9 Reasons YOU SHOULD take GROUP TOURS (over Independent SOLO Travel )

[@theresahutch1]

Thanks for this video. We lived in Japan (with our kids) for a year and traveled to Vietnam too. We found that doing less is more. Rather than focusing so much on hitting all of the temples in a few days, pick one and enjoy the journey. We stayed at Airbnb's we would sign up for cooking classes with the hosts. When we were in Hoi An, Vietnam, the hosts helped us take a pottery village tour that included wheel throwing pottery and a cooking class! It was amazing!!

[@grrrltraveler]

Great recommendation Theresa! Sounds like a wonderful Vietnam itinerary- very culturally interactive 👍

[@DessertGeek]

I just love that cooking + adventure tours are even a thing. Especially if it means you get to snack THEN go exploring! That's totally my jam. I will say for Seattle tours that gets interesting, because there are so... few? There really aren't that many, even for wine country, and I always find that interesting how limited the options are. I do wonder if as fewer people want to drive on trips we'll see that change.

[@grrrltraveler]

+Seattle Dessert Geek yup. New York is the best and covers a range of budgets and interests too. Hawai'i, you'll pay thru your nose. I don't think the US has capitalized and tours can be expensive. It's a perfect time for you to start a tour idea!

[@ilovemesowhat]

Gosh! I am so glad my boyfriend is from India, you get a free travel guide lol Went to India November 2016, going again November 2017! Can't wait!

[@Oustin]

Haha another great vid!! I am loving this channel lately! I can't stop watching lolol! Keep up the amazing work! I am really impressed with the quality vids you are beginning to submit lately :). I already can't wait for what's next!!! You're the best! Have a nice day! :)

[@Edgesofearth]

- Yip. Pros and cons to all. I love the local feel and 'doing it myself'...but there are days where I simply do not want to deal with the stress of organizing everything and will happily pay the extra few dollars for it to be organized for me.

[@grrrltraveler]

Word. word. woooord. ;D

[@kzzxjy]

Yes! Sometimes a tour is totally worth it, and I hate seeing travelers hate on them all the time :)

[@grrrltraveler]

Word.

[@storykillers2986]

I agree! Tours can be great.

[@guapovagabondztales9586]

Agreed. Sick and tired of travel elitists. I don't do tours all the time, but they have value when I do.

[@gato7908]

sometimes a "splurge" on a tour may actually come out cheaper and definitely less stressful than if you tried to do it all on your own, especially when there are multiple forms of transportation involved, e.g tuk tuk, taxi, bus, train, ferry, etc.

[@makoy913]

Hi Christine! Some of the hotels already have an agreement with these tour agencies. They earn a commission so they don't bother to offer other tour agencies.

[@grrrltraveler]

+Makoy That's expected. So it's up to you to shop other agencies in the area or trust your hotel. Note: the more expensive and higher rated your hotel it's possible the commission and your price will be higher than a budget hotel using the same tour agent.

[@grrrltraveler]

+Makoy 4-5 star I'd avoid concierge and shop outside.

[@MaraNMinn]

Thank you so much Christine for making this video and the shout out! I love all the information you gave and will be using it to plan my trip. I can not thank you enough for reading my comment and using it to create this. It will be helpful to more than just myself! Much aloha! 🌈

[@MaraNMinn]

Thanks so much for the info. It is looking like next year or longer anyways as this year filled up with unexpected trips for work and family. But it will happen. Much Mahalo (thanks) and Aloha!

[@grrrltraveler]

+Mara N My pleasure. I did look a little at the company you were researching. It's yow luxury which is a specialty I've not experienced in a tour yet -- they're setting you up in the best hotels of India. Even I'd like to see what the inside of an Oberoi hotel looks like! 😳😳#drool you can google a tour name + reviews. That should help also.

[@grrrltraveler]

+Mara N Thanks for allowing me to share this topic with fellow travelers! People beg on tours-- I think they have their time and place. There's pros and cons to every decision

[@VinayakGarg31]

Very well presented and reasoned. I just did a DIY trip to HK, but when I went on a day trip from HK to Macau, I did take a personal day tour - and it was well worth it! Also the day tour in taxi allowed us to stay cool in rather hot day.

