I mentioned in https://anandmiitm.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-one-third-india-trip.html that it was a great trip because we went around a lot and visited many places. However, I did not enjoy it since I believe it could've been better. The devil is in the details. I think you'll understand once you go through this: https://anandmiitm.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-one-third-india-trip-details.html
Few reasons I could think of, to summarize:
- The planning was sub-optimal.
- There were a few days we didn't visit any places.
- Sometimes we missed prominent places.
- Most of the meals weren't planned properly, due to which we usually had our breakfast/lunch/dinner at odd times.
- We never started early on any day.
- There was only a 5-day incomplete plan before we started the trip. That itself was a huge issue.
- I received poor support from my fellow travelers.
- Both my fellow travelers were almost always asleep throughout the trip while I was driving. They continued their sleep at night in the hotels too.
- I usually got little help when I really needed with Google Maps when it sometimes showed incorrect route, or wrong location, etc.
- It was even worse when I had to remember the directions and many other things at times when there were diversions.
- I
had taken most of the pictures. To give a rough idea, I took 3000+
photos whereas my fellow travelers managed to take just around 500.
Unfortunately the quality of pictures they took was also not comparable, because 99% of the pictures I've shared in the album were taken by me.
- I'm human. There's only so much I could do. It was not possible for me to drive all day, and also plan, and take care of the others, and everything else.
- I almost felt like a solo traveler.
- Bad decision making.
- Either there were conflicts or poor logic when we had to make timely decisions.
- There was also a lot of time wasted.
- Poor physical fitness.
- There were several instances when we skipped visiting a place because there was too much to walk or climb. I didn't have any concern but my fellow travelers usually backed away, so I too tended to drop.
- https://www.tumblr.com/anandiitm/695094687576555520/fit-vs-unfit-trekker?source=share
- Poor communication and coordination.
- There were several instances when some of us vented at each other, spoiling the mood. If that happened between any two of us then the third person would usually intervene and try to pacify but that wasn't always possible.
Credit where it's due: my fellow travelers took care of finding decent hotels to stay for the night. (My suspicion is that they wanted a good place to continue their sleep :P)
The above were the reasons due to which I was affected, but was there anything that the fellow travelers could've done better?
Yes, of course!
- Learn. (Equally important is to remember what was learnt).
- Be curious. (Be enthusiastic and active; challenge oneself; be open to new experiences).
- Don't repeat mistakes! (Making mistakes is somewhat fine, but repeating them is not).
- Know your limits, and try to conquer them (both physical and mental). **
- Prepare for the worst but hope for the best (so, have a good plan in advance).
I believe the above are the most important skills. Without them, there's no point in traveling because we might as well just watch some travel channel at home to save the time, money and effort.
How to decide whether to plan a trip on your own versus going for package tours?
I suggest you introspect on the items mentioned above to figure out what kind of traveling you want to do. If you're planning to travel but you lack in any of the above mentioned qualities, then I honestly suggest you go for relaxed and planned package tours only. Or, perhaps tag along with someone who can take care of the plan for you.
The best way to figure out what kind of a traveler you are is to simply evaluate your past trips as a third person (assuming you went somewhere!). Here are a few items you could begin with: introspect what you liked doing, what you might have done differently if you planned that trip yourself completely, did you feel you needed better fitness, did you never bother about the plan (if yes, you probably don't have interest in planning?), were you an active or passive participant, how much do you remember from your last trip, did you enjoy it, what aspects did you like and dislike, how did you handle conflicts with fellow travelers, were you energetic or tired, do you have conditions such as start the day only after having tea/coffee/breakfast/..., what's the least luggage you could manage with, how good are your communication skills, are you a leader or follower, how much sleep do you typically need, do you have any health conditions, why you wanted to travel, whether you faced any budget constraints, how did you manage expenses, were the number of days/weeks/months/... comfortable for you, how was your preparation, were you well-prepared, did you need help, etc.
Some amount of planning is required even if you're going for a pilgrimage, business travel, or a routine trip, etc. Everyone is different and will have diverse capabilities, skills, preferences, goals and priorities. So, please spend some time analyzing and learning about yourself. That's what travel eventually teaches us!
** https://indiahikes.com/getting-fit-for-a-high-altitude-trek
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