Trek America

little_minx_09

Hello!

Has anyone every been on one of the Trek America tours. I am really interested in going, and just wondered if anyone had an opinions on it?

Thanks x

neilbond007

Personally I'd also go the DIY route. Let's you select your own itinerary and hotels. It may be that you want to stay longer in some places and shorter in others..
Use their tours to get ideas then price it out yourself.

Sheepfan

little_minx_09 wrote: »

Hello!

Has anyone every been on one of the Trek America tours. I am really interested in going, and just wondered if anyone had an opinions on it?

Thanks x

I used to work for an agency that dealt with Trek, feedback was very good. I was booked to go on one myself a few years ago but had to cancel due to illness _pale_

Certainly the camping trips have a reputation for getting you a lot closer to national parks than staying in a hotel. Only downside I can think of would be using a fairly small coach for some of the travelling. As far as I know, travellers tend to be a real mix of nationalities: UK, German, Japanese, Aussies etc.

JoseChungsDoomsday

I'm thinking of going on one next year myself - I know a few people that have done them and had a blast.

The only downside is the price. I usually DIY it (I'm doing it this year for my trip to the west coast) but sometimes its good to have some company as well.

scubagirl02

I love travelling with Trek America - I've completed 3 treks since Oct 09 - always have an awesome time! Things I love about Trek: the people you meet, the places you go and the stuff you do, together - made some great friends Definitely worth the money - small group adventure tours can seem expensive but you get so much value for your money, plus the safety and fun of travelling in a group. Group travel enables you to exploit better rates on accommodation e.g. in Death Valley between Christmas and New Year, we stayed in this really nice $200 a night hotel (I know Trek didn't have to pay that and we as customers certainly didn't pay that rate either)... I know that Trek have a 90% customer referral rate and a very active community of experienced trekkers on TrekAmericaLive.com (their new social networking site - great potential but not used quite extensively as other sites like Facebook). Facebook - on the Join Team Trek America page - there's always plenty of people willing to help new trekkers and answer all kinds of questions - that Facebook page is probably the best place on the net to get honest reviews, good advice and quick responses from experienced trekkers - not Trek America employees.

Hope this helps

gem599

One tip is to ask who else is already booked on the trip... they'll tell you age, sex and nationality so you can decide if you'd fit in. There were 6 girls when I booked, all but one were English, and unfortunately that's the way it stayed! No Australian surf dudes or continental hunks on mine!!

Also, even though I was 21, I still found the pace relentless... by time we got to San Fran having stayed up all night in Vegas and trekking the Grand Canyon I just wanted a day to chill and enjoy the surroundings!

Would still recommend it wholeheartedly though

scubagirl02

gem599 wrote: »

One tip is to ask who else is already booked on the trip... they'll tell you age, sex and nationality so you can decide if you'd fit in. There were 6 girls when I booked, all but one were English, and unfortunately that's the way it stayed! No Australian surf dudes or continental hunks on mine!!

Also, even though I was 21, I still found the pace relentless... by time we got to San Fran having stayed up all night in Vegas and trekking the Grand Canyon I just wanted a day to chill and enjoy the surroundings!

Would still recommend it wholeheartedly though

Good point gem599 I always ask Trek for info about who is booked already) - Trek are very transparent about this without breaching data protection (not all companies will give you this information, it's like they're worried you won't book if you know the truth - lol). They will also advise numbers travelling solo or in pairs/small groups, if that makes a difference too.

The pace on Trek varies with each itinerary, how much distance you are choosing to travel within a particular timeframe (Trek caters for most adventurous types with itineraries of a few days right up to 64 days). When I did Westerner 2, we had plenty of 2 night stops in key locations to make the most of it and the itinerary changed to meet the needs of the group, so we managed to squeeze in a night in Monument Valley, sleeping in a Hogan (mud hut) and a night at a cowboy camp in Arizona (both awesome experiences). There are some 1 week tours that attempt to cover a similar route, I personally wouldn't choose to do those as I don't want to rush, but I appreciate that some are limited on time - you just have to check the route, work out the distance covered within the timeframe and see if it is something you are happy with - easy to do through the use of Google maps. Sometimes it can be fun to cover a lot of ground in a short space of time - I'd love to go coast to coast across the USA - road trips are about the journey, not just the destination - I've had some great times on the road whilst on Trek, because it's a great opportunity to bond with the group and particularly on the West coast of the USA, the scenery can be very diverse - always have your camera to hand

