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#Post#: 80672--------------------------------------------------
Logistics when traveling with a group
By: Hmmm Date: December 18, 2023, 10:00 am
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We had a short one night trip this weekend to attend a 90th
birthday in a town about 3 hours away. My SIL and MIL opted to
ride with DH and I. I had a question on organizing the logistics
of the trip. I had found a hotel close to the party venue and
SIL and I had agreed we should leave early enough for the 4 of
us to have a relaxing lunch then go to the hotel and dress for
the party.
SIL had a restaurant she wanted to try which we were game for
her selecting and making the arrangements and reservations. I
knew it was in an "entertainment district" where all of the
restaurants, shops and other stuff is central with parking lots
and garages around the perimeter. About an hour away, I asked
SIL if she had figured out a good spot we could drop her and MIL
off because MIL can't walk very far. She hadn't and said she
figured we could just figure it out once we arrived. It's a 25
acre site with multiple buildings housing at least 30 plus
restaurants, live music venue, at least a dozen restaurants and
on weekends a massive farmers market. So I spent at least 20
minutes looking at the area and parking, trying to figure where
exactly the restaurant was (the map on their website wasn't
optimized for mobile devices because it would reposition every
time I tried to zoom in and was really difficult to view on my
cell phone), why the closest parking garage was listed as
"permanently closed" (bad info on google maps... thanks to a
reddit sub for clearing that up), and why the street closest
google maps wouldn't let me route that way (Weekend Farmer's
market has expanded out of the regular space and now into
surrounding streets which are closed off on weekends)
As I was struggling to gather information, I was getting annoyed
that she hadn't thought to plan it out because I would have
since I selected the location.
But was my annoyance warranted? I wonder if others would have
researched that information if they had selected the venue but
wasn't the driver. Or if you are the driver (or in my case the
navigator), do you research that level of logistics before
leaving if it is a place that someone else has selected?
And just a PSA....Please don't over pack and assume all the
luggage will fit in the car of the driver. DH had a backpack and
I had an overnight tote I put on top of his and we were laying
out clothes for the party over the top of that. Combined we took
up less than a 1/3rd of the luggage space in our small SUV. DH
had said he fully expected SIL to have 2 small suitcases but
arrived with a overnight tote and I smirked at DH until she also
pulls out a 28' suitcase! MIL with a 24" but she had stayed at
SIL the night before so I understand her needing a bit more
space. (I wanted to so badly follow them into their hotel room
to figure out what was in her very heavy suitcase.) We had to
take off the privacy screen to accommodate everything which was
a bit annoying since we knew we were stopping for lunch before
going to the hotel and they ended up a bit squeezed in the back
with the other tote between them on the seat. When SIL arrived,
their 3 pieces took up most of her luggage space in her slightly
larger SUV. I wondered if they had given a thought how there
stuff and our stuff was all going to fit.
#Post#: 80673--------------------------------------------------
Re: Logistics when traveling with a group
By: Titanica Date: December 18, 2023, 11:18 am
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I don't know, but I would love to see the 28' suitcase!
#Post#: 80674--------------------------------------------------
Re: Logistics when traveling with a group
By: lowspark Date: December 18, 2023, 11:32 am
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I wouldn't necessarily think about planning out drop off points
or parking till I got there... except that you asked her to! At
that point, she should have pulled out her phone and started
researching. It can be tough being the driver in an unfamiliar
city or location, trying to figure out parking or how to deal
with a passenger who can't walk far.
So yeah, your annoyance is warranted. Lesson here is to make
sure that happens in advance in the future. And it doesn't even
have to be the person who selected the destination. Driver has
the right to ask passengers to please help out by getting those
kinds of details once you are en route, especially now that we
all carry the means to do so in our pockets!
Regarding the luggage, I have the philosophy that I can bring
more with me when traveling by car than by air, so I tend to
over pack on car trips. I still only use a standard bag that
fits in the overhead on airplanes, but will sometimes bring an
additional tote as well.
I think with four travelers, I would have figured that the
privacy screen would not have been doable. Main thing that would
be important to me is that each person carried their own stuff
and didn't depend on others to help.
If everything fit in the back without anyone having to deal with
stuff at their feet or on the seat next to them, I'd be fine
with that. Heck, even if they did, as long as it didn't impact
me, I'd be ok.
#Post#: 80675--------------------------------------------------
Re: Logistics when traveling with a group
By: sandisadie Date: December 18, 2023, 11:36 am
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Some people have trouble visualizing how much space it will take
to contain an, at the moment, unknown amount of items. For
instance, my daughter (she's 63) will take a look in the fridge
and cannot figure out how to accommodate new storage containers,
etc. in there. On the other hand, I can look in there and have
it figured out in a couple of minutes or less. Same thing about
the SIL not following up on her arrangements and understanding
that certain things should be figured out before you all got to
the city. Some people just do not worry about details on much
of anything. Since I always do think about details, when I'm
involved in a group trip or some other activity involving a few
people, I go over in my mind what needs to be known before
undertaking whatever it is. If I see that something I feel is
important is probably not been handled then I'll bring that up.
Then if someone tells me that my concern might not matter I will
tell them why I think in might be important. Usually someone
will agree with me and whatever it is will be taken care of.
#Post#: 80701--------------------------------------------------
Re: Logistics when traveling with a group
By: DaDancingPsych Date: December 23, 2023, 6:15 pm
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I prefer to act like you, Hmmm. I like to have all the logistics
planned out. As my parents are aging, I am finding the drop-off
and walking details are important, too. However, I find that I
am in the minority. Most people travel by the seat of their
pants and try to figure out things on the fly. I really can't
expect for others to plan ahead. However, I can always prompt
them. "Restaurant X sounds like a great place! Now that's
downtown in the city? Do you know what the parking situation is
like? Did they mention anything on their website? Could you look
into that since we will have MIL along?"
Although, I agree, that if the driver says that they need some
details when en route that it's the passenger's responsibilities
to do their best to find them.
Something interesting that I discovered when traveling with my
parents. They are incredibly detailed when it comes to the
things that we are doing. They know what time the place opens,
what there is to see/do, and what the ticket prices are. But
they are awful when it comes to the parking and logistics after
we arrive. I have made my the captain in these areas and make
sure that I have all the details I need... even if they selected
the place. I think it's rather important to understand your
traveling partners and fill in the gaps as needed.
#Post#: 80703--------------------------------------------------
Re: Logistics when traveling with a group
By: lakey Date: December 24, 2023, 3:21 pm
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I'm a planner. So, as a driver going to an unfamiliar place,
especially a place that gets a lot of people, I would plan it
all out myself at least the night before, probably 2 or 3 days
before. I double check on where hotels and restaurants are
before I leave. Not only that, but using googlemaps, I switch
to satellite so i know what to look for once I get close to the
hotel or restaurant. I absolutely would plan out parking ahead
of time. Why drive around and around in possibly heavy traffic
looking for a place. And I don't leave any of it up to other
passengers. I just don't trust other people's judgement that
much. Yeah, I'm a fussbudget about these things, and knowing
that, I probably over plan.
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