So Long, Solo It’s the Year of Group Travel

Jen Rose Smith/Virtuoso

Annabel Briens

Making the case for shared journeys.

Colleen Tuohy was sitting in a Manhattan conference room when the email arrived. It was an invitation, actually, for a long weekend of fly-fishing and horseback riding at The Resort at Paws Up, a 37,000-acre ranch on the banks of Montana’s Blackfoot River, where biannual Cowgirl Roundups draw wranglers-at-heart.

Tuohy had long dreamed of visiting the ranch; wide-open rangeland and starry skies seemed a world away from her fashion-industry job in the city. Plus, she’d been feeling stuck lately – a few days of the luxury cowgirl life sounded like a pine-scented gust of fresh air. She booked before the meeting wrapped.

“That moment was the catalyst for a life-changing trip,” Tuohy says, recalling sunrise horseback rides and evenings spent gathered around a roaring fire. She thrived in a way she’d forgotten she could, striking up enduring friendships over breakfast. “At a certain point in life you realize community comes in a lot of different forms,” she says. “I think that inspires people to go on trips like this, to be able to create connections you may not be getting in your everyday life.”

Not everyone seeks their squad while reeling in cutthroat trout on a Montana ranch. But the emergent wellness-travel trend of 2024 reflects journeys a lot like Tuohy’s, the ones that put camaraderie first. “People are craving connection,” says James Thornton, CEO of small-group adventure company Intrepid Travel. “We hear from our customers every day about how they’ve made lifelong friends or connected with their group in a way they never expected.” Couples, families, friends – group trips draw a diverse set, though solo travelers are at the forefront of the buzzy shift toward more-social journeys.

Annabel Briens

While group travel is nothing new, growing awareness of the loneliness epidemic is lending it fresh cachet. If our instinct has been to get away from it (and them) all, now we’re finding it’s better to be with others. In recent years, researchers have learned just how essential face-to-face connection is to physical and mental health. Go ahead and skip leg day: Mingling might confer the same salubrious glow (minus the burn), lending a virtuous aura to browsing Florentine art galleries or practicing wildlife photography on Galápagos beaches. And the trip might even spark a lasting relationship.

“The best way to make friendships is doing something with a group at the same time,” says psychologist and friendship expert Irene Levine, author of Best Friends Forever. When it comes to kindling friendships as an adult, “travel is really an unparalleled experience.” Many of us forge our richest connections in early adulthood, but Levine explains that it may be less about age than the social environments we find ourselves in. Traveling can be a lot like a grown-up version of college, she says: “You’re with a group of people who are somewhat like you in that they’re adventurous, and they’re intellectually curious.” In addition, she notes, “You’re disconnected from the hassles and pressures of home,” so it’s easier to stay in the moment.

That’s what Natasha Gray, an early-childhood educator, discovered when she booked a country-hopping romp across Europe through G Adventures with her husband. It was her first group trip, and she wasn’t sure what to expect. She was thrilled to find a cohort of travelers who shared her eagerness to explore.

Annabel Briens

“It was this opportunity to experience something exciting, with people seeking the same things you are,” says Gray, who has since joined G Adventures trips on several continents, including an epic overland journey from Kenya to South Africa. “We got to know each other personally, professionally, and emotionally,” she says. Gray and her husband have reunited with fellow G Adventures trip buddies in meetups from Australia to Vietnam. “Now we send postcards to each other when we travel. It’s just been beautiful,” she says.

While some single travelers – especially older ones – fear they’ll find themselves the odd one out, group-trip veterans say it’s just the opposite. “Our solo travelers are not just 25 or 30 years old,” says Alexandria Sanchez, G Adventures’ U.S. consumer marketing manager. For some, a trip marks a milestone, or a pivot. “People who are traveling solo, maybe they’ve just lost their partner, or they just want to make new friends.”

Group-curious travelers interested in social journeys should consider their hobbies, says Virtuoso travel advisor Jen Tenzer. “If you’re a scuba diver, start there. You’ll very easily meet like-minded people on the trip,” she says. Wine aficionados might book a cycling tour through Napa and Sonoma; art lovers can connect over design-themed itineraries. Have cowgirl dreams of your own? Montana is waiting.

But choosing group trips doesn’t mean you’re committed to round-the-clock company, says Tenzer, who specializes in journeys for solo travelers. Even the busiest itinerary can include room for downtime and spontaneous adventures, so attendees are only as social as they want to be. “It’s a nice balance,” Tenzer says. “You’re getting away on your own terms.”

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