Costs of solo travel vs with friends or family

The New York Times' Frugal Traveler recently wrote about the costs of traveling with two different sets of people. A couple of high school friends. And his parents. During separate trips in Colombia and Nicaragua.

He thought traveling with his friends would be cheap, while having to provide his parents with creature comforts would take a bite out of his budget.

Turns out it was the other way around. It's a good read about the different things people like to do when they travel. And their different needs.

And it reminds me yet again why solo travel can be so much more relaxing in many ways.

For instance, he says that it's easy to skip meals when you travel alone. But when you travel with people and one of you is hungry, usually all of you stop and eat, he points out.

On the other hand, I often like to snack all day and love to try out bakery items and street foods in other countries. That can mean I may not sit down to a meal but I will be stopping a lot to chow down.

Sometimes I don't want to go in some place and be served because there are so many things I want to see and being served takes time.

That's not always going to sit well with people who don't feel the need to pack so many things in a day. Who want to relax more on vacation. ("But I'll never be back here," I'm thinking. Need to see, go, do.)

There are many pluses to traveling with people, if you have the right companions. But as the writer says, traveling in a group also means pleasing people with "diverse breaking points." His example: if hot water is a must, everyone must pay to upgrade to that luxury.

That example is extreme, but this IS the New York Times' frugal traveler. Still, there are all levels. If someone must have air conditioning. If someone must have a nice hotel, not a motel or hostel. Whatever the minimum necessities are.

When traveling solo? So much freedom. So much choice. So little pushback

Photo: Luis H Ledezma

Comments

[Gray]

So true, so true. It's very difficult traveling with other people who are on a different budget from you. And if you have to compromise what you're willing to spend on a vacation because of your traveling companions, won't you wind up resenting them for that?

[Ellen]

Exactly, Gray.
And budget is just one of many issues that divide people traveling together.

I just got back from a weekend away during which I felt like I had to compromise WAY too much with my traveling companion.

There is something I would have done that I didn't because he didn't want to stand in line. I understood that, but I would have gone and waited.
I would have stopped off on the way home and visited a pal who used to live near me in DC, but I didn't want to bore my friend.

I apologized for insisting on a brunch place I really wanted to go to because my friend didn't like much on the menu.

We left at first, but couldn't find another brunch place open (it was late and it was a smallish town) so we ended up back there. And I apologized! For doing what I wanted to do on vacation! He ended up enjoying the brunch but I didn't like having to go through the "rough patch" to get there.

And on and on.

My next trip MUST be solo! I need to get back the control over my vacations!!!

;-)

[Gray]

WORD. I hate feeling like I have to apologize for doing what I want to on vacation. It's the "hostess" syndrome. We feel like we are responsible for the other person having a good time and place a greater importance on that than having a good time ourselves. I like your declaration. Yes, take back control of your vacations! Go solo! :-)

[SingleOccuBlog]

Unless you're traveling with your ideological identical twin, you're going to encounter some resistance and compromise at some point on a trip. There a people in my life who are worth it, but they're a very, VERY small minority. Instead, 9 times out of 10, I travel solo.

[Ellen]

SingleOccuBlog -

I hear you! Still looking for that ideological identical twin...