Being a radio host for the last 34 years has rewarded me with the wonderful opportunity to travel quite a bit. I've enjoyed broadcasting from the tropical paradises of Jamaica and Barbados to the lively Innsbruck, Austria, also known as the capital of the Alps. But the most exciting experiences have been the group ski trips I've hosted. We've taken listeners to Italy, Canada, Austria and France with stops in Germany. One of my groups had over 90 listeners traveling together.
Group travel can be fun because you make new friends and there's that "safety in numbers" thing. It's nice to have a buddy along if you’re a bit unsure of your surroundings. The key for having the ultimate group travel experience, is to find a group that offers numerous options, even the choice to go off on your own and explore if you’d like some time away from the group. Having that alternative gives you more freedom to ensure your trip suits you. You can do the fun pub crawls with your new friends or go to a museum alone and at your own pace. That's the way we did it and it really did work much better.
But I can tell you, there is one thing that is essential when traveling abroad, group travel or not. BE FLEXIBLE. If you're not flexible then you're not going to have a good time. You can't visit another country with the expectation that it’s going to be "just like it is at home"...that's the whole point of visiting other countries and cultures. To explore new cuisine, people, traditions, and garner a new perspective on life. You have to be prepared to be flexible. To bend. To adjust. You should try things a different way. It just might surprise you.
Prime example: I was on one of our ski trips to Italy. We decided to go into town and do some shopping. We organized transportation for a group of us. I was imagining all the beautiful Italian shoes, leather handbags and Gucci sunglasses I would find. I was ready to "shop till I dropped." We began our shopping in this wonderful village full of mom & pop shops. We finished up in our first store and headed for the next. The door was shut and the CLOSED sign was out. What? How dare they! I've traveled half the world to shop in this town. Fine then...on to the next store. But wait, this one is closed too. What the? Where is everybody?
You see...in most Italian towns between 1pm and 4pm everyone closes up shop for a nice long siesta. It's part of the culture. I figure they don't actually nap...more likely they go home, make dinner and chill out a bit. Then, they come back and open up for business till about 7pm. First of all, we should have done our homework and second...what a beautiful concept. THAT is living! I was kinda bummed that I didn't get to shop that day, but I discovered something wonderful about the Italian culture. And that is, always remember to BE FLEXIBLE! Bend, adjust and be open to new things. You'll have all the normalcy of home soon enough. Oh and P.S. don't try to plug in your 1800 watt USA blow-dryer into a socket of a 100+ year old hotel ...That's another story.