Traveling with a group - May 17 07

We're currently traveling with a Grand European group of almost 45 people, touring Russia and the Baltic states of Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Helsinki. This is the first time we've taken an extended organized tour. Our previous group experiences have been few and have never lasted more than one day.

Here we are, 45 people previously unknown to each other, except for our travel partners, living in fairly close quarters for 14 days. Our only common ground, at the outset, is our desire to travel to the places on this tour and learn about our co-inhabitants on this earth. Better understanding surely must lead to better relationships world wide. At the end of the tour, our goal is probably just to get home again and to assimilate all we've learned and put our new knowledge to use in hopes of becoming better neighbors.

We're lucky with our group. We rarely ever have a laggard when it comes time to depart a location. We've had a few temper flares, but these have mostly been self-controlled within minutes (30 or so). We heard a tale of one group where two men actually almost came to blows. That hasn't happened to us.

I never thought about communal living before, except as a far-away concept. This is doable for several reasons. The main reason, of course, is that the members of the group try very hard to accommodate the idiosyncrasies of others. (We all have them, of course, even though we generally think only other people have personality adjustments to make!) Another is that we have an excellent tour guide who laces his conversations with humor, and we're all enjoying the trip itself, seeing previously unknown areas for the first time. Having separate rooms where we can escape from the group and refresh our own attitudes helps tremendously.

I believe, though, that everyone will be glad to have their own private home space in a few more days. People are becoming more sensitive and testy. Two weeks is probably the outer limit for most of these types of experiences.

I'm thankful that our group seems to settle its problems quickly - primarily by avoiding those who irritate them the most. I've found that it's better to have NO opinion on anything, to contribute little to the group discussions. Becoming a better listener is certainly a worthy goal when traveling like this.

Ah, some days I long for the freedom of our own automobile to drive down these roads; but these areas are so new to me that I know we couldn't begin to learn what we've learned on this trip. Our guides have been marvelous; and all in all, the group experience has been more educational (and enjoyable) than uncomfortable.