Tour

I must confess that I hate joining tours.

1. I understand that the guide, driver-the-unsung-hero, and any other crew are all working hard during the trip (for the tips at the end), and I do admire them, but something like words-that-the-guide-believes-to-be-laughable is simply something I can't stand.

2. You never know who your accompanies are until you meet them up in the airport/pier. In other words, you can never choose your travel mates. As troublesome team members can ruin a team's hard work, disgusting travel mates can simply ruin your holiday.

3. Tours become increasingly annoying when itinerary begins to include bringing customers to various money-spending spots, where introduction of various products such as tea, jewellery, medicine will be provided. Okay, some may say that I have to take it as it kind of compensates the tour fee, but I would rather spend more to buy my valueless travel time back.

However, for some reasons I inevitably have to be in these tours. One is, I just can't let the whole family following me to find the way out. Having someone who knows the place well saves up much time, in which it would be used to walk back and forth. Another one is, you don't have to worry about transportation, especially to remote areas.

After all, it is merely another issue of striking the balance among all the considerations.

p.s. Unsurprisingly, the last time I joined a tour without family consideration is also the only tour I have ever joined without family consideration; and amazingly, it is dated back to 10 years ago.