Creating Friendships and Memories
This past Saturday was one of those times that makes my heart so happy for what I do, and it inspired this week’s article…
Creating Friendship and Memories
I’m just returning from our Danube River Cruise Pilgrimage, where our group shared time visiting beautiful churches and religious sites in Budapest, Bratislava, and Austria, along with touring charming European towns and enjoying experiences like food tours, grand palaces and concert in Vienna.
It was so much fun sharing our experiences together, and exchanging stories of the day at dinner.
Some of the folks in the group had traveled with us last year in Greece, and I love seeing those friendships that have developed during our trips are continuing on into the future.
On one of the groups in Ireland for the Notre Dame versus Navy football game at the end of August, the group was so cohesive that they created a Facebook group and continue to connect.
It is one of the joys of my life that folks make new friendships when they travel on one of my tours.
Back in 2016, I created some specialty tours for the Georgia Tech versus Boston College football game in Ireland. We had a small group take the nine-night Irish Elegance tour, and we had a marvelous time traveling together around southwest Ireland.
The majority of the folks in the group were from George Tech, and I later learned that these folks see each other regularly at the football games or basketball games. A few years later we had a fun reunion at one of the games. They met on one of my tours and now they are friends!
That is one of the things that makes me most happy – when folks come back from one of my custom trips and I find out that they created ongoing relationships. I’ve got other clients who met on one of my tours, and now the couples travel together.
And that is why group travel is such a great way to travel. Sometimes people are not so sure about being part of a group trip, particularly if they’re used to traveling independently. What I have found is that once people travel as part of a group, they really love it.
One of the things that happens is that you get to share the fun with other people. Travel involves discovery and new experiences, and it’s great to have more folks to share that with.
You also get to expand your perspective – when you meet new people, you tell stories and share ideas. Folks tell about other destinations they have visited, or you hear about someone’s work and learn about a whole new industry that you never even knew about.
And as part of a group, you meet new people more easily with the shared experience. Meals together and comments about something amazing you just saw starts to build the bonds. Friendships are formed and then kindred spirits find each other and sometimes create those longer-term relationships.
So, besides the opportunity to explore the world, use travel to look for those chances to meet new people and perhaps create friendships and memories together.