On a recent combined business/leisure trip to London, I ended up in a large living room with a group of more than 20 young women who were trying to plan their day in London. Different travel styles emerged almost immediately: Captain Planner was making written checklists ranked by priority, with Definitely's, Maybe's, If Possible's and Maybe Next Week's. The Tourist was listing off obvious landmarks and looking up prices for bus tours. Eeyore the Traveler was bemoaning every idea as boring, too far away or likely to have long lines, and wondering aloud if they should just stay home and read. The Laissez-Faire Traveler was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine, saying every so often, "You guys are crazy; just pick one thing and then figure it out after you get there." The Shopper had but one idea: go into town, get a drink and go shopping.
These were just the stylistic differences; the choices of preferred sights offered proof that there's no accounting for taste. At one end of the spectrum was a murderous schedule of high-culture museum visits; at the other end of the spectrum was a schedule of visits to the sites of famous murders. In between, just about every London landmark ever to grace a guidebook was mentioned at least once.
There is no reconciling someone who wants to go to the Tate with someone who wants to take their kid to the Peter Pan statue and playground. It will never happen. Sure, some kids would put up with Miro mobiles at the Tate Modern, but not the Tate proper.
Similarly, there are people who want always to be with large groups of people, and others who would rather travel in smaller groups, which they may find more manageable for reasons logistical, emotional or financial. If you find yourself trying to reconcile a dozen or more diverging interests, here are my tips for keeping the peace and the pace when traveling with a large group of friends, family, colleagues or acquaintances (or even frenemies, as the case may be).
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