I don't think age comes into it though, when considering the pace (it's a long time since I was 21 ;o) - it's more about how adaptable you are, whether you really want to get the most out of every single day whilst you're away and whether small group adventure travel is right for you - obviously it doesn't suit everyone, but it can be a great experience that everyone should (if they can) try at least once

Tars

I'd also recommend travelling with trek. I've done 7 trips with them now and enjoyed every single one. Yes you may pay a little more travelling with them than travelling by yourself but I still think you get value for money. Which ever trip you pick you will end up packing a lot in and covering a lot of miles. Theres also a lot to be said for travelling with a tour leader who knows the area (and will do all the driving for you!) as well as with a small & friendly group of like minded people. I could write war and peace here but basically I'd bet money that if you go you wont regret it. If you have any questions about travelling with trek by all means shoot me a PM (certainly beats working on what I should be doing!). I don't work for them so I can't speak for them in that sense but I have travelled with them a bunch so would be happy to share opinions/experience.

Last but not least if you shoot me a message I can give you a code that will give you a small discount if you do choose to book with trek.
(I've checked the forum rules and I believe I can say that. Someone please correct me if thats not the case though!)

The_One_Who

I would price the DIY option and then compare. These tours tend to be quite expensive in comparison. My understanding of Trek, is that it is used by younger travellers looking to party and have a good time. My main issue with tours is that you may end not liking some of the group, and you will be stuck with them for the full time. Knowing the age, sex and nationality doesn't mean you'll like the person.

If you really must do a tour, I'd look into the Green Tortoise. I've heard good things about them, although they still are quite expensive.

scubagirl02

The_One_Who wrote: »

I would price the DIY option and then compare. These tours tend to be quite expensive in comparison. My understanding of Trek, is that it is used by younger travellers looking to party and have a good time. My main issue with tours is that you may end not liking some of the group, and you will be stuck with them for the full time. Knowing the age, sex and nationality doesn't mean you'll like the person.

If you really must do a tour, I'd look into the Green Tortoise. I've heard good things about them, although they still are quite expensive.

It's a fair comment to price up the DIY option although when doing that, you need to consider the hassle involved with DIY. As someone that has actually travelled with Trek America though, I think I'm better placed to comment on who they cater for/who goes on these types of holidays - although that might depend upon your definition of 'young'

I agree that knowing the age, gender and nationalities (etc) of group members does not mean that you will like them, but I personally like the transparency of being able to book and know this information - I don't want to be on tour with 12x 18-21 year olds (no offence but I'd feel like I was on a school trip or something - lol), so a diverse group usually means there's a bit more variety.

You usually get some free time with any small group adventure tour company, so if there happened to be a few personalities that don't get on, you aren't really stuck with them. Travelling with a bunch of people you've never met before can actually be a very positive experience, but I suppose you need to be the type of person that is open to meeting new people, is accepting of difference and are generally easy going and adapt well to change. Small group adventure tours are clearly not for eveyone, but if Trek America were so bad, they wouldn't have a 90% referral rate from existing customers (I'm a travel obsessive, so yes, I read these things and they also won Gold and Silver awards last year at the Bristish travel awards. I've never travelled with Green Tortoise so I'm not in a position to recommend them - to be honest, other than knowing of their existence, I've heard very little good or bad about them.

Good luck with your travel plans

kittykarate

I did a holiday with the sister company to Trek America, Grand American Adventures, who are aimed at a slightly older crowd (thicker mattresses in the tent - woot!)

Great things:-
Got to visit lots of places that I probably wouldn't have found by myself.
Some of the camping experiences were great.


Things that made me go GRRRRR:-
The bus was quite small so you could end up cramped in it for several hours transferring between places.
It's a holiday where you have to muck in, unloading the van, pitching camp etc. If you have some people in the group who are slopy shouldered it can be very tiring.
Limited time away from people who got on your nerves (see above!)