Venture off the beaten path
If you’re group is headed to Europe, you’ll want to see the standard sights, but your vacation will be even more memorable if you seek out a couple of these offbeat destinations.
Family Attractions in San Francisco
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If you go to San Francisco, you will want to travel across the biggest icon of the city, the Golden Gate Bridge. Other locations and things to see and do when planning a trip itinerary are cable cars, Alcatraz Island, China Town and all of the Victorian gingerbread architecture. Of course, you’ll have a meal at one of the award winning restaurants on Fisherman’s Wharf. Any of us older folks who grew up in the 60’s will want to stop by the Haight-Ashbury district to reminisce. These will all be at the top of the list. However, there is so much more for your family to do and see in this city on the bay.
Implement the one-bag rule
One of the biggest headaches of group travel is luggage. The most common problem faced by groups with too much luggage are delays, from the long wait at the baggage claim to lost luggage, one person’s luggage problem can put the whole trip on hold. That’s why you should establish the one-bag rule.
Inevitably, of course, you will have people who insist that they can’t fit everything into one bag. Carefully consider what their concerns are before booting them from the group. For example, someone who needs to bring a laptop to get work done during the trip or someone who needs to bring an extra bag for a newborn should be accommodated. Other than the obvious exceptions, the group should commit to this rule. It’ll make everyone’s trip go more smoothly.
There are also other benefits to the “one bag” rule that you should let your group know. These include not only physical transportation benefits but also emotional benefits, like the fact that you’ll gain some spiritual insight about your attachment to material things when you don’t have them around. Check out Brave New Traveler for a full list.
3 West Coast destinations for book groups
There are many different ways for a book group to plan a trip together, but one of the most overlooked ones is to head to a famous bookstore. From California up to Washington, the West Coast is dotted with bookstores that are destinations of their own for readers of all kinds. Here are the three that should catch your attention:
Gambling with a group
If you’re willing to roll the dice, how about taking a gambling tour? Almost every larger city has a group that makes regular treks to the local casino and signing up for the next trip is as easy as contacting the casino to find out which tour group they recommend.
The benefits of traveling with a group are many. The first, and most obvious is you don’t have to worry about getting there and getting home, simply show up at the appointed times and you’re ferried around. Another benefit is meeting new and interesting people; you may forge friendships that last a lifetime. And then there’s the money aspect: Casinos offer great discounts to groups and these are distributed to each traveler, usually in the form of free tokens to be used while gaming, but you’ll also often find that you get discounts on meals and gift shop purchases.
Gamblers with deeper pockets may wish to contact their local travel agent to see about a group tour to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. These group tours feature some discounted rates on both travel and hotels and many provide discounts to gamblers to get them at the tables and keep them there for a long time.
Get there before the group does
If you’re the person in charge of planning a group vacation, get there before the rest of the party so you can fix any last-minute glitches.
Get to know Groople
If you’re a group traveler you should know about Groople. The website combines social networking with group trip planning to make planning your group travel more efficient. And people in the industry are starting to notice: The site won the 2007 award for the World’s Leading Group Travel Booking Site.
Groople continues to incorporate new technology. Its most recent development is a webpage-making wizard called GroopVine. The wizard makes it simple for you to set up a website to plan and organize your group travel.
Travel discounts for teams
It’s become common for kids’ sports teams to travel outside their own city, state and sometimes even country to take their championship title to the next level. If your child is on one of these teams, then careful consideration should be given to travel arrangements.
The advantages of group cruises
Cruises offer a special opportunity for groups of any size–from 10 to 200 or more. The sheer size of today’s mega-liners allows all members of a group to find an activity that appeals to them, or they can just relax by the pool and do nothing at all. Group cruises can also be big cost-savers. Consider the following advantages of booking a group cruise.
Social networking for group travelers
More and more people are using social networking sites to stay in touch with old friends as well as to meet new people and make business contacts. Another way to utilize such sites is group travel.
Private travel groups, such as families or church groups, can create their own online community to share information, photos, itineraries and other trip details with one another. Solo travelers can join travel groups online to meet other people who are interested in going to the same destinations that they are.
If you’re a member of MySpace or Facebook, you can make that the place where you connect with your travel group. Or you can sign up with one of the social networking sites specific to travelers such as TripUp. You also can start your own group on any platform from Google Groups to Ning to connect with the people that are in your existing group of travelers.
3 hot spots for group travel
It can be difficult to decide where to travel with your group. Although there are many terrific options for group travel, there are only a few places that are consistently good for all different types of groups. Here are three of those hot spots for your group to consider:
Questions to ask before you book a day at a spa
Spa days are becoming increasingly popular and groups can get great discounts on a day at the spa. But before you go, consider the following.
Create a calendar for your travel group
You’ve got a travel group that is interested in going to a diverse range of places. Instead of arguing month after month about where it is that you want to go next, consider creating a calendar at the beginning of the year that covers the rest of the year’s destinations.
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