Life

This Travel Company Is Offering Trips Designed Specifically For Solo Millennial Travelers

While traveling with friends is fun, it's not always easy to pull off: Finding a compatible travel mate is easier said than done — and linking up time-off schedules, budgets, and interests? Even harder. That leaves you with the option of traveling solo, which is actually a major goal for many Millennials, myself included. But as much as I fantasize over impulsively buying a plane ticket and whimsically floating from destination to destination as a solo traveler, there's a lot more that goes into making it happen safely and effectively. Plus, planning all by yourself is hard.

If you're interested in traveling solo but are, like myself, less keen on having to spend the bulk of your time alone and/or be responsible for planning every detail of your trip on your own, then you'll definitely appreciate Flash Pack, a group travel company for solo travelers that curates adventure-based trips among groups of like-minded people — allowing you to meet new people, do something completely on your own, an have the experience of a lifetime that you'd likely not be able to plan otherwise.

Flash Pack is geared toward curating unique and stylish trips for solo travelers in their late 20s through 40s (basically, any and all Millennials), and its take is pretty fresh and unique. The groups are intimate, and each trip is built for around eight to 12 like-minded solo travelers who are all interested in sharing similar experiences while traveling. This is all done to achieve the goal of finding a "perfect group dynamic" to support an action-packed trip (or, as they say, "goodbye small talk — hello friendship!").

It'll definitely behoove you to set aside whatever comes to mind when you currently think "group travel," as Flash Pack does things a lot differently. This is decidedly not the ultra-touristy group tour that your grandparents opt into, nor is it a wild n' crazy travel package full of 18-year-olds who are just looking to party hard (not that there's anything wrong with either of those experiences, if that's what you're into!). Instead, Flack Pack intentionally seeks out fun, quality, and unique experiences that will allow you to soak in the authentic local culture off the beaten path. "Our team of adventure architects hunt down the best, most unique experiences and bring them alive, with the help of in-the-know locals," writes Flash Pack on its site.

This means you'll be experiencing all the hidden gems that your destination has to offer, eating at the best local restaurants to keep your experience authentic, and staying in gorgeous boutique hotels with pools, hot tubs and rooftop bars for the duration of your trip. Flash Pack is open about the fact they're a little pricier than other group travel companies, but it's for good reason: They take care of every little detail of your trip — including whisking you to and from the airport — and their trips allow you to experience things in a small group. "We also organize 'hard to do by yourself' experiences like staying on a private island in the Philippines or climbing Rainbow Mountain in Peru," Flash Pack explains in their FAQs. All you have to do is choose your trip, book your flight, and get ready to adventure.

Plus, there are more than 50 different epic global trips to choose from in nearly as many countries — and all have different lengths, dates, and adventure-styles, so you have serious options when it comes to planning the trip of your dreams. For example, you could spend a quick four days riding a Vespa through the medieval Spanish countryside while enjoying local wine and tapas, or go on a two week journey in Vietnam and Cambodia full of kayaking, cooking, and visiting temples. The choice is yours, and there's much to choose from.

There are also options to add "extras" onto your trip to personalize it even further — so if something you're dying to do isn't on the pre-curated agenda, chances are you can still take advantage of being nearby and make it happen.

While the company markets itself as being geared toward travelers in their 30s and 40s who are busy professionals, they're down to accommodate "mature" travelers who are in their 20s (or even "dynamic" travelers in their 50s), according to their FAQs. The age restrictions are in place to help create an atmosphere of free-spirited people who are in a similar stage in their lives. What's cool, too, is that you don't have to wait until your vacation to meet your travel partners for the first time, like some sort of vacation blind date. Flash Pack virtually hooks you up with your future travel mates and guide well in advance via a group WhatsApp chat, so you can start getting to know people, making plans, and ~bonding~ before you ever hit international grounds.

Apparently the majority of Flash Pack travelers are single, so there's always the chance that you might find love while on your trip, too. But they note on their site that their trips are "about friendship rather than dating," so even if you don't meet the love of your life, you'll probably make some new lifelong friends and have an absolute blast. That all said, no more excuses when it comes to traveling and making that solo trip of your dreams come true. Check out Flash Pack's epic selection of adventures and make your solo travel goals a reality in 2019.