After my voluntary work in Borneo, my passion for travel was ignited. I knew it was something I couldn't let go. So when I found a job that let me take a month sabbatical in my first year of working there, I was over the moon. I started this job in May 2015 and spent most of the year researching where I wanted to go. There were 2 things I knew I wanted to do, first was go to South America and second was to see as much of the country I could in the time I had.
This posed some difficulties:
- Most of my friends all had jobs, so they couldn't take a whole month off, so this would be another solo trip - I was still nervous abut travelling on my own.
- I had a very strict time limit of 4 weeks.
- If I wanted to go South America, I would need to learn Spanish and my current knowledge of the language stopped at '¡Hola!'
The first thing I did was speak to a few friends, who had gone solo travelling without the safety net of a company. They all assured me that solo travel was not as scary as it sounds and I should not be put off by not knowing the language, as I will learn as I go. But most of them advised that as I had limited time I should consider going with a tour group.
'Tour group' I scoffed at the idea, because my vision of a tour group is a group of older tourist, going to tourist traps and not seeing the real country. But I was wrong, that is not what they meant at all. I was given 3 companies to look at: Contiki, Intrepid and G Adventures.
All these tour operators do tours specifically for people between the age of 18 and 30. Mind blown. I would be able to do everything I wanted in the time I had! But my one concern was the price of these tours, surely it would be cheaper for me to go on my own? Do the pros of being in a tour group justify the price I will pay?
My answer to this question was: Yes.
So, why did I chose G Adventures?
There were a few reasons:
- The Price was right: I felt like for the price I was paying, I would get a considerable amount out of the trip.
- It was took the pressure off not knowing the language.
- The itinerary was already sorted. I knew where exactly I'd be going.
- They had quite a few trips that I really liked the look of, and they were all in the correct time scale.
The Andes Tours
So, as I explained earlier, G Adventures had multiple trips I liked the look of, so why did I choose the Andes Tour?
Well, here is the trip itinerary info:
Exploring somewhere out of the ordinary. I didn't know anyone that had spent much time in Peru and really explored it. It was something my family and friends had never experienced. So I was excited to be the first.
Machu Picchu. Need I say more?
The trips take you around the whole country. This was so important to me. I didn't want to country hop and only see one city in these places, I wanted to explore the whole country and this tour provided me that opportunity.
Was it worth it?
Definitely. I think if I was on my own I would not have seen half as much and I would have struggled to get from place to place. These tours are awesome for first time travelers, who need a push to get up and go explore! Yes you spend a little bit extra, but it gives you a chance to explore the country without feeling lost.
Comments