How to Make the Group the Best Part About “Group Travel”
“I didn’t realize how intimate it would be to experience a new city with a small cohort, and how quickly that would connect us.”
By Kat Harrison, contributor. Originally published March 18, 2022
One of the most common questions I have received about my group trip to Oaxaca with El Camino Travel is “who was in your group?” When I think back on our group, a few consistent characteristics come to mind: Curious. Authentic. Creative. However, I mostly think about our differences, which is what made the experience so meaningful. El Camino brings together beautifully diverse groups of people who tend to share fundamental values, thanks to ECT’s clear commitment to its ethos as well as the detailed list of traveler’s values that trip-goers must commit to prior to booking.
Because of these shared values, I found it unbelievably easy to connect with my group. I distinctly remember a moment on the second day of the trip where our group was sitting in the sun, getting sleepy after spending the first half of the day on a walking tour of the best street food in town. Someone made a comment that it was hard to believe we had known each other for less than 24 hours, and we were all in total disbelief momentarily. Although we had only been together for a short period of time, everyone had shown up as their 100% true selves, which made it really easy and enjoyable to get to know each other. This vulnerability is what made our group click so quickly and is part of that secret sauce that ECT cultivates. I left Oaxaca five days later having made deeper connections than I ever anticipated was possible on a week-long trip.
So, when people ask “who was in your group?” I know what they are really asking is “who will be in my group if I finally take the leap to go on an ECT trip?” and while I cannot tell you who exactly you will meet, I can promise you that it will be worth your while.
Here are a few of the individuals who made up the group in my group trip:
Jolyn
Homebase: Portland, OR
Occupation: Interior Designer
Prior Experience with Group Travel: Yes
Characteristics: Calm, cool, and collected. Fantastic listener. Has a knack for finding the most unique pottery and souvenirs.
Motivation: Jolyn had previously experienced the magic of an ECT trip and wanted to share that with her partner—a talented chef and foodie—on this trip to the gastronomic capital of Mexico. Oaxaca was their first international trip since Covid-19, and Jolyn knew she could trust the planning and safety measures that ECT provides. She wanted to ease back into international travel and found that ECT was a great way to do so.
Result: Jolyn said she felt “open” during the trip. Noting that, “the pandemic has made people closed off to others, and it was a great way to open up again to strangers and be yourself. There’s a lot of freedom in that.” She enjoyed hearing stories from other people and getting to know them on a personal level without the distractions of her day-to-day life.
Dian
Homebase: Greater Washington, DC
Occupation: Art Director
Prior Experience with Group Travel: No
Characteristics: Lively. Contagious laugh. Planned cool solo adventures for the group in our free time. Visionary.
Motivation: Dian is a serial traveler and was looking for a way to shake up her usual adventures while simultaneously empowering women. This trip caught her eye because she had been interested in traveling to Oaxaca for a while but hadn’t fully planned it—how to get there, what to do, where to stay. ECT made all of that so easy.
Result: When I asked Dian if the Oaxaca trip lived up to her expectations, she said “I knew it would be a great destination, but I didn’t realize it would be a magical experience.” Dian said she felt “inspired and stimulated” throughout our trip, crediting not only the location, but the group she experienced it with. She was especially touched by the humbleness and graciousness of the locals we met.
Andrea
Homebase: Madrid, Spain
Occupation: Visual Merchandiser
Prior Experience with Group Travel: No
Characteristics: Radiates joy. Wellness guru. Intuitive. Brings the most soothing, warm energy to every situation.
Motivation: Andrea loves to travel, be it with friends, significant others, or solo. She began looking into group travel because, as a woman, sometimes she hesitates to go alone. As a first-time traveler to Oaxaca, she wanted to have a good time but didn’t want to be worried about security. She had been looking for years at different group trip options but never said yes because it never felt quite right. When she found ECT, she said it felt “familiar” in the sense that ECT “represented something I like—something that I am too.” Because of that, she didn’t think much about who would be in the group—trusting ECT to bring together an easy-going, open-minded crew with a mix of cultural experiences.
Result: When I asked Andrea how her first experience with group travel went, she said “I felt really at home within the group.”
On our Oaxaca visit, we had El Camino Co-Founder and CMO, Justin Bridges, who certainly knows all of the ingredients that make an ECT trip so special but was excited to finally experience it for himself.
Justin
Homebase: Brooklyn, New York
Occupation: Entrepreneur, Photographer
Prior Experience with Group Travel: No
Characteristics: Relaxed. Interested in connecting with everyone at a deeper level. Happiest when everyone is having fun. Natural leader.
Motivation: Justin was eager to let ECT be his travel guide, having done the majority of his international travel with groups of guy friends, where the plans were pieced together daily and mostly involved eating and drinking. He trusted ECT to provide a true cultural experience, with a taste of spontaneity, in addition to the ever-important local cuisine and cocktails.
Result: When I asked Justin if the experience was what he expected since he—more than anyone—knew what he was getting into, he said “It was magical to see the Google reviews come to life. It almost felt too good to be true before the trip but it actually lives up to it.” As a self-proclaimed introvert, Justin said that the experience was “life-changing” for him—relishing the strong bonds that he formed.
Lastly, me, your author.
Kat
Homebase: Greater Washington DC area
Occupation: Consultant, Writer
Prior Experience with Group Travel: No
Characteristics: Taking it all in… to write about it later 😏
Motivation: Since I have always traveled with my family and friends, I thought it would be a good growing experience to travel alone, which is how I viewed this trip beforehand—completely downplaying the “group” travel aspect. I didn’t realize how intimate it would be to experience a new city with a small cohort, and how quickly that would connect us.
Result: Echoing what the others from my group said above, everything came together in a delightful way for me on this trip. Because I was liberated from my daily travel-planning responsibilities, I felt truly present and able to cherish the people and places even more. It was really interesting to not only see a new city through my eyes, but to see it through my group’s perspective as well. When one person would get excited about something in particular—mezcal, crafts, ice cream—it made me pause and appreciate it even more.
