International Travel Meeting - Sunday August 29 @ 9:30 Pacific Time

I am interested.
Thanks
Wendy

Oh, please include me. The first topic is of particular interest.

Barbara, that topic is #1 for a reason. I know we are both planning trips that involve others. I’ve done it before, and it was a less than satisfying experience. Maybe because it was family and the dynamics are different. We are leaving for a camping trip in a couple of days with our friends who we will spend up to 6 weeks with in Europe next fall. We have RV camped together many times and all get along very well. I’ve traveled to Europe twice, for 3 weeks each trip with the wife and I’ve known her for 40 years. We travel well together and it was just the two of us. It will be the husband’s first trip to Europe. I think we need to discuss ground rules and expectations. I know everyone else will be relying on me to make all of the plans. I like planning so I’m okay with that. I’m looking forward to hearing how others handle it.

Andrea, your topic reminded me of our late forum friend Zoe who always had the best tips.
Many other contributors had great suggestions as well. Great topic for your meeting! We’ve done successful weekend trips with friends, but prefer to travel independently to Europe, etc.
Sorry I am unavailable for your meeting.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/how-to-avoid-traveling-with-friends-mistakes

I should be here and available! :)

Please add me to the attendees.

My preference is for solo travel, and when I have done trips with others, I was still surprised as how things we didn't anticipate or clarify beforehand led to bad feelings or other trouble while we were out and about. Usually people I had already socialized with for years beforehand, too -- but I don't want to spook you, Andrea :-)

Please include me.
And thanks, Andrea!

I'll be away this weekend. See you another time.

Janis, thanks for providing the link to Zoe’s post. I remember it well and people had some great advice and tips. I think I need to start making a list of things to discuss so that I don’t forget anything. We had a trip planned with these friends last fall, and of course it was cancelled. We did discuss things then, but I think our next discussion will be more in depth. I’m not concerned about my friend, as we travel well together. Her husband, a great guy, is the unknown when it comes to this kind of traveling.

Avi, I hope we don’t have the same experience you did.

I will attend. Thanks so much. .

I’m sorry to miss this one. We will be in the Redwoods trying to stay away from crowds. I have a few good stories and two bad ones I could share but will refrain. Have a great meeting.

Please include me. I've traveled to Europe with various combinations of friends, so will be able to contribute to the conversation.

I’d like to attend as well, thank you Andrea!

Hi, Andrea. I’d love to attend. Thanks!

Yep, leaving September 7. My sister-in-law is meeting us there with my 40 YO niece. My niece is a breeze, We’ve traveled together before, but my SIL is already annoying me. They will be with us less than 2 weeks out of the 5 so i can survive. See you on the 29!

Please include me if possible. Thanks!

I'd love to join! Thank you!

These are great topics. I'll be out of town, but would like to join in if I can. If you get too many people, take me off the list and I'll catch up with you another time. Thanks

Please add me to the list. As a solo traveler, I am curious to hear the experiences of others.

Save me/us a square -- most of the "others" I have traveled with have been spouses so when things don't go well it can be an ongoing discussion. ;-)

Laura B, that’s funny. In my mind traveling with others didn’t include spouses. Interesting… I had friends and other family members in mind.

Count me in, and thank you.

Please add me to the list. Hope there is a space available! A spat with a travel companion led to one of the best experiences ever. We were in Venice. I took a walk to cool-off and passed the Chiesa della Pieta (Vivaldi's church) where they were giving a concert.(The Four Seasons...) It had just started. Oh my! What a thrill! I'm still surprised at my good fortune. My travel companion missed an opportunity, and I was calm and collected when I returned to the room. We're still friends!! (We still had a couple days in our trip...it could've ended differently....)

I’m sorry, Andrea, but I won’t be able to make the meeting after all. Please give my spot to someone else.

Have fun!

Hi Andrea. Thank you for doing this. I'd like to join if there's still space.

I have been invited to a cottage this weekend. Nice way to end the summer and get ready for back to school.
Please give my space to someone else
Thanks
Wendy

Christine and Wendy, thanks for letting me know you won’t be able to attend.

Andrea, hope I can be included and I have no Zoom issues so I can be a part of the entire meeting. I enjoy them so much.

Andrea, if it is not too late and there is room, I would like to join.

Hi everyone, I just returned from out of town and I’ve made note of all the requests. Instead of sending the zoom link tomorrow (Friday) I will send it Saturday evening my time to insure everyone gets the same link. Please let me know if you have any questions. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone.

Hi Andrea, if it's not too late and you have room for me, I'd like to join in!

Hi Andrea, it turns out we are free this Sunday (for a change) so I would like to attend if there is still room. Thanks.

Hi everyone, I just emailed to link to everyone who has requested one. I’m hoping we don’t have any problems this time. Please let me know if you didn’t receive it. See you tomorrow!

Hi Andrea,
You must have reached your limit prior to my trying to get in. Hopefully I can connect another time.

Thanks Andrea and Jim,

Great meeting, very interesting to hear everyone's stories.
Scott M.

Great meeting. Thanks so much, Andrea!!

Great meeting everyone. I got some really good tips about traveling with others.

Laura and Mona, I apologize for you not being able to log into the meeting. Something is amiss with Zoom or my account since this is the 3rd meeting that people who received their links after the others were not able to log in. Laura, I’ve corrected your email. I think beginning with the next meeting I will send the zoom link the morning of the meeting to make sure everyone gets it at the same time.

See you next time.

Yes, an interesting discussion - Thanks Andrea!

I'm sure it was apparent - despite the challenges - that I'm a big advocate of traveling with others and although I don't see my friends from other parts of the world as often as I'd like --- when we do get together, one starts a story about a trip we were on... and the others finish! What's better than that? (Not to mention the different perspectives and perceptions they all have.). Successful shared-travel experiences can build lifelong memories - and BEYOND!!! (Just ask my granddaughter!)

A mentor once asked me, Who will be sharing your experiences if you always do them by yourself? The older I get, the more I think about that...

Ron, I definitely appreciate all your experience and suggestions for group travel. It can certainly bond people together. I think that’s what’s so important about planning and sharing expectations before the trip, to eliminate misunderstandings. You know what “they” say about assuming things.

Thank you all in attendance, and Andrea for organizing. I really enjoyed everyone's stories and insights.

Ron, I especially liked your perspective on the value of shared travel. Made me realize that it's worth it to try to find the right way to travel with others.

How I long to be traveling again!!

This was indeed a great zoom - good attendance made it a great zoom discussion, and the hard-earned wisdom of the attendees was good to share.

Like we so often hear about RS tours, this was a way to have us think about things not as a bunch of compromises but as a way to get the best of everything into the same trip!

(In my own case I'm thinking of how to combine independence with sharing)

Great meeting! I especially appreciated Ron’s endorsement of multi-generational family travel. Now that 3 of our 4 offspring are married with children of their own, we are starting to plan trips that include grandchildren whenever possible. We have so far enjoyed a week in London with one family (children ages 2 and 4) and 2 years later we spent 10 days in Switzerland with another family and 6-year-old twins. They are nudging to go back to Switzerland but I do not want to plan any international travel involving grandchildren next year—-too uncertain. But I did say maybe 2023—in Austria next time.

For next summer our time with grandchildren will be closer to home. With Alaska out of the picture for now, I am looking at cabins in Idaho or the North Cascades (Washington) for 2022—-hopefully before fire season.