There is a weird moment that happens when you really want to go somewhere and realise none of your friends are actually going to book it.
Everyone was keen when it was just screenshots in the group chat. Ibiza looked unreal. Croatia was definitely happening. Coachella was “100% next year”. Thailand sounded easy enough.
Then suddenly someone can't get leave, someone is broke, someone has a boyfriend now, someone is buying a house, and one person keeps saying “just waiting for payday” for four consecutive months.
So you either keep waiting or you go anyway.
That is pretty much where group travel starts making sense.
Travelling solo does not have to mean sitting alone at an airport bar wondering whether you've made a terrible decision. It can just mean you booked the trip by yourself.
You still land somewhere with people waiting for you.
You still have a crew to go out with.
You still have someone taking the photo when the sunset is going off and you somehow look better than you have all year.
That is the kind of solo travel we like.
AWAKE Tours runs group trips for people aged 18 to 39, with a huge number of travellers coming alone. Around 65% of our guests book solo, which means arriving without a friend is not unusual at all.
It is actually kind of the norm.
A lot of people assume group tours are either backpacker buses or very serious sightseeing holidays where someone is holding a little flag and telling you where to stand.
That is not really our thing.
AWAKE is built around the trips people already want to do.
The ones you see on TikTok at 1am and immediately send to your mates.
Ibiza.
Croatia in summer.
Coachella.
Full Moon Party in Thailand.
Greek islands.
Vegas.
Spring Break.
Fitness trips.
Music festivals.
Big weeks in places that feel completely different from normal life.
The whole point is that there is something happening there.
You are not just flying somewhere because it happened to be cheap.
There is a reason to go.
And when everyone on the trip has booked because they want that same experience, meeting people becomes a lot easier.
You are not trying to manufacture chemistry with random strangers.
You already have the music, the destination, the event or the trip itself in common.
That sounds small, but it changes everything.
If you have ever travelled completely solo, you know the annoying part is rarely the flight.
It is what happens after.
Where do you stay?
Who do you go out with?
Who is going to the same festival?
Who wants to split a taxi?
Who is up for another drink?
Who is actually around tomorrow?
On a group trip, most of that disappears.
You still get to choose the trip yourself, but you are not having to build a social life from zero once you land.
That is probably why the people who come alone often settle in the fastest.
They are there to meet people.
They are open from the start.
Nobody is hiding inside their existing friendship group all week because they did not bring one.
And because so many AWAKE travellers arrive by themselves, our guides know how important that first day is.
No one wants to walk into a hotel lobby and feel like they accidentally joined someone else's holiday.
The group has to feel like a group straight away.
That does not mean forced icebreakers or some painful “tell us an interesting fact about yourself” situation.
Absolutely not.
It is more about getting everyone together, making introductions naturally, heading out, having a drink, getting to the first event and letting the trip do the rest.
Once you have spent a full day at a pool party or six hours on a yacht with someone, small talk normally takes care of itself.
That is what we mean when we say solo travel without actually travelling alone.
You still had the guts to book it.
You still chose the destination.
You still got yourself on the plane.
You just do not have to spend the entire week by yourself to prove a point.
And honestly, group travel gets more appealing the older you get.
At 20, maybe you were happy sleeping anywhere as long as it was cheap.
By your late 20s or 30s, you might still want the festival, the club, the yacht and the ridiculous night out.
You just also want somewhere decent to go back to.
Fair.
We do too.
That is why AWAKE has never really been about doing things as cheaply as humanly possible.
We want good locations, good accommodation and experiences we would actually pay for ourselves.
The trip should still feel fun and spontaneous, but you should not feel like you have been punished for booking a group tour.
And you should still feel like an adult.
If you want to disappear for lunch, go.
If you meet someone and decide to spend the afternoon with them, cool.
If you want to skip something and lie by the pool, nobody is coming to collect you.
The itinerary is there to make sure you experience the big stuff.
It is not there to own every minute of your life.
That is probably one of the biggest things to look for when choosing the best group tour as a solo traveller.
This is where people get stuck.
There are loads of group travel companies for people in their 20s and 30s, but they can offer completely different styles of trip.
Some are built around sightseeing.
Some are more adventure-heavy.
Some are backpacker-style.
Some are more premium.
Some are all about festivals, nightlife and big events.
There is no point choosing a company because somebody on TikTok said it was “the best” if you would hate the actual trip.
The better question is whether the people, accommodation, pace and experiences feel like something you would genuinely choose for yourself.
If you are looking at a group travel company, spend five minutes on the actual tour pages rather than only reading the homepage.
Look at where they stay.
Look at how much time you actually spend in each destination.
Look at what is included and what is suddenly “optional” once you arrive.
Look at whether the photos show real customers or only perfectly staged campaign shoots.
Look at the age range.
And look at the type of traveller they seem to attract.
For people in their 20s and 30s, that stuff matters.
You might want huge nights out and music festivals but still want a decent hotel.
You might want a social group without being forced into every activity.
You might want to arrive solo but know there will actually be other solo travellers there.
That is exactly why the words “group tour” alone do not tell you very much.
The best group travel company is the one that matches the way you already like to travel.
AWAKE is built for people who want social, experience-led travel around music festivals, nightlife, sailing, fitness and bucket-list destinations.
We are not trying to be everything to everybody.
If you want a quiet sightseeing holiday with an early bedtime, you should probably book something else.
If your idea of a good week involves Ibiza, Croatia, Coachella, Thailand, Vegas, Spring Break, Greek islands or training in Phuket, now we're getting closer.
Forget the glossy website for a second.
Look at the actual people.
Look at recent videos.
Look at where they stay.
Look at what everyone is doing.
Does it look like your kind of crowd?
Would you genuinely want to go to those events?
Would you book that hotel yourself?
Can you imagine yourself in that group?
That matters way more than whether a tour company has managed to squeeze another monument into Tuesday afternoon.
And yes, people worry about age.
We hear it constantly.
“I'm 29. Am I going to be the oldest?”
“I'm 34. Is everyone going to be 19?”
No.
AWAKE trips are for 18 to 39-year-olds and different tours attract slightly different crowds.
Some skew younger, some older.
But the bigger thing is the vibe.
Some 22-year-olds are asleep by midnight.
Some 35-year-olds are still standing in front of the DJ when the lights come on.
You cannot really tell much from a birthday.
The same goes for coming alone.
We get solo travellers, couples, pairs of mates and small friendship groups.
Nobody cares.
Once everyone is there, the trip takes over.
And that is probably our favourite thing about AWAKE.
People come for Ibiza or Croatia or Thailand.
Then they leave talking about the people.
A lot of our customers do not just travel with us once either.
It is normal for people to come back for three, four or even five trips after their first.
They start with one destination and suddenly they are booking another one with someone they met on the last trip.
That says more to us than any polished five-star review ever could.
So if you are sitting there looking at a festival, an island, a country or some completely ridiculous week overseas and thinking, “I would love to do that, but I don't have anyone to go with,” maybe that is not the problem you think it is.
Book the thing you actually want to do.
Meet everyone there.
That is what we are here for.
If you want to ask us anything before booking, contact us, send us a DM on Instagram, or hit us up on Facebook.
Your ticket to the biggest week of your life.
