For Angela Beckwith, solo travelling with a guided group has been a gateway to exploring the world in ways she never imagined. Having travelled on 14 adventures with us over the years, Angela’s journey began with the Salkantay Trek in Peru—her first-ever group travel experience —which set the tone for years of incredible adventures with us. Angela says group travel offers more than just logistics; it brings security, a sense of community, and the expertise of local guides who make every journey richer. Read on as Angela shares her perspectives on travelling solo with a guided group and some of the top travel moments she’s had – so far!
“I think Exodus was one of the very first travel companies I used,” she recalls. “The Salkantay Trek in Peru was the first group trip I did – and it was great. I was trying to find a company that had a good balance of an exciting itinerary and value for money for what you were getting. I was also looking for a trusted name. I was probably in my early twenties when I tried small group travel for the first time, so, it was very much a BIG holiday, that I did once a year and I had to save up for, as I’d only started working. Exodus always had good reviews, and when you find a company that you do trust and they’ve always delivered, I guess you just keep going back!”
An important aspect for her was the sense of security group travel provided, particularly as a solo female traveller. “There are some places that maybe I wouldn’t be quite so confident getting around. Like I wouldn’t have had a clue how to get to the Danum Valley in Borneo or the Tsingy stone forest in Madagascar on my own – and even if I did find out how to get there as a solo traveller, it probably would have come with huge solo uplift. Like having to pay for guide hire and car hire, including the three seats that weren’t being filled on top.”
Angela mentioned that over the years she’s appreciated the sense of community that comes with group travel. While she’s no stranger to travelling solo in Europe, Angela feels that trips to more remote long-haul places can be better experienced in a group. “I like the social aspect that comes with guided group travel. I’m always keen to do completely solo travelling in Europe where I’m a bit more comfortable. Just like, you know, long weekends away and kind of rocking it. But after three or four days, you kind of go, ‘Oh, I wish I had somebody to experience this with to talk about it’,” she explains. “It’s nice to process what you’ve seen – especially when you’re going to some of the big-ticket sites. When visiting them it is nice to have that extra, ‘Oh, my goodness, that day was amazing – let’s talk about it over dinner’ or ‘Oh, I didn’t quite understand what I was seeing there, can somebody take me back through it?’”
Another major benefit of guided groups for Angela is the expertise you get from our local guides. Having access to their insider knowledge adds depth to every trip, allowing her to see and experience more than she could on her own. “When you’re getting off the beaten track there’s only so much research you can do,” she says. “Their local knowledge brings more to the adventure, even if it’s something as simple as the local fare. No one really knows what a good restaurant looks like. You’d sort of wander around going, ‘Oh, well that one looks OK – maybe it’s good, maybe it’s terrible’ – you just kind of wing it, but it’s so much better when you’ve got that local expertise. The guides also point things out when you’re walking down the street, you wouldn’t even know to stop and look at. It’s not in the tourist books – but it’s important – and they know it.”
When our Exodus Leader of The Year voting comes around, Angela jokes, “It’s so difficult to pick just one – can’t I vote for everybody? I’ve had so many brilliant guides, like, every year, they’re all so good. I want to name-check them all because they’ve been the ones that really have made every adventure for me.” She continued, “Jay, who led our Borneo Wildlife Discoverer trip was incredible though. He knew from the start our group wanted to see as much wildlife as possible – and he went out of his way to find those wild encounters for us.”
“The whole group had done a fair few of the canopy walkways, and we were technically meant to do another hike to a lookout of the canopies in the itinerary, but Jay suggested that we may see more wildlife if we head down a different way. Because of his years of experience, he knew places off the guidebook to spot orangutans and red leaf monkeys in the wild – and we hadn’t found red leaf monkeys at that point.”
“We walked close to the main track so anyone that wanted to head back to the cabins could do so if they had enough of the heat and humidity. But soon after, we got a call from one of the park guides on the radio saying, ‘Look we’ve got an incredibly good encounter here – if anyone is in the vicinity’ – and it was good. We wouldn’t have made it in time if Jay hadn’t tweaked the itinerary for us. When we arrived, they managed to find a completely wild mother orangutan and a baby in the trees that came right down across the path in front of us.” She continued, “It was really special to see wild orangutans that were not in a sanctuary or protected area but truly wild – and it was all down to the fact that Jay was very willing to adapt to what the group really wanted to see.”
