TravelMatchThe TravelMatch blog
Advice on travelling solo, travelling in a group and travelling with people who fit. So you never put a trip on hold again.
Group travel2 November 2026
3 days in Savannah: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is the right size for Savannah: the squares on foot, the riverfront, and a day out to Bonaventure or the beach. The pace is the point. The hard part is who comes.
Read →Solo travel2 November 2026
3 days in San Francisco: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is enough for San Francisco, and you can do it without a car: the bridge and the bay, the parks and the hills, and the neighborhoods. Then decide who comes.
Read →Group travel2 November 2026
3 days in Charleston: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is right for Charleston: the historic district on foot, the harbor and Fort Sumter, and a day out to a plantation. The pleasure is the pace. The hard part is who comes.
Read →Group travel2 November 2026
3 days in Boston: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is the right size for Boston: the Freedom Trail and the old town on foot, the harbor and a museum, and one day for a neighborhood. The hard part is always who comes.
Read →Solo travel1 November 2026
3 days in Washington DC: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is enough for a first visit to Washington if the National Mall is your spine: monuments, the free Smithsonian, and the Capitol. Then decide who comes.
Read →Group travel1 November 2026
3 days in New Orleans: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is the sweet spot for New Orleans: the French Quarter on foot, the streetcar uptown, and a night of real music. The only hard part is getting the group to pick dates.
Read →Group travel1 November 2026
3 days in Nashville: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is the right size for Nashville: Broadway, the Ryman and the Opry, and one slower day. The hard part is never the city, it is lining up everyone's calendars.
Read →Group travel1 November 2026
3 days in Chicago: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is enough for a first trip to Chicago if you give one day to downtown, one to the water and the architecture, and one to a neighborhood. The harder part is who comes.
Read →Group travel31 October 2026
Winter getaways in the USA: where to go and who with
A winter getaway in the US is a choice of mood: the cozy, festive version (New England, a lodge, a city), as opposed to the warm escape, which is a different trip.
Read →Solo travel31 October 2026
Warm places to travel in December from the USA
In December the reliable warm trips from the US split two ways: the no-passport ones (Florida, the desert, Hawaii, Puerto Rico) and the ones abroad.
Read →Group travel31 October 2026
New Year's Eve trip ideas: where to go and who with
The best New Year's Eve trips come down to two early decisions: a place where midnight runs itself, and locking in who is coming before the good rooms go.
Read →Solo travel30 October 2026
Solo travel over 50 in the USA: where to go, who with
Solo travel over 50 works best when you pick easy places, keep the option of company for the parts that are better shared, and sidestep the single supplement.
Read →Group travel30 October 2026
USA road trip: the route, the cost and who to go with
A USA road trip comes down to three decisions: a route you can finish without eight-hour days, the parks you actually want, and sorting the car and money first.
Read →Group travel30 October 2026
Girls trip ideas: destinations, over 40 and over 50
The best girls trip ideas are not about the destination. They are about picking a place everyone can reach and deciding who is in before anyone books.
Read →Group travel30 October 2026
30th birthday trip ideas: where to go and who with
The best 30th birthday trip ideas start from a split: a long weekend close to home, a bigger trip abroad, or something you have always wanted to do solo.
Read →Solo travel29 October 2026
Thanksgiving trip ideas 2026: solo, friends or new people
Not everyone spends Thanksgiving at a family table. Four free days, the people you would go with are busy: here is where to go and who with.
Read →Solo travel29 October 2026
Solo trip ideas in the US: where to go, car or no car
Going solo does not have to mean going without anyone. It means not waiting for the group chat to decide.
Read →Group travel29 October 2026
Friends trip ideas USA: where to go and how to lock it in
Music cities, national parks, beach houses and road trips for a friends getaway in the US, and the part nobody plans: setting the dates, and what to do when half the group drops out.
Read →Solo travel28 October 2026
Travel trends 2027: the rise of solo-ish travel
The headline travel trend of 2027 is not going further or spending more. It is dropping the choice between solo and group, and keeping both.