[@grrrltraveler]

Nice! I wish I had thought of one for Macau. Some things were central but I didn't know if I was seeing all I could see and then I got lost on a bus. How did you find that tour?

[@VinayakGarg31]

GRRRLTRAVELER | Christine Kaaloa It was a good tour, especially since I was traveling with my parents. Also the tour guide had tickets for all attractions and we could buy from her instead of standing in line. But yes bargain hard - I was quoted 1800HKD for personal taxi tour, but got it for 750HKD. She also helped us with getting printouts of documents we needed to get back into HongKong and guided us to the best Indian restaurant at the end for dinner! Service was so good that I ended up paying her 900 HKD :)

[@MetroRatRace]

Such a refreshing video from a seasoned solo traveler! I like to do a little bit of independent and packaged tours depending on the country. For example when I went to Thailand, I went a few days early and went around on my own using the great public systems (I love trains over buses). Afterwards I joined a packaged tour to travel through the rest of the country and to smaller towns. It was perfect for me. I laugh at the travel snobs who look down on packaged tours but to each his own.

[@johnmartin6579]

I enjoy your videos

[@grrrltraveler]

+John Martin Thanks!

[@ravescience2000]

Christine .... you are amazing woman❤

[@grrrltraveler]

#awww

[@vikinggoesglobal]

Wonderful tips once again - thank you!

[@grrrltraveler]

+vikinggoesglobal You're welcome!

[@guapovagabondztales9586]

Another very helpful video, Christine. I've taken tours occasionally where I feel like I want a deeper cultural experience. I took a food tour and cooking tour in Italy because I love Italian food. I've also taken walking tours-- many of those can be free.

[@abidahmad2240]

Hi Christine ... i still haven't seen most of your VLOGS (especially the Thailand ones) and was just watching this one when i spotted a face i know quite well. At 1:02, that sure looks like nobody but a slightly younger Herr Andreas (Andy), presently owning and running Scuba Quest Dive Center in Kamala, Phuket. Truly serendipitous! It seems you went diving with him. Was that out of Kamala? Were you in Kamala? Did you do a VLOG on Kamala? Did you really take a dive or two?

[@criskity]

I like the concept of hop-on/hop-off, but they tend to be too expensive. If I'm in a city with good public transportation (I'm looking at you, Taipei!), I'll be hopping on and off their city buses and subways.

[@ryanr8121]

You seem to know what you're talking about! Can I just travel with you? Haha jk. Good video! I have been on a tour in China before that I booked here in the US. While it was cool and all, I don't like being on that time restriction and it seemed that I didn't have enough time to explore and it was expensive. Best thing that I did get to see was the World Expo in Shanghai. Very interesting. I also like hop-on, hop-off buses. Very convenient. Used it in Madrid and Barcelona and definitely plan on using it when I go to London and Paris, since it's included in the city passes. 😃 and the countdown begins and research on restaurants begins.

[@grrrltraveler]

Those are big frustrations of many. It's helpful to shop around for affordable to free tours, but some cities just don't have that. Good to know about London & Paris! Enjoy! =D

[@alteredillusions100]

Grrrreat video:) I use the hop on hop off bus. When in Thailand I used a tour company to hop around PHi PHi island & and where I want to know the historical details of a destination

[@grrrltraveler]

+alteredillusions100 Do you remember the name of the tour? It was a hop on and hop off? +Leah Luna

[@alteredillusions100]

GRRRLTRAVELER I'm not sure which tour company. it happen to be downstairs from the hotel I was staying. When I went to the islands it was a last-minute booking I don't even remember the name of the hotel. We stopped at a few islands to get off but had to get back on the same boat it was a powerboat.

[@lunaleahh]

Ooohhh thank you, will remember that for future reference! :D

[@robbie025]

i hate tours...BUT, for India, most countries in Africa, i would not hesitate to book a tour. i would feel safer

[@Dre_Wolf]

I always skip tours, but this video is really helpful! Thanks!

