Do you know how hard it is to organise a tour/trip with people you hardly know? I can tell you it is PRETTY DOWNRIGHT HARD!
It is already hard enough to plan a trip with someone you know and I can tell you that the five weeks with Markus from Sydney to Cairns via Uluru to Melbourne hasn't been a dream in regards to organising it. It was still a lot to coordinate and to discuss and to compare and to be changed.
Anyway, so far I only organised two other multi-day tours with other people: the 5-day trip to Kangaroo Island with Jan and Sebastien and the four days with Christine in Perth. It luckily all worked out pretty well and with both trips I had a fantastic time.
Now I am looking at FOUR WEEKS of traveling with strangers who will hopefully become true friends throughout the journey. Luckily I know Laura a little bit from Melbourne and we have stayed in contact eversince.
The thing is: I am a NOTORIOUS ORGANISER! I want to organise everything and know where to be when and to book what needs to be booked and have the risks to a minimum and a budget set. Well, please forgive me but that's how I am and most people appreciate this skill in me, especially workwise. Anyway, it already freaked me out several times during my time here in Australia to not know what to do and where to stay the following week. A totally new experience for me, I can tell ya!!!
First of all you need to find people who want to travel in the same direction at the same time and in the same way (camping or staying in hostels or hitchhiking...). I searched mainly on Gumtree and also in Facebook Groups. I think I was in contact with at least 15 people to then sort out whose travel plans matches with mine. As I am not staying in a hostel or anywhere near one this option unfortunately doesn't apply this time to find great people.
Of course you need a bit of information about the person you want to travel with and you need to meet with them to get a first feeling of if it could work or not. I actually met a few people where I knew within a minute that I don't want to do more with them. But with others you connect instantly.
The most important thing I had to learn was to RELAX! I don't know exactly the preferences of my travel companions, I don't know what will upset them and what will make them happy, I hardly know their exact budget and if we all get along with each other. I don't know their pace for a day (fit in as much as possible or be more chilled out) or what type of things they want to see (more cultural, more nature, more food or a specific mix of all). I don't know what and how much and how often they would like to eat or sleep or walk or drive. I don't know about their driving skills and how well equipped they are in regards to camping for example.
BUT GUESS WHAT??? They don't know that about me either!!! And they are still happy to travel with me and still want a good time and see beautiful things along the way. SO LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN!
So the only two tipps I can give you (and me!) at the moment in regards to traveling with strangers are these:
1) Relax and have a great time!
2) Communicate to discuss anything that worries you!
It is easier said than done but I will try my best to take this in during the next four weeks on the West Coast and to have an awesome trip! Await my next stop: in some sort of vehicle somewhere along the West Coast...!
Yours more-relaxing-tour-organising Stefanie
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Have your say now! Would you do the same thing or would you do it differently? Do you have any travel tipps for me for my onwards travels? let me know!