between cities and states. During our Italy and Spain trip, we choose public train rides to travel from one city to the next, cutting our total cost down significantly. For a girls trip in Costa Rica, we took a local public bus from Monteverde to San Jose.
The more people there are in your group, the less likely you are to have a stranger approach you or try to harm you. Everyone in the group is able to keep an eye out for each other and for each other’s belongings. We were highly warned about pick pocketers while in Rome, so we walked in pairs and in lines, so that we could keep an eye on the person walking in front of us.
4
Bargaining
When shopping for souvenirs, the more you buy from a store, the more you can bargain. If you are buying just one item, it is unlikely you will get a discount from the shop owner. However, if there are a few people who wants an item and you buy 5 of those items instead of one, you may be able to get a bargain! I’ve used this method while souvenir shopping in Thailand, Italy and Morocco.
Check out my tips and tricks to bargaining here (my easiest written post yet!)
5 Food
Although the total cost will be higher for food when traveling in a group, the cost per person will be much less. When traveling together and trying new food, it’s best to order less at first, see what you like and then to order more. Depending on where you go, it’s also more likely that you will be able to share portions when eating out. Hubby and I love to try local food, food from carts and crowded food vendors no matter who we travel with. The more people traveling with us, the more different food we can try without stuffing ourselves full.
What is a good group of people?
If you are wondering what is a good number of people to travel with, I would recommend 4-6 people. Any less number of people might not help too much with saving too much money. In fact, having three travelers may be a challenge since everything is usually paired up in twos. Any more than 6 people will be hard to coordinate and might actually be less efficient to plan for.
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