Read →Solo travel28 October 2026
Solo travel Morocco: itinerary, safety and who with
Plenty of people travel Morocco solo and love it. The move is easy; the context takes a bit of head, and the company is the part you settle before you book.
Read →Group travel27 October 2026
Stag do abroad: destinations and splitting the cost
A stag do abroad rarely falls apart over the destination. It falls apart over money, and over one person fronting it all. Here is how to avoid both.
Read →Solo travel26 October 2026
Solo cruises: single cabins, supplements and who with
A cruise is one of the easiest holidays to do alone, until the booking page asks you to pay for the empty bed. That is the single supplement, and there are ways around it.
Read →Solo travel25 October 2026
Solo travel Iceland: itinerary, northern lights, who with
Iceland is one of the easiest countries to travel alone, and one where a rental car costs the same for one as for four. Plan around that.
Read →Solo travel22 October 2026
Travelling after a breakup: where to go and who with
It does not erase anything. It changes the scenery your head has been looping in, and hands you small decisions that are entirely yours again.
Read →Solo travel22 October 2026
Norwegian fjords cruise from the UK (2027): no-fly guide
Fjords cruises leave from UK ports from April to September, so you do not have to fly. Summer means no northern lights, and sailing solo means watching the single supplement.
Read →Group travel22 October 2026
Holidays for over 60s: Saga, coach trips and who with
After 60 there is time and no group. Saga sets the minimum age, the coach sets the route and the railcard the fare: the people are the part you choose.
Read →Solo travel21 October 2026
Where to stay in Lisbon: areas compared for a first trip
For a first trip, Baixa and Chiado are the easy answer. Alfama has the character and the hills, Bairro Alto the nightlife and the noise. Choose for the evenings you want.
Read →Solo travel21 October 2026
Edinburgh in 3 days: itinerary and who to go with
Three days is enough for Edinburgh if the castle goes first and the hills go in the middle. The harder part is deciding who you go with.
Read →Group travel21 October 2026
40th birthday trip ideas: where to go with friends
A fortieth works when you fix the boring parts early: a date, a budget per person and who is actually coming. The destination matters less than the group turning up.
Read →Solo travel20 October 2026
Solo travel in your 30s: where to go and who with
In your thirties you have the money and the taste to travel well, and less of the one thing that made group trips easy at 22: everyone being free at once.
Read →Solo travel20 October 2026
Sleeper trains in Europe from the UK: routes and who with
A night train is cheaper with strangers and pricey alone. Split between four to six people who chose each other, the private compartment stops being a luxury.
Read →Group travel20 October 2026
Hen do abroad: destinations, costs and planning
Hen dos do not fall apart over destinations. They fall apart over money and an unread group chat. Decide the dates, the budget and the bride's share first.
Read →Solo travel20 October 2026
Going to a festival alone: how to do it (and find people)
Going to a festival alone is completely normal. The hard part is not the music but the tent, the lift and the first evening, and those are easier shared.
Read →Solo travel19 October 2026
Where to go in November and December 2026, and who with
November has no bank holidays and December has the best Christmas break in years. The hard part is not the destination, it is finding someone off at the same time.
Read →Solo travel19 October 2026
Solo travel UK: where to go alone, and who with
A first solo trip does not need a long-haul flight. It needs a Saturday, a train and a place small enough to walk around.
Read →Solo travel19 October 2026
Solo travel Thailand: itinerary, tips and who with
The boat, the room and the longtail trip cost the same whether you are one person or three. That is where solo travel in Thailand gets expensive, and where sharing helps.
Read →Solo travel19 October 2026
Solo travel Japan: itinerary, tips and who to go with
Japan is easy alone in the daytime. The parts that are harder solo are the evenings, the day trips and the ryokan night, which is where sharing a few days pays off.
Read →Group travel19 October 2026
Christmas markets UK 2026: dates and who to go with
Every UK Christmas market looks lovely in the photos. What changes the experience is when you go, and whether anyone you know is free that weekend.
