I personally have not come across it a huge amount, but I do think that when these groups stick together as a "clique" to the exclusion of other travellers that it can cause problems. There are always quickly formed cliques on any holiday although I did not find it so on the Istria trip and on the last Cilento trip. It was more noticeable though on my last trip.

Most people are very sociable and happy to have a drink or a meal with you but it doesn't always happen. :s

The most I have seen is a group of 4 ladies (friends) on a tour. I have not encountered more people than that.

I myself have travelled with two other ladies who I met on a Poland tour and we three went to Austria. One of these ladies I went to Kenya with. I have also travelled 3 times with a lady I met in my very first USA tour.

Whenever I travel with someone we always spread ourselves around, we do not keep just to ourselves.

Cindy

I appreciate totally what you are saying about friends (or indeed people you have met on previous holidays) meeting up on going on holiday together and that is great. I met some nice people on the Tuscany trip who had gone together but were perfectly happy to share a drink etc and a chat, but on the other hand there were people there who were very "cliquey" and usually totally ignored me. It didn't totally upset me except on one occasion in Florence but for anyone who was shy and nervous and perhaps on their first trip it might have been off putting and indeed put them off using JY in the future.

On my Jordan /Egypt tour in 2010, there were 2 sisters, one widowed, the other married- they enjoyed the single holidays so much that they went on quite a few tours together.

Jan.

Most of the time I've found these "groups" have mixed although one holiday I was on it didn't happen which wasn't great. Suppose its down to individual attitudes.

One of the reason I find these singles holidays very good is the making of new friends, and you are correct small groups do form very quickly but thats same everywhere we all tag on to like those with the same interests.

In fact I'm in touch with quite a few people from a lot of the holidays i've done and have met up from time to time if we are in each others area.

As for mixing with the group as a whole i got a great piece of advice from the tour manager on my first JY trip which i always try to do, that was to sit with someone different at breakfast each morning. Its the best time if you get on, likely you spend more time together, if nothing too much in common you'll likely go your own ways on the holiday.

Mick

I travelled with another singles holiday company a couple of years ago and out of 25 of us there was a group of 10 who regularly met up each year at different resorts! Let's hope this never happens with Just You.

Eve

On my last JY trip, out of 29, there were 6 groups of 2 who already knew each other. This didn't really bother me, as in this case, most of them mixed well with the 'singles', and as I have been on a few JY hols, I have more confidence in mixing with new people. I feel though, that for newbies, it is a bit daunting to arrive at the destination and find a lot of the group are not 'on their own'. My concern is that the amount of 'groups' seems to be increasing (and from experience, they don't always mix with the others), and it may come to a point when someone really is on their own - which goes against the idea of JY being a 'single traveller specialist'. Not sure what can be done about it though.

I did reply to Bosuncat yesterday but it has not appeared. I agree with Asti. I always travel alone and in the 10 trips I have done I have found more and more pairs and groups coming together. One thing is the men don't seem to do this and in a 50/50 split like on my latest trip whole group hung out together. For someone a bit nervous on their own (not me) it may be daunting.

Fortunately on all the holidays I've been on there have been enough of us for the "unsociables" not to upset things but I think it is very much the luck of the draw. However, I don't think there is anything JY can do about it. If someone couldn't make a booking for more than themselves, they'd simply get their friend or other members of their proposed party to do their own bookings - no-one else would know until they (all) turned up at the airport or holiday venue.

Oh, one thing I was surprised about that I didn't know before. The fact that you can book JY through a travel agent? For some ridiculous reason I thought it was only online or phone bookings.

They may not even know groups are booking together.

Maybe the tour managers could do their bit to make sure genuine single travellers are not alone ?

If , as people say , this is an increasingly common occurence you might just as well book with Travelsphere , and take advantage of the wider range of tours ! I have done that twice myself and there have been several solo travellers on each tour.

I was on the same trip, genrally I wasnt bothered, but there were varying degrees of 'inclusiveness' from people who had travelled together. Overall, I thought that people who pre-knew each other were fine and did not feel a problem in mixing, I felt more 'resistance' from groups that had formed a clique straightaway on meeting!

I'm VERY independent and in the daytime, on trips/tours for the most part just like being on my own to go where I want when I want. I'm a wanderer and don't like being tied to someone else's agenda/needs, I like to wander around places on my own (although I did enjoy your company in Pisa Bosuncat!), doing things on a whim. The way I see it, it's my holiday and I shouldn't feel obliged to stay with anyone in the daytime, and restrict what I have planned or not planned to do.

In the evening it is different and I did feel some resistance from people who had formed 'cliques' on meeting each other on the holiday, who then went everywhere toether. It's that 'herding' mentality, safer to stay in the herd! But, there were others on the trip who came togther who were very friendly and I felt no barriers at all from them, they included me in everything, whenever I wanted to be included!