When it comes to booking a shared room or choosing a solo room Angela says – “I like to mix it up. The pros to having a shared room is that you have an instant buddy. A person who you know you can chat to, and a person you can leave at the end of the night and head back to the room with.” She continued, “But then it can also depend on the intensity of the trip. If it’s a very intense, full-day active trip, sometimes it is nice to have your own room to have that bit of ‘me time’ and get a little bit of downtime. When I’m camping, I like to have my own tent, because they’re not the biggest. Mix and match is best, I think.”
Mealtimes were also a highlight of Angela’s adventures – with a special one, in particular, happening on our Week In Jordan trip. “Our guide organised this mansaf meal for us – a typical Jordanian dish – and something I would never have ordered if I’d been on my own,” Angela admits. “I would have probably just gone for falafel or something I’d have recognised. It had rice, nuts and some meat and it was all served in a massive colourful tagine. The fun part was when the cooks flipped it upside down so the rich fragrances and flavours came out. Afterwards, they poured this hot fermented yoghurt over it. It was, to this day, one of the best meals I’ve ever had. It was so unique – and it got people talking.”
Angela was also keen to comment on the great balance between our structured itineraries and free afternoons where you can go to the beat of your own drum. “I like the free time, but I’m always up for the optional activities they suggest.” She continues, “In South Africa, on our Cape Town & the Garden Route trip, Tallis was amazing. Again, our experiences were very much down to the guide appreciating the group!”
We were in Hermanus, and we’d just been out whale watching really early in the morning – which was incredible. And Tallis was like, ‘Oh, I’ll come and pick you up at the docks when you’ve finished, and it will be just before lunchtime when you’ll have a free afternoon walking around the town’. Then he mentioned that there was this really nice place just outside a town that does wine tastings with a bit of lunch. He asked the group whether they’d like to be dropped off there and everyone was like, yes, that sounds fantastic. It’s not an included activity, but a very nice small vineyard called Walker Bay Estate Vineyard, in Stanford around a twenty-minute drive from Hermanus. Nine of us on the trip went in the end and it was so good.”
“I remember a hilarious photo being taken at the time – because at one stage I think we had about 40 glasses of wine on the table. (Obviously little wine-tasting glasses), but they came out on flights so you really got to know the wines quite well – and they customised it to your tastes – you could have rose, white or red depending on what you like! Imagine, antipasti, wine and sunshine – it was one of those random highlights that aren’t on the itinerary, but our guide Tallis sorted out for us – you can always expect those nice surprises on an Exodus trip.”
Another unexpected but nice surprise of guided group travel is the travel tips you can share and receive from others in your group, Angela mentioned. “Friends you make on trips have great advice for your next trip. A couple from my India Tiger Safari trip is going on that Gorillas & Masai Mara Camping I did last year – and I’ve given them all my tips. And it’s always like this when you all catch up. Like, ‘Has anyone done this trip? What should I do? How should I pack?’ One friend on my Sri Lanka trip booked a trip I did just because he loved my photos! It’s great being able to share tips with people who love travel as much as you do.”
“My tiger safari trip WhatsApp, for example, is still so active. We all met up for lunch and went to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the National History Museum in London together last year. We sent a bunch of photos back to Krishna, our guide, who is also still active on our chats as well. He likes to send us little updates of really good tiger photos that he’s got this season – can’t wait to see the ones from this year.”
When asked about her whopping 15th upcoming trip with Exodus, A Week in Georgia, Angela said, “I picked this one for the cultural sort of aspect. The forts look good, and I know it seems like there’s a little theme emerging here – but I was also looking forward to the wine tasting on this as well. I’ve heard it’s one of the best wine regions in Europe, but you can’t really get Georgian wines very much in the UK. So, I’d like to see how wine tastings vary throughout the world. It’s an area I haven’t really been to, the likes of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia – it all looks stunning. It was on the new trip section of the Exodus brochure last year – I saw it and I was like ‘Oh that looks interesting!’”
So, there you have it. For Angela, solo travelling with a guided group has been a gateway to experiences she might never have had otherwise – it’s an incredible way to see the world, one adventure at a time. If you’d like to follow in Angela’s footsteps take a look at our Solo Travel page.
