Finding a travel partner....

[mawipafl]

I have to chime in here about safety. Traveling with a group tour is far safer than alone. Even if you are alone as a single traveling by yourself with the group and have a roommate you've never met before the trip, you're much safer. You have to remember that a reputable travel company keeps close tabs on its clients. Don't you think that if a roommate starts pilfering that he/she would be caught right away in the group-travel scenario?? Of course. You also have to consider the mind-set of group travelers - they're not there in order to perform criminal acts - they're there for the same reason everyone else is: to be a tourist.

My grandmother traveled alone with groups for years and years - sometimes she paid the premium to have her own hotel room and sometimes she let the tour company give her a roommate. She never ever had any issues with safety nor any problems getting along with her her travel mates.

My aunt has done the same. Throughout her travel years she's met some great people: a couple of them have become friends and travel partners, and that's just one of the benefits of group travel - making new friends. She just returned from a small-group tour to China - it was 3 weeks long, and she had a fantastic time with her travel mates, getting along well with all except for one - but with that person, well, everyone has idiosyncrasies and it's human nature to figure out how to happily co-exist which they did. So, that did not ruin her trip in any way-shape-form.

If someone would like to chime in and relate specific real-life stories of "scaries" of traveling with a group tour, please do. Otherwise, it's truly not fair to scare folks off from group travel with incorrect perceptions.

[allforcats]

Mawipafl has a great idea -- traveling with a GROUP TOUR, even a small group, as opposed to what seems to be the topic here, traveling with one other person you've never met before.
It's the latter idea that it seems some of us feel is incredibly dangerous, for all the reasons that logical thought will bring up.

But traveling with a tour group, that's different, and Mawipafl has described it well. And there are often discounts available in that kind of travel that are not available to two people traveling together.

[rockifields]

Hey, I seen your ad as I was looking for the same thing. I've been wanting to plan a trip down to playa del carmen which is 20 minutes south of cancun, however we had the trip planned and the swine flu hit so unfortunetely did not get to go. I so want to go on a trip and need someone who can get the time off from work, have their own money, and ready to have a good time. Im actually considering a cruise as you can book these for about 250$ all food included for 4 days and you still get to see mexico and cayman islands. Let me know what you think. Best to email me, this is my first time on here. Thanks rockifields@yahoo.com

[TRAVELWANT]

Hi graceful 2, if you still searching for partner, let me know, right now is wonderful travel opportunities to greece, flight and cruise 7 or 8 days plus the flight, let me know...and let's go! And have fun! In this month or maybe december, but the cost is better during this month, around second part of november...let's do it!...me, travelwant.

[jtur88]

I once spent 8 months traveling around Europe "alone" and I was never alone for more than a couple of days at a stretch. There are plenty of travelers on the road who are going the same direction you are. Sometimes a single traveler, sometimes a small loose group. Keep your itinerary simple and flexible, so you can change it to match a potential travel companion.