Tag Archives: tour groups

Win a Free 2 Week Trip to Costa Rica

THIS CONTEST IS NOW OVER! THANK YOU FOR ENTERING! PUBLIC VOTING WILL BEGIN SHORTLY! My solo first trip was to Costa Rica in 2003. I had never been out of the country before, and I went with a company called Gap Adventures. I don’t even remember how I found them, but I liked what they stood [...]


Talking Sustainability with Bruce Poontip

My first trip by myself was with Gap Adventures. I went to Costa Rica and got the travel bug that still lives in my system. Since then I have been an ardent fan of Gap. They offer tours with a lot of personal time and have a strong commitment to the local people and the [...]


Would You Contiki?

A few weeks ago, Contiki Holidays put up a message on Facebook that “you can literally save hundreds of dollars going with Contiki over doing it on your own” and that backpacking was “so 1997.” Amused, I tweeted how that wasn’t right since independent budget travel is always cheaper. Contiki tweeted otherwise. Whether or not you [...]


Good Group Travel

As an independent traveler, people often think that I have a predisposed hatred towards organized tours. It’s no secret that I’m a big supporter of traveling alone. There are a lot of benefits to solo travel and I always try to cultivate the vagabond in everyone. So it may surprise you when I come out [...]