Traveling to India, either as a group or for free is one of the most incredible experiences that can be done. Of course, we must first know a number of things about the country. There are some tips for those who decide to travel to the Indian subcontinent for the first time in their life.
Now it’s time to see the pros and cons of traveling to India as a group or free.
Travel to India as a group (with company or for free)
These types of trips are those that are especially recommended for those who are curious to know India but have a little respect. To make a group trip, in general, there are several options:
- With friends / acquaintances – This is obviously the best option. You go with people you already know and joint expenses are made. The only problem is that there are usually not many people who are seduced by a trip to India.
- With strangers – This is already a challenge for many, organizing a trip with people you do not know. For this there are some websites where there is the possibility of contacting travelers. One of them are Facebook groups, where you can write asking for travel companions for a specific date.
- With a company – This is the most “safe” form of group travel. Everything is controlled in advance and there is a guide who is in charge of the negotiations and who knows the country perfectly.
Pros to Travel to India as a Group
- That fear is broken to face India (the group makes the force, always).
- It is a very good way to connect and know more deeply to fellow travelers (be they known or unknown). This also has its negative side, of course. In any case, India is a very good place for the most philosophical and spiritual aspects of people to appear.
- Organizing it with friends or acquaintances (or by Facebook groups) is the cheapest way of all, sharing expenses for transportation (taxis etc).
- If it is done with a company, the presence of the guide allows knowing more deeply the meaning of what is seen (the motif of a temple, iconography, etc.).
- If a health event occurs (traveler’s diarrhea, for example, quite common in India), being in a group gives more peace of mind, being “protected”.
- The scams are easier to avoid: if it is with a company, no scam will occur; if it is with friends / acquaintances, how many more eyes, more difficult to be deceived.
- Although they will continue to be equally insistent when it comes to wanting to sell something on the street, going in a group is easier to distribute that insistence among the members of the group.
Cons of traveling to India as a group
- If it’s a trip with a company, the trip will be more expensive than doing it for free.
- If it is organized with friends or with strangers, the intensity of the country can also make cohabitation complex. It is a matter of being coherent and receptive.
- A bit of that complete immersion in the country is lost. Being a group, spontaneous conversations are more complicated to happen. Traveling alone always makes more penetrate the country.
- There is less freedom in the movements: you have to adjust to the tastes of everyone or the itinerary marked by the guide.
Travel to India by free (Alone or as a Couple)
This is also a way you can travel through India because it is what allows you to live the trip as you like it. Do it alone or accompanied? Stay at home better and escape the fear that comes from entering such a controversial country? Of course this question will come on mind. So here is the answer. Don’t stay at home and make the step out to travel to India alone.
Find here the pros and cons of traveling to India by free
- The feeling of adventure. This is true in any trip for free (and more alone). The relative rigidity of having a guide is removed.
- All the hardness and beauty of India you receive directly. You are facing the adventure of living India which is a good metaphor for life.
- There are more options for improvisation and for wonderful things to happen (like arriving at night in a city in the middle of a religious festival, there is no place to sleep and an Indian family welcomes you.
- It is cheaper than on a guided trip but less than traveling in a group and for free.
- Although facing the traffic of India is a little scary, learning it only helps you develop very, very valuable skills.
- For better or for worse, India makes you much more aware of what you do. What you eat, what you do not eat, where you step.
Cons of traveling to India by free, alone or as a couple
- If you travel alone, getting bad, (like diarrhea) gets a lot worse than in company.
- If you travel as a couple, India submits to a level of intensity that makes a little twitchy.
- If you travel alone, it’s still cheap, but it’s the most expensive of all the “free ride” options in India.
- You are much more vulnerable to scams.
- The intensity of India can make it, just being a little over the traveler especially if you are at some time lower mood.
You can find several tour agencies that provide group tour to South and North India Region as these two regions has lots of things to explore whether you are alone or in a group.