Ever considered travelling with strangers?

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]ian Elvin argues that travelling with strangers is the best way to experience another country.

In the final issue of the Boar last year, I read a fantastic piece by Scarlett Mansfield encouraging students to dare to go travelling alone. In this article however, I challenge the adventurers among you not to travel alone, or with friends.

I dare you to travel with a group of strangers – people you’ve never met before in your life.

So why would you want to do that? Personally I think it’s the easiest way to get the best of both worlds. A major concern for a lot of people travelling with a group of friends is that they won’t be able to go off alone and do what they want, but if you go abroad with strangers, you won’t feel the same kind of ties that you would to your friends.

Make sure you find a tour flexible enough for you (I’d seriously recommend booking yourself in for an appointment with STA Travel in the atrium to work out what sort of thing you’re looking for), and you’ll be able to go off by yourself when it suits you.

Ometepe volcano – photo: Sian Elvin

Of course, if you’re travelling around an area you’re very familiar with, like Western Europe, a tour may not suit you, but if you’re going somewhere you’ve never been before or with a completely different culture, you will benefit from it.

I travelled in a group across Central America and found advantages in two different ways. In terms of safety, it meant I could visit some really interesting but dangerous places where I would never dare to travel on my own, for example Tegucigalpa in Honduras.

I was also warned about practical safety – we were walking through a forest and suddenly told to walk softly by our guide, because there was a deadly wasps’ nest above us and if we disturbed it, we could have been stung to death. Who knows what could have happened if I was alone or talking loudly to a friend!

The group you’re travelling with can either make or break your trip

The second benefit was that travelling with a tour guide ensured we were getting the best out of every place we visited. As we were travelling through four different countries in a few weeks, there was a lot to get through in a limited time.

Without a guide I wouldn’t have seen anywhere near as much, even with extensive planning. In those few weeks I went snorkelling across coral reefs, bungee jumping, volcano boarding, kayaking, zip-lining, dolphin spotting and even went on a home stay.

And the great thing is that I chose all of those things out of options given to us by our tour guide. By no means did you have to stick to the itinerary; you could go off and explore alone if you wished!

However, what I did learn was that the group you’re travelling with can either make or break your trip. In my case, it absolutely made it. It’s been just over a year since I returned from Central America, and I’m still in contact with some of the people I went with, and have met up with a couple of them over the summer.

Volcano boarding – photo: Sian Elvin

Having made friends with a variety of people of different nationalities, ages and backgrounds, I’ve had invitations to visit New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland. I spent weeks getting to know these people in the early hours of the morning, over cocktails, next to campfires, watching sunsets. Living with people in such close proximity and experiencing an entirely new environment with them creates an incredibly strong bond.

To go back home not only with a bunch of amazing experiences under your belt, but also having met some incredible people who you may not have looked at twice in the street before, is something truly special. And that’s why you should give travelling with a group of strangers a chance.