How do you go travelling with others who don't share the interest with you?

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rayonline

1734 posts

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#214362 8-May-2017 15:11

Esp family trips. How do you guys do it? Do you put aside your interest and go with the group.

I have an interest in outdoor photography. One looks at Andris Apse, and Craig Potton or with Tourism NZ, NZ is generally about the outdoors at the national parks right, the lakes, the treks, the hikes. So we spent 2 weeks doing just that, the best part from them was probably Queenstown and Christchurch which we only did 2 days. Even the small townships they didn't like too much, such as a 4 Square outlet and 2 cafes. I didn't drag them out with me at 6.30am for the sunsets but in the day time they weren't that interested in the small townships and they had no interest in the outdoor activities on offer.

Are most people simply into the conveniences of the city or larger town living?

Cheers.

frankv

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#1777934 8-May-2017 16:17

It's a holiday for everyone, so everyone gets to have some of what they want. In exchange, everyone puts up with (or perhaps learns to like) what everyone else likes. Or, where there's two good options, you split up to each do your own thing.

For example, my wife and I have just got back from a USA holiday. We have quite disparate interests. We went to Yosemite and Death Valley, both bucket list items of mine (which she was surprised to find that she actually quite liked). Later, we went to the Statue of Liberty and Nashville, on her bucket list (which I actually also quite enjoyed). We both wanted to check out the Amish in Pennsylvania, so we did. In Washington DC we split up for an afternoon; she went shopping while I went to the Smithsonian NASM (on my bucket list).

mdf

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#1777948 8-May-2017 17:03

We went to Turkey because I wanted to go. Mrs MDF wasn't exactly humouring me, but it definitely wasn't her choice. But she absolutely loved it.

That said, within trips I think it's fine to do your own thing, at least for a bit. Mrs MDF well and truly wandered off to find something else to do as soon as the second hour of me trying to figure out how this magnificent contraption works ticked over (it's a nut cracker):

And the philistine literally fell asleep on a bench at the British Museum, which is, as far as I am concerned, the most wonderful place on earth.

EDIT: that's interesting. Don't know why the image is rotated? Looks fine in the original.

rayonline

1734 posts

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#1777951 8-May-2017 17:10

Thanks. Big cities may be different cos thee are things that people can do. For us was of the 12 nights we spent 1 day in Queenstown and 1 day in Christchurch which was pretty much the only places they liked. Would it been different if you went to a small town and that was it.

SepticSceptic

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#1778610 9-May-2017 16:58

rayonline:

6.30am for the sunsets but in the day time

Cheers.

6:30am sunsets would be pretty amazing !!

Last big road trip I did with 2 families ( Myself, wife, 2 kids, my sister, her hubby and 3 kids - kids ages ranged from 3 to 13) - we had 2 cars, and we made a sort of bucket list of things we wanted to see - we dug out maps, (not much google etc in 2000 ...), travel times calculated, etc. Got the kids involved too.

This was a South Island road trip of about 3 weeks.

Most of the time we travelled as a group, but occasionally split off for side detours depending on what we wanted to do / see. Boys go fishing, girls go shopping. We'd swap kids, depending on what was being done on the day. Some days us Dad's had the brood, sometimes the Mum's.

But the important thing was to make a wish list first, see how it all gels.

Be wise to changes - make allowances for unforeseen issues - the whole lot of us, bar me, came down with a terrible cold for a few days. Threw the plans out a bit and needed some rejigging. We dropped a bit of sightseeing around the West Coast. It will still be there.

frankv

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#1778928 10-May-2017 09:26

rayonline:

Thanks. Big cities may be different cos thee are things that people can do. For us was of the 12 nights we spent 1 day in Queenstown and 1 day in Christchurch which was pretty much the only places they liked. Would it been different if you went to a small town and that was it.

My point was that, when *planning* the holiday, participants collectively decide whether they should spend 2 nights in cities and 10 nights in country towns, or vice versa. Or even whether to go to (say) NZ, where outdoorsy low-population-density activities would predominate, rather than (say) Sydney.

kobiak

1615 posts

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#1778944 10-May-2017 09:55

simple answer: you don't travel with people who have different interests.

If there are more than 2 people in the group and if they want to do/see different things in 2 days someone will be angry :)

That's why I just hate group travels, or even travelling with friends (at some point they'd get lazy end won't walk 5km uphill to check out what's there, or myself will be swearing around because I did not get my steak + 6 beers in the evening, and have to eat chicken on rice, etc).

When you travel with a group, I'd suggest to list all points of interest, find something common, and on other days do different things (easy to do in the city and not so much when in the middle of country).

helping others at evgenyk.nz

rayonline

1734 posts

Uber Geek

#1778946 10-May-2017 10:06

frankv:

rayonline:

Thanks. Big cities may be different cos thee are things that people can do. For us was of the 12 nights we spent 1 day in Queenstown and 1 day in Christchurch which was pretty much the only places they liked. Would it been different if you went to a small town and that was it.

My point was that, when *planning* the holiday, participants collectively decide whether they should spend 2 nights in cities and 10 nights in country towns, or vice versa. Or even whether to go to (say) NZ, where outdoorsy low-population-density activities would predominate, rather than (say) Sydney.

Funny you mention if at all NZ. Going by social media if that means anything most people I know anyway tend to go to Auckland if they are from other parts of NZ, then it means overseas to Sydney, Melbourne, the USA, or Europe or Bali and Singapore and Thailand; but they all stick to the urban areas.

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lissie

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1784015 18-May-2017 09:34

mdf:

That said, within trips I think it's fine to do your own thing, at least for a bit. Mrs MDF well and truly wandered off to find something else to do as soon as the second hour of me trying to figure out how this magnificent contraption works ticked over (it's a nut cracker):

And the philistine literally fell asleep on a bench at the British Museum, which is, as far as I am concerned, the most wonderful place on earth.

You'd get on well with my partner! I like museums too - but yeah 5 min per an exhibit is fine by me! And he does the battlefields by himself. If we're going at a very different rate in a museum (I'm usually faster) - I just agree to meet him later somewhere nearby. Just because you're travelling together doesn't mean you have to be joined at the hip.

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lissie

495 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1784019 18-May-2017 09:38

rayonline:

Funny you mention if at all NZ. Going by social media if that means anything most people I know anyway tend to go to Auckland if they are from other parts of NZ, then it means overseas to Sydney, Melbourne, the USA, or Europe or Bali and Singapore and Thailand; but they all stick to the urban areas.

One of the issues is that cities are easy to go to - we're doing 5 days in Sydney next month - no planning required. We did 6 months in outback Austraia a few years ago - involved buying a vehicle and camping gear - and doing a 4WD course. Great trip -but way more work and the only way to do it in a short trip is to pay a fortune to a tour company.

We're travelling Central Asia this year X'ian to Istanbul. There's lots of countryside involved - but its noticeable that the most rural countries ie Kyrgistan and Tajiikistan - which are all about the mountains, and landscapes are actually the most expensive to travel in because you need to hire guides and vehicles. Places like Uzbeckistan - it's all about the cities - because the bits in between would again involve guides and tours which we don't want to do

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