[@robbie025]

i don't mind short day tours however. like the one we took to visit the DMZ in South Korea

[@nijokongapally4791]

good information👍💯💖😍

[@ewpl]

Nice insight from experience!

[@ddasilva9656]

Love all your videos. Thank you😍 I feel better about my solo trip to India in February 2018

[@maelyka1041]

Your videos are really helpful... it makes me more confident that I my trip to India will be ok. Thank you so much.

[@Ifindcosplay]

I've wasted tons of time trying to find things. Even if i have good GPS and it is a place where people speak my native language it is difficult if you haven't been there before. Then I kind of kick myself when I think about how long it took just to get somewhere, good time wasted on a trip. The upside to non-tours is you can spend as much time as you want where you want. I often want to linger at certain places but w/travel groups they have to push you through places so they make sure you see what you paid for.

[@grrrltraveler]

+ifindcosplay I get you- I take a mostly public transit these days. I try to look at the adventure. 😁😁😁 But in some cities like say Vietnam or Thailand, budget tours are more cost efficient than doing it on your own.

[@grrrltraveler]

+ifindcosplay ps. If you really like a place you see On a tour you can always go back? 😁

[@lunaleahh]

Great tips! Thanks again for this!! Got curious with hop on hop off buses. By any chance, did you encounter them in other southeast asian countries aside from south korea? :)

[@grrrltraveler]

+Leah Luna hmm. It's been more of a western thing but every once in a while I try to google day or city tours to see what comes up. I was shocked when I found one in Delhi by accident-- thanks to leaving my guidebook in left luggage. But as I see it, theres countries like Vietnam that offer budget budget tours. Did you score any of those ? Btw- does the PI have budget tours.

[@lunaleahh]

You can find local travel agents offering budget tours online on fb travel groups in the PH - for group or for joiners (solo travelers). I suggest using them as back up. I think they're of the same price as the ones offered when you're in the destination already. Ha! I had 2 tours; 1 for the 2D1N sapa trekking tour which I just joined a group of backpackers in the town centre ($25) and the other 1 for the Bac Ha market tour which I hated. Haha! It was the one I was most looking forward to because of the hilltribes but the van was late and only spent a little time in it *siiighs*

[@petermauderli]

I do it very much like you. I like to do a city tour first to get an overview. It aloud me to step deeper in the attractions I am really interested on a later time. Please move on

[@mallorymanassa]

Currently debating on booking a food tour for Bangkok's Chinatown. The tour hits a lot of the food places I already have on my list but I'm not sure if I should book online or try to figure out how to book the tour when I've actually made it into the city.

[@grrrltraveler]

I've found boutique tours/food tours are usually best found and booked online b/c they're private businesses which handle smaller groups. Agents usually handle general tours with larger groups

[@Stefani37]

Hey Christine, do you have a PO box or an address where we can send things to you? Thanks! Love your videos :)

[@grrrltraveler]

Thanks! For biz inquiries: media~at~grrrltraveler.com =D=D

[@Stefani37]

GRRRLTRAVELER | Christine Kaaloa. This is just an address for fan mail and letters, I was thinking of sending you some things! Maybe some sweets and food for you to try? or anything you'd like to try from the UK?

[@timmyto441]

I only shop at the grocery store to save money on food, but when i go to a vegan restaurant i splurge because they deserve my money

[@greywolf1940]

Thank you, have you ever considered going to the Philippines? That is a great country I hear and would love to hear about your experiences there in the Philippines and I hear it is very cheap to travel. Thanks take care love your Blogs, going to Thailand in a few months and thanks for all your info on Thailand.

[@grrrltraveler]

I want to goooo to the Philippines!!!!!! It's soooo on my bucketlist. It's actually cost of the plane ticket . My life update vid explains how my budget was bad last year and nothing this year. This year's my challenge is to find ways to travel without paying for it. =O

[@priyahiriyanna1519]

how much does your channel earning get affected by KZbin ad boycott?

[@criskity]

Visiting North Korea. Like Bhutan, you have to join a tour or you can't go.

[@mapofth]

Christine I've sent you e-mail. Could you answer please? :)

[@JohnDavis-yz9nq]

Don’t care for this woman. She is rude and will not answer comments