Backpacking group posting on GLOBOsapiens

tour guide or backpack?

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steven11 Joined: Dec 06 Points: 61 Posts: 1 Posted: 2006-12-31 01:55:00    hi all, i just love to know is it better to travel with tour guides holiday or backpacking(exploring by urself)? --- StevenT Reply    Reply with quote    Contact steven11   ta-shy Joined: Jun 02 Points: 4110 Posts: 170 Posted: 2006-12-31 17:13:00    Happy New Year! Good health and high spirits! In answer to your question, I guess it would depend on your comfort level and budget, also perhaps where you are travelling to. GUIDES 1) some places, in some countries demand you have a guide to go to certain places.. Ie: Galapagus. 2) If it is your first trip you may want to use the guides to get your feet wet in the world of travel. ie: My trip to Egypt was 2 weeks, I joined a group called "Geckos travel" I don't like travel groups but I used them for the transportation and hotels. I did my own thing throughout the trip if I didn't like what the group planned. 3) With a group the itinery is planned, as is mode of transport and hotels. This can be good if you need other people to hang with, need an itinery, need a certain amount of security and finally are pressed for time. 4) guided tours are usually more expensive, though you may be able to find cheaper tours.. ------------------------------- Backpacking. 1) the ulitmate freedom while travelling 2) you rely solely on your people and survival skills 3) you answer to and rely on, no-one but yourself. 4) you make your own itinery, do your own thing, stay where you want to stay etc. 5) you usually have to plan on the run(while in a group, the planning is done you just follow the group) 6) It is usually the cheapest way to travel, the most informative and definitely the most adventerous. whatever you choose, it will fall within your level of comfort. Ie: My 1st trip was to Kenya was solo, to visit a friend My friend showed me around I stayed with him and his family (met through the internet pen-pal) My next trip was to Egypt, pressed for time, wanted to see it all... went with a group. I learned from this that I DON'T like travelling with groups. My other trips were by the seat of my pants.. reasearch the country a bit, make a temperary itinery of things I must see in that country, buy the ticket, get off the plane, find a cheap hostel or hotel, throw out the itinery and set the date I have to return. Then everything that happens from the time I land to the time I leave is just fate. I have met people who wouldn't dare travel like this because of the unknown and the security risk, but to me...... that is what it is all about. ciao Tashi [ This Message was edited by: ta-shy on 2006-12-31 17:22 ] --- LIFE IS AN ATTITUDE! ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU WISH YOU COULD! ALWAYS! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact ta-shy   eirekay Premium account Joined: Aug 03 Points: 19539 Posts: 214 Posted: 2007-01-01 21:26:00    There is also a choice somewhere down the middle. If you can find a travel agency (look at reports on Globo that sound like what you want to do and then contact the author to see what agency they used) that specializes in the area, you can frequently make and adjust arrangements by e-mail while you are on the road. For example, you can give a day or two notice to the Travel Agency, then take a train or bus to the destination, and have a guide ready to go. There are a number of places in which a good guide (not all guides are easily understood or fully speak your language) can help you see more, and more quickly, as Tashi mentioned. Some locations require that you be with a guide or a group (the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu as an example). Other places, for safety reasons, require one (Lima comes to mind). I have had good and bad luck with groups. I generally don't care for them because I don't want to be rushed or feel like I didn't have enough time to see something. I do like having guides to see larger sites, as the generally are able to help you go off the beaten path and see less traveled parts of an area, if you make clear up front that this is your interest. Good Luck! Eire --- Life is not measured by the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away. Profile Pic: Tikal, Guatemala Reply    Reply with quote    Contact eirekay