Disappointed at many tours becoming yolo

[clairew85]

I have noticed that alot of the African tours in 2013 have tunred into yolo. i am disappointed at this. I did the jburg to Nairobi earlier this year and one of the things that made the trip were the people and the range of backgrounds. Around a third of my tour would not be able to do it with it being yolo and i dont understand why this change would be made. People will know what they are signing up for and surely age doesnt matter on these trips? With my group we all enjoyed a few drinks in the evenings and there was only a couple who drank alot regularly.

I was thinking about doing the dunes delta falls tour but turning it to yolo has put me off and am know thinking about other companies.

[markmol]

hi Clair,
i am with you, i did the ultimate east africa trip last year which is now a yolo trip, as with your trip 10 people, including myself would not be able to take this trip now. We all had a few drinks together each night, we mixed well, it will be a pity if people over 39 can't go on this trip & visit the gorillas.

[Zuleika]

I was thinking about doing the dunes delta falls tour but turning it to yolo has put me off and am know thinking about other companies.

I agree - vote with your feet and use another company - until these ridiculous age limits are abolished.
I did Cape town up the west coast and across to Livingston with Explore and it was excellent. A nice mix of ages.A fantastic trip. Better still it wasn't made up of 3 trips stuck together so we were all in for the duration, bonded well and also had no newbies halfway along the tour. The group dynamics always work so much better like this.

[tletter]

Around a third of my tour would not be able to do it with it being yolo and i dont understand why this change would be made.

Since most YOLO trip are not particularly physically challenging, it would appear that the G's goal is to become known as the 'party' travel company.

turning it to yolo has put me off and am know thinking about other companies.

G's policy seems shortsighted but the good thing is that there are lots of alternatives to G in Africa and elsewhere and G's policy will only encourage their growth. For example, we had a very enjoyable trip in Africa with Kumuka.
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[leahlovestravel]

wow, how disappointing that G is limiting themselves....there are so many of us that don't fall into the YOLO age category. There's a number of tours, not just in Africa, that I would be interested in as well if they were open to all. Maybe if enough of us voice our thoughts...

[graybeard]

wow, how disappointing that G is limiting themselves....there are so many of us that don't fall into the YOLO age category. There's a number of tours, not just in Africa, that I would be interested in as well if they were open to all. Maybe if enough of us voice our thoughts...

Yea, good luck with that. There was a LOT of negative feedback to G in these forums when they first started the YOLO tours. Overall, the response seemed to be for us "older" folks... go pound sand!

The fact that they seem to be expanding it suggests it's working for them. Guess it's time to go shopping for a nice rocking chair, eh?

[tletter]

Guess it's time to go shopping for a nice rocking chair, eh?

Preferably it's time to look at G's competitors since after all to G it's simply a dollars and cents issue.
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[clairew85]

Im young enough to go on a yolo tour but the way g sells them puts me off. I dont want to go travelling where most of the time is spent drinking and partying it away. I dont mind a little of this but Im paying so much to be there so I can see what the actual place is like.

[moviegeekjn]

I've traveled on a number of G-Adventures trips (and am several decades beyond YOLO bracket)... have enjoyed those trips. But I am heading to East Africa this November with another company that offered locations and trips not offered by G-Adventures... and at a reasonable price. There are a number of alternative companies out there that offer what G-Adventures once had more exclusively.

[blondebomber]

I have never posted to the watering hole but am taking the time now as i completely agree with the posts already here!!! I have been on a couple of G tours and the age range is what makes the experience. I recently booked kenya and tanzania overland with a friend and we were grateful to see it was switched to a regular tour. Just because you are over 40 doesn't mean you are dead or incapable of having a couple of drinks. G tours should really reconsider - some us over the age of 40 have a pretty good disposable income to spend on tours.

[moviegeekjn]

Another possibility: it could be a matter of education--G Adventures deciding that it's "easier" to call certain trips YOLO to signal that the comfort level is relatively primitive.

That's something I picked up from a G Adventures guide recently--she told about how they frequently get complaints from customers expecting a more "deluxe" vacation despite the fact that the itinerary and price "should" have already communicated what to expect. But they have had some stubborn travelers who expect to be "babied" and pampered. Although she didn't identify age group with this, I would imagine that this generally would not be people classified as YOLO, who are primarily concerned more with keeping costs down.

I would prefer that G Adventures take more efforts to educate people about the nature of adventure travel than put more age restrictions on such trips.

[tletter]

Another possibility: it could be a matter of education--G Adventures deciding that it's "easier" to call certain trips YOLO to signal that the comfort level is relatively primitive.

G's trips have a listed Trip Style, Service Level and Physical Grading. It is supposed to be these three gradings that alert potential participants as to a trip's comfort level.

G states that "With an average age of 25, YOLO travellers make the most of their time, hitting the highlights by day and mixing it up at night." I can certainly vouch for the penchant for "mixing it up at night" as on a recent G trip to Madagascar, it was the mid-20s traveller who mixed it up at night in their shared hotel room with a local of the opposite sex much to their roommate's obvious displeasure.

Although she didn't identify age group with this, I would imagine that this generally would not be people classified as YOLO, who are primarily concerned more with keeping costs down.

On our trips, I've seen YOLOs who did indeed expect to be pampered and don't pitch in. Hence ascribing general expectations to age groups is perhaps stereotyping.

As G itself states, the purpose of the move to YOLO-designated trips is foment a "party it up" atmosphere and obviously they've identified a market for that. Fortunately there are competitors to G that offer much of the same trips but without the ageism. So if G's move to YOLO-designated trips bothers one then check