We're taking both the RS Greece and Turkey tours, back to back, soon. My issue is recently my arthritic hip has been a problem. I'm medically prepared for the trip (cortisone shot, meloxicam) and can navigate regular stairs and typical walking surfaces with no real problems, even over long distances. But I have short legs and descending TALL stairs (over 10"-12") and very uneven surfaces, like very rocky step-like hiking trails are difficult. Should I bring a walking pole for that extra balance and descent control? I'm OK if there are just a couple steps or a very short distance to traverse, but if I have to keep "reaching" for the next step repeatedly while descending, that's a problem. If there's not any or much of this type of walking, I won't bring the pole as it's a bit awkward to pack.
FYI, I've been on 5 RS tours, including 21-day BOE and most recently Sicily and the Basque Country tours so I'm familiar with pace and distances. At our guide's suggestion, I bought a walking pole for use on the Camino de Santiago walk in the Basque tour. The first mile or so was a fairly steep boulder strewn downhill in the rain where the pole was invaluable. After hitting the flats, the pole wasn't needed.
UPDATE: just finished the Greece tour and I used my pole extensively. My hip really screams when standing which you do a lot of during the guided walks. Leaning heavily on the pole to take weight off the hip was a blessing. There are also many places with extended downhill stairs and the pole helps to slow the descent and cushion the landing as there are often insufficient handrails. The long downhill over the large cobblestones and uneven rock steps and path on the walk above Sparta also made the poles necessary. I mostly used one pole but sometimes both. I'm very glad I brought mine. Thank you everyone for your help.