Read →Group travel18 October 2026
Black Friday holidays 2026: how to be ready as a group
Flight deals last 48 hours; getting four people to agree takes weeks. The Black Friday problem for groups was never the price. It was the coordination.
Read →Solo travel14 October 2026
Solo surf trips and surf camps for solo travellers
Three summers of saying this is the year you learn to surf, and your friends always have something else on. You do not need anyone to go with: surf camps group you by level, not by who you came with.
Read →Solo travel14 October 2026
Solo ski holidays: go alone or join a group (2026-27)
Someone posts a photo of a snowy chair lift in the group chat and writes "this year?". By February the photo is still there and the trip is not. Three ways to ski this winter without waiting for anyone.
Read →Group travel14 October 2026
Solo road trip or a road trip buddy: how to plan it
The route is saved and the playlist is done. What nobody has decided is who is coming. Going alone, finding a road trip buddy, and the three things to agree before you set off.
Read →Group travel12 October 2026
Split travel costs app: how to share trip expenses fairly
Third night of the trip. Someone gets their phone out at dinner and asks: "Hang on, who paid for the taxi from the airport?" Nobody is quite sure. One of you thinks you did the first supermarket shop, another…
Read →Solo travel12 October 2026
How to meet people while travelling solo (and keep them)
Meeting people on a solo trip is the easy part. The hard part is the step after the chat, and it comes down to one sentence with a time and a place in it.
Read →Never a trip on hold10 October 2026
Taking your dog to Europe from the UK: AHC, ferry or tunnel
What GOV.UK asks for right now, the 10-day window that catches people out, which crossings let your dog stay with you, and why who you share the car with matters more than it seems.
Read →Solo travel10 October 2026
Solo holidays with your dog: ideas, over 50s and who with
Going away alone with your dog is easier than it sounds. The hard part is rarely the dog: it is the evenings, the places it cannot go and paying for a whole cottage on your own.
Read →Group travel10 October 2026
Dog friendly breaks in the UK: 8 places and who to go with
Eight places in the UK where your dog is genuinely welcome, what the national parks and councils actually ask of you there, and why a dog friendly cottage is better shared.
Read →Solo travel8 October 2026
Best places to travel solo beyond Europe (and who with)
Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, Peru, Morocco and New Zealand: what each one is like on your own, when to go, and how to find someone for the part of the trip that is better shared.
Read →Solo travel7 October 2026
Travelling alone without feeling lonely: what really helps
Loneliness on a solo trip rarely lasts all day. It turns up at dinner, on the third night and on long days with no plan, and most of what fixes it is decided before you leave.
Read →Group travel7 October 2026
Travel itinerary template: how to write one (free layout)
Most itineraries are a list of places with nothing in between. The fields that make one usable, a day-by-day example, and how to keep it in one place when several of you are going.
Read →Group travel7 October 2026
Interrail itinerary: 1, 2 and 3 weeks (with who to go)
Most Interrail plans fail on paper before they fail on a platform: eleven cities in fourteen days. Three routes that fit the time you actually have, the pass for each, and the trains you must book.
Read →Group travel7 October 2026
Group trip planner: app, template or Google Sheets (2026)
Planning a trip together is three jobs, not one, and most groups spread them across four apps. What to use instead, and the spreadsheet columns if you would rather not install anything.
Read →Solo travel7 October 2026
First solo trip: where to go (and how to make it easy)
Five places you can reach by train or a short flight and a metro ride, what to do with the first evening, how many nights to book, and how to have company for part of it if you want.
Read →Group travel7 October 2026
Bank holidays 2027: turn a few days off into long weekends
Every 2027 bank holiday with its day of the week, how many days in a row you get for each day of annual leave, and why the long weekend usually stalls on the people, not the dates.
