The Cast

To this point, I have only made side references to the others in our group. They have wandered into scenes in this blog but have not been brought into full focus or fully flushed out.  One of the main reasons for this is that they may read these words someday – I did not want what is written here to be misinterpreted and perhaps cause offense.

For the record, if any group members are reading this, I love you all.  But, since this is the internet, I will not mention names out of respect for privacy.

This was my first proper tour.  My experiences in being “guided” in the past were limited to cruise ship excursions – events best thought of as learning opportunities.  While these cruise adventures may have had a good tour member or excellent guide, these are not fond memories.  The guide tended to be above average but there was a significant section of tour participants who were surly, whiny, and generally not interested in anything that did not involve shopping.  Often I asked myself why they were on the tour in the first place.

I carried this baggage on this trip.  I was mentally and physically preparing myself for seeing things I wanted to see with people I did not expect to like.  As a survival mechanism, I told myself I needed to suck it up and deal with it.

What I had not expected was the number of people on this trip that I would enjoy spending time with or how well the group would come together.  My Beloved Travel Companion (BTC) and I are the youngest by a few years.  But our relative youth is easily matched by the collective stamina of this group.  Many are in far better shape than I – granted, not a particularly high score to beat, but you get the point.

To my surprise the core group gelled very well.  There are a few who are keeping a bit more to themselves – but for the most part the group is interested in spending time with each other.  We look forward to running into them in the cities and meeting with them for meals on our own.  The fellow “cast members” in this story have a curiosity about the world around them, have traveled independently, and many chose this as a first guided tour as a way to obtain an insight into a culture and see things they may not see on their own.  These are very similar to our own requirements.

The expectations communicated to this group prior to the tour played, I believe, a great part in helping this type of group to form.  When signing up, potential attendees were told their luggage could be no larger than a certain size and that they would need to be able to carry it themselves up 5 flights of stairs.  In addition, the creature comforts of travel may not be available: buses may not have air-conditioning, showers may not always be possible, rooms may be located in interesting but noisy parts of town, and sleeping on a train may not be everyone’s cup of tea.  To compensate for some of these discomforts, we were provided with earplugs.  For the rest, we could not say we were not informed.  If this was outside anyone’s comfort zone, they probably never signed up.

A major part in building the esprit de corps among the members was the “no whiners” agreement that everyone needed to complete and include with the final tour payment.  By signing this agreement, you are saying you understand your responsibility to yourself and the other team members towards making this trip a positive experience.  You are not a passive participant in these events.  Not everything may go swimmingly.  In that event, your choices are to help make the situation better or deal with it constructively.  This agreement helped to winnow the field and only encourage like-minded people to participate.

I must also give much credit to A, our fearless leader, interpreter, and guide.  Her skills and outlook helped to make this tour successful to date.  But it is getting late and we have another early morning so futher details will have to be a later post.

Tomorrow, Pamukkale before heading to Ephesus.  The end draws near.

• Antalya
• Turkey