I have had my fair share of traveling with a large group. In fact, I rarely travel with a small group. I have been on many church trips and school trips, always with a ton of people.
Here are some reasons why traveling with so many people is a struggle.
1. You always have to wait.
With your large group, everyone has to meet in one place. You have to wait on everyone to arrive. You have to wait for everyone to check their bags before you can go through security. You have to wait for everyone to get through security before you can move onto your gate.
The waiting is endless. If you were by yourself, there would probably be no need to get to the airport at 5 a.m. when your flight isn't until 9:45. Taking a bus? It works the same way. Someone is always late and you're never leaving by the time you said you were.
2. There is always the potential to match.
Depending on the group, you could be wearing matching T-shirts. With a church or a school, it's probably necessary to be matching because it is the easiest way to keep up with everyone.
However, it is also the most embarrassing way to tell everyone in the world that you are keeping up with everyone that is dressed the same as you.
3. You cannot do anything by yourself.
Want some time to yourself? Sorry, it's not going to happen. If you go anywhere, it will turn into a group activity. It's hard to tell someone they can't join you at the breakfast table, because you do have to keep up with them for the rest of your trip.
4. You run the risk of everyone thinking you're on the same sleep schedule.
You know that some people take longer than others to get ready. You only take about five minutes to get yourself ready for the day, so you want to spend every last second you can on your beloved beauty sleep.
Whether you have one other person in your room, whose alarm started going off an hour before even they wanted to get up, or you're in a large room with everyone, you will always wake up before your alarm goes off for some reason or another.
5. You know that no matter how hard it is to travel with a large group, you wouldn't have it any other way.
Traveling is the best way to get to know people because you can see then when they're tired, hungry, and frustrated. You may be traveling with your church, school, or every part of your extended family on both sides.
Despite how annoyed you may get throughout your trip, you know that you will build relationships to last a lifetime. You know that you chose to travel like this and it doesn't last forever, so you have to make the most out of every moment.