Read →Group travel7 October 2026
Backpacking Europe: routes, costs and who to go with (2026)
Count nights, not cities. Three routes by length, what the train pass really costs, and the decision the route maps leave out: who you go with.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
Best places to travel solo in Europe: 8 easy cities
Eight places that leave little room for a first solo trip to go wrong, how to reach them from the UK, and which ones are better with company.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
How to travel with friends and stay friends
Nobody searches «why is traveling with friends so hard» about a holiday they enjoyed.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
Travel buddy app: how to find a travel partner (2026)
Eight apps that all promise travel companions, and they do quite different things. Which one fits the trip you have in mind, what each charges, and what to check before you say yes to anyone.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
Solo travel over 50 (and over 60): who with, not whether
At 50 or 60 the question is rarely whether you can travel alone. It is who you go with, and whether you want the group picked for you or to pick it yourself.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
Solo travel in a group: the adventure without giving up your freedom
The third option almost nobody mentions: going on your own terms, but with people who travel like you.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
Solo holidays at Christmas 2026: who, not where
Nobody searches «solo holidays xmas 2026» because they cannot think of a destination. They search it because everyone they would go with is busy.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
Solo female travel groups: what to look for
A lot of women searching for solo travel are not looking for how to be alone. They are looking for who to go with.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
Singles holidays: what they are, over 50 and over 60
Not a dating holiday: the product is the room. Over 50 is the middle of this market rather than its edge, and the two UK names people search for both build the room into the price.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
The single supplement: what it is, and the three ways operators handle it
It is not a penalty for being single. It is the cost of a bed nobody is sleeping in, and there are exactly three things an operator can do about it.
Read →Never a trip on hold10 July 2026
My partner doesn't want to travel but I do: what now?
One of you is looking at flights at eleven at night and the other says maybe not this year. It is almost never about not wanting to be with you.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
Is it safe to travel with strangers? An honest answer
Nobody can promise it is safe. What changes the odds is what you know about the person before you leave, and your plan if it goes wrong.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
Interrailing as a group: what nobody tells you before you book
A trip that feels like one decision is actually a stack of separate ones, and two of them catch people out at the station rather than at the booking page.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
I want to travel alone: the guide to taking the leap without fear (even if you have no one to go with)
The wanting is clear; what stops you is the gap between wanting and going. This guide is that gap, in small pieces.
Read →Never a trip on hold10 July 2026
I have no one to travel with: the real options
When nobody in your circle can make it, the trip does not have to wait. The four real options, and two questions to choose between them.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
How to travel with a group of strangers
They are not asking whether to. They have decided. Almost everything written about this answers the other question, at length, with warnings.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
How to find travel companions and a travel buddy
Finding a destination is easy; the hard part is finding who with. Where people look for a travel buddy, and what to check before you say yes.
Read →Solo travel10 July 2026
How to choose travel companions (and spot a bad fit)
Liking someone and travelling well with them are different things. What decides it, how to find out before you book, and the red flags.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
Group travel: the three completely different things that phrase means
Same words, three different trips. And the question that decides it is not where you want to go — it is whether what is missing is the plan or the people.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
G Adventures vs Intrepid vs Contiki vs Flash Pack (2026)
Four operators, four ways of deciding who is on your trip. What each says about age, group size and rooms, and the option where you pick the people yourself.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
Group tours for solo travellers: group holidays worth it?
A tour sells you decisions, not a destination. And the one thing it cannot sell you is the only part you cannot change once you have paid.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
Christmas market trips 2026: when to go before they close
Booking the week between Christmas and New Year sounds obvious. By then most of them have packed away.
Read →Never a trip on hold10 July 2026
DiscoverEU: 40,000 free Interrail passes, and you can apply as a group of five
If you turn 18 in the right year, Europe pays for your train. And you do not have to go alone: you can apply as a group of five, even from different countries.
Read →Group travel10 July 2026
The Camino from Sarria: the six official stages, and why everyone sells you five
The day that breaks most plans is not on the itinerary you were sold. And the hardest stretch of the week is the first 4.2 km, which is official.
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