Early Retirement + Group Travel: What Works, What Doesn’t

[@TwoSidesOfFI]

What have your experiences been like with group travel? Share your best tips + tricks in the comments below

[@patriciagolding7092]

We loved our tour of Costa Rica with Caravan tours. It was a larger group so we did have an on board potty. The guides were fantastic.

[@mylor1066]

Good to see you guys back. Your channel made my top 5 of 2024 with 3,410minutes listened!

[@Marizzzz1]

I went on a ‘singles trip’ to Bali last year and can confirm on many of the pros and cons in this video. The benefit of a singles trip for me was that no one of the group knew each other and everyone is there to connect (doesn’t have to be in a romantic way at all). My big pro was the local guide as well. Did many things (try local foods etc) I wouldn’t do myself when I would go by myself.

[@andyholloway5799]

Love TwoSidesofFI as always, for anyone reading this the episode with Eric on Bigger Pockets Money is live as of yesterday if you want to go listen after this!

[@jabow1878]

We traveled without tour groups in our 20-40s. We would pick up local guides when we hit town ( much easier with the internet now). We changed at mid 50s. We look for small group tours much like you describe for places we are more out of our element. Let someone else hassle tickets and lodging. And, to be honest, safety. It is easy to be nimble with a small group. We ask “where would you eat” to the guide on nights off. Again, smaller group guide, more honest and safe. Headed out for a German, non tour, staycation with grands on Friday. Small group Turkey tour in April. Life is good!

[@se7390]

The thought of group travel gave me the ick but when my husband didn't want to go to Sri Lanka, I booked a trip with Intrepid in 2019. Mid trip, the Easter bombings occurred. Intrepid were absolutely fantastic, replanning the remainder of the trip and head office checking in with individual members of the group to see how we were feeling, whilst still giving us a great experience. Even as an introverted control freak, the positives absolutely outweighed the negatives.

[@breathetyb8467]

I really appreciate what you shared on bigger pockets because it mirrors what I am going through almost exactly. Thanks for making that leap.

[@TwoSidesOfFI]

Cheers, glad it was helpful!

[@Brian-zi5wr]

This is a fun experiment to listen to. My wife and I did Peru for our 10th anniversary and we planned (by we I mean me) the trip ourselves. We absolutely loved the entire trip to Peru, everything about it. We ate at Central and Mido in Lima, we wandered around Lima without plans some days and just took in the sites, we rode the 5sol local busses even tho we didnt speak the language. Once we got to Cusco we connected with our Inca Trail tour group (you must use a local tour group to do the Inca Trail). The guide for our trip was amazing and we still follow him on social media and we still keep in contact with some of the people from our group and even met up with one of the girls in Chicago for dinner a few years later. We stayed in Hostels, Hotels, and BnB's and got to experience a little of each side. Was my favorite trip we have ever taken, we absolutely love Peru and talk about going back someday even tho we know there are still 135135 places in the world for us to go and see.

[@TwoSidesOfFI]

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a great trip

[@stevesundstrom]

Really valuable episode. Glad you took time and covered everything in such great detail.

[@TwoSidesOfFI]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AKim-uu4hg]

Loved this topic and always love your conversations! Jason, happy belated anniversary to you and Lori. Eric, you're such a crack up! My husband and I are recent retirees and we are traveling as much as we can right now. Machu Picchu is on our short list of places we want to do. We have never been on an organized group trip and all the things you all talked about are things we've worried about. After hearing Jason talk about their experience, I will most definitely consider and research taking a group tour for our trip there. Thank you guys for the great content!!

[@TwoSidesOfFI]

🙏

[@kaytee1617]

Excellent early retirement content. Thank you.

[@Patrick-xo8ht]

Great episode!

[@a012345]

I've always felt that going with a group for the first time is the best. Once you know what to expect and how to navigate, the 2nd trip allows you to go on your own and explore. That's pretty much how I did Japan when I travel and worked there for a bit. I've probably seen more of Japan than even a Japanese native at this point lol.

[@joleneunland4061]

We’ve always done DIY travel, however we are considering a trip with FI Friends Travel to Morocco next fall.

[@nata3467]

I've been traveling on my own since I was 16 but in the last few years I ended up on a group trip to Cuba because of my older parents and my brother and his wife coming with us.. it was definitely a different experience and I had to let go of a lot of control it was funny though as one of the few Spanish speakers on the tour I ended up doing a lot of translating... Thinking I should have got a tip at the end. My young son did a lot of luggage carrying and two nice ladies from New Jersey did to him generously😊 all in all it was fun but I would probably not do it again.

[@TwoSidesOfFI]

Thanks for sharing

[@rx911S]

Sounds like you had a great time Jason (minus the gi issues). I am glad that we experienced Machu Picchu 12 years ago when it was not necessary for you to enter with a guide/tour. We did have a portion of our trip to Peru where you needed to book with a guide/tour group (7 night amazon river journey) which was a good experience for us. Can’t wait to hear about your next adventure. BTW, if you want more South America adventure, i highly recommend Argentina (patagonia in particular), Chile is wonderful as well but you get much more bang for your buck in Argentina.

[@SD-co9xe]

I’m still at the point where I love figuring it all out.

[@RandomJane104]

This is good information. I would only do a group trip like this if I was single or going to a country where English isn't widely spoken as a second language, or it's not safe. I just don't enjoy being on some else's schedule. We did do a short small bus group tour around the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, so my husband could enjoy the scenery instead of concentrating on driving. I'm fine with things like that.

[@christinab9133]

❤❤❤

[@patriciagolding7092]

We bought Allianz annual trip insurance, it was quite affordable but we travel a lot. $400 ish

[@DerekEskens]

Under $500/day seems like a good deal to me

[@TwoSidesOfFI]

Yep!