Specialised Group Travel: Episode 267 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

February 1, 2022 By Amanda Kendle Leave a Comment

I’ve talked before about the benefits of small group travel – a topic that took me many years of independent travel to finally figure out had its place, and am important one at that! I guess it’s just another example of needing to be flexible with my thinking and open to new ideas (something travel usually teaches me, right?!).

For this episode I’ve found three guests who all have in-depth experience of group travel in specialised fields. Travelling with like-minded or like-interested people is definitely one thing that group trips can really do well, and the idea that tour groups can bring together people from across the world who share a common passion – who might otherwise not meet – is pretty awesome!

Show notes: Episode 267 of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

Specialised Group Travel

Are you a fan of group trips? Or are you, like me, more generally a keenly independent traveller who needs a very good reason to decide to take a group tour of any kind?

When it comes to group travel, I’ve learned over the years that there really is a group trip to suit everyone, even people like me who are highly reluctant group travellers – and often what turns us is the idea of some highly specialised group travel. In this episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast, I speak with three people who’ve had experiences in specialised group travel and they make a great case for why we all should try it sometimes.

First up, I chat with Evan Petrelis from Renaissance Tours, who specialise in tours connected to special interests such as ballet, archaeology and gardens. He runs through some of the advantages and disadvantages of group travel and highlights how travelling with likeminded people with the same passion can be particularly rewarding.

Next, I speak to Debbie Clarke, who has run tours for the LGBTQ community for many years. She has a pretty touching story to tell of the outcome of these tours for some of the participants.

Finally, Vicky Sahami joins me to explain her highly specialised group trips which focus on visiting the best places in the world to observe total solar eclipses. It’s a fascinating special interest which has seen Vicky experience some really far-flung parts of the globe, and in really unique ways.

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