Like others have said, generally men don't form 'cliques' like women do and that was true on the Tuscany tour, I personally tried to meet someone different on most days/nights, and not automatically gravitate to the other men on the tour, but there were problems on having to sit at the same table for dinner where you ended up for breakfast, it caused some arguments amongst people! I found it irratating. I noticed that some of the cliques would ensure that they sat at the same seats on ther same table every day, putting up an invisible 'barrier' to others.

Having said all that, generally everybody on the tour were nice and I had a great time. However, I would prefer it if more people were genuine 'singles' so you get to meet more people and you feel less awkward about approaching people. The whole point of Just Ypu for me is that everyone is on the same level, single and out to meet other people and share experiences, without the feeling of 'intruding' into a group or couple.

Hi BosunCat!

I was on the same trip, genrally I wasnt bothered, but there were varying degrees of 'inclusiveness' from people who had travelled together. Overall, I thought that people who pre-knew each other were fine and did not feel a problem in mixing, I felt more 'resistance' from groups that had formed a clique straightaway on meeting!

I'm VERY independent and in the daytime, on trips/tours for the most part just like being on my own to go where I want when I want. I'm a wanderer and don't like being tied to someone else's agenda/needs, I like to wander around places on my own (although I did enjoy your company in Pisa Bosuncat!), doing things on a whim. The way I see it, it's my holiday and I shouldn't feel obliged to stay with anyone in the daytime, and restrict what I have planned or not planned to do.

In the evening it is different and I did feel some resistance from people who had formed 'cliques' on meeting each other on the holiday, who then went everywhere toether. It's that 'herding' mentality, safer to stay in the herd! But, there were others on the trip who came togther who were very friendly and I felt no barriers at all from them, they included me in everything, whenever I wanted to be included!

Like others have said, generally men don't form 'cliques' like women do and that was true on the Tuscany tour, I personally tried to meet someone different on most days/nights, and not automatically gravitate to the other men on the tour, but there were problems on having to sit at the same table for dinner where you ended up for breakfast, it caused some arguments amongst people! I found it irratating. I noticed that some of the cliques would ensure that they sat at the same seats on ther same table every day, putting up an invisible 'barrier' to others.

Having said all that, generally everybody on the tour were nice and I had a great time. However, I would prefer it if more people were genuine 'singles' so you get to meet more people and you feel less awkward about approaching people. The whole point of Just Ypu for me is that everyone is on the same level, single and out to meet other people and share experiences, without the feeling of 'intruding' into a group or couple.

Yes we found the Roman Baths together didn't we? :thumbup: It was a huge pleasure meeting you and I agree totally with most of what you say. I agree totally with what you said about having to stay on the same table for evening meal as you had for breakfast and yes it COULD be irritating.

I consider myself to be fairly independent and have no problem usually on finding my way round places although Italian traffic scares me a bit, and I am not a great map reader 😃 but what happened in Florence with this VERY insular "couple" could have really have upset me if I had let it.

Interesting to read your thoughts on "cliques" and some of the people on the trip freezing others out. I TOTALLY agree. As a smoker I know when I go on these trips that I will spend a certain amount of time on my own at night (as I certainly don't want non smokers having to put up with my smoking), but I didn't anticipate spending nearly all the time on my own. It was just the luck of the draw I guess as most of the people WERE friendly whether they had formed instant friendships or not.

Pleasure to have met you!! :thumbup:

I haven't booked my first trip yet (waiting to get leave agreed as I am hoping to jump in the deep end and travel to Australia) and as it's my first solo trip for many years, I have read the above posts with interest.

I'm relieved that there appears to be interesting people who will mix with everyone and who don't feel the need to stay in the same group, excluding 'outsiders', all the time. Although I like my own company, I am looking forward to meeting new people and I don't mind where I sit for meals as long as the company is good!

Jan

I always get a bit nervous as I set out, but have always met some fellow travellers at the gate or in a restaurant beforehand (those JY luggage tags are great for helping us to recognise each other) and by the time we reach the baggage carousel after landing, people are generally chatting away. It might take you a day or two to find some folks to click with and some people tend to pair off as the holiday progresses whilst others mix with everyone; but the best way is to talk to as many people as you can - and I find breakfast is a great time to mix with different people. For meals that aren't included, it's easy enough to find a few folks to eat with and it usually happens quite naturally. So please do go and book that dream holiday and have a brilliant time!

Cheers,

Bob

I'll add to what Bob says that I've met others at the airport and the night before by using this forum.

On my recent America trip 3 of us that were staying over met for a meal the night before and on the morning of the flight 8 of us booked the executive lounge, the forum certainly helped.

Mick