How to Get the Group Trip OUT of the Group Chat
I recently traveled to Tuscany for 10 days with my closest friends on the elusive and oft-impossible (dun dun dun) group trip. And we had an incredible time! It was a jam-packed week of cultural experiences, hitting all the must-sees, good food, and quality time with my chosen family. I’ll share all the details of our itinerary in a separate post, but I wanted to share a simple breakdown of how you can get your group trips out of the group chat, and avoid any friendship breakups along the way.
1. Gauge Group Interest Early
I started planting the seeds for a Summer 2023 group trip in 2021, to see who in the group seemed the most excited and wanted to go forward discussing it. We are typically a group of nine, so big enough to warrant a good amount of planning but not quite as necessary as say, a whole family reunion trip, so keep in mind your estimated group size when sussing out interest, as you want to start booking as early as possible the bigger the group.
2. Setup a Survey and Align Expectations
Once I had a tentative list of people, I sent out a Google Form four months before we needed to start booking with questions about budget, activities, PTO, destinations, passport validity, and trip pacing. I also included a final confirmation of interest in the survey so I had a headcount. This allowed me to gauge expectations and plan a trip that worked for most people. We decided on a mid-range budget and a busy itinerary with activities on most days which allowed me to get started on building out an itinerary.
3. Create a Group Chat with Confirmed Attendees
Once you have your final headcount, create a separate trip-only group chat with attendees to discuss the trip. If anyone from your usual GC isn’t able to attend, you don’t want them to feel left out or bombarded with messages.
4. Be Democratic but Decisive
While it is important to include everyone in the planning process and ensure that the activities will be appealing to the whole group, at some point you’ll need to make executive decisions. If you’ve been entrusted as the trip planner, your crew will understand.
5. Respect Budgets
Once you’ve set a budget in place that works for everyone, you can’t go rogue and start blowing it up with overly bougie (or overly cheap) accommodations and activities. If something doesn’t fit, it’s not right for this trip. Another thing to keep in mind is price comparison and negotiation – as a private group, you have more leverage in getting group discounts or negotiating for tours and transportation.
6. Meet in Person to Discuss
I’d highly recommend 3-4 in-person planning meetings to sit down and chat through the trip and expectations. I pulled together Google Slides decks with trip ideas, accommodation options, tours and activities, and cultural expectations to share with my group in-person so we could hash out the details and make decisions right in the moment.
7. Create a Google Doc for Collaboration
In addition to in-person meetings, compiling a Google Doc with everyone’s ideas, a tentative schedule, confirmation numbers, research, restaurants, and helpful info is great to keep all the planning details in one place. We were able to chat and comment on things so I could make bookings and answer questions at any time.
8. Book Flights Separately and Activities Together
For ease of booking, I’d recommend having everyone book their flights separately, but as the trip planner, reserve all activities yourself and have your group Venmo you. This allows you to easily manage any communication with hosts and vendors.
9. Stay Organized
Managing a trip with a large group can get tricky, so staying on top of everything is key; I’d recommend pulling together a folder in your email dedicated to any trip communication for easy reference. It’s also important to send out periodic reminders to the crew as the trip approaches so everyone is updated on the latest. While traveling, you’ll also want an easy way to manage finances, we loved using Splitwise which allows you to input any shared expenses and divvy them up between the group to settle up later. This saved us a lot of Venmo headaches!
10. Roll with the Punches
Once you’re on your trip, keep your attitude positive and go with the flow. Sometimes things go wrong, and people butt heads, or get tired and moody; all is to be expected when bringing a bunch of personalities together and hustling to see and do as much as you can in a short time. Be respectful of each others’ boundaries and needs, remember that it’s okay to take breaks and split off sometimes. No matter what, you will have an amazing trip with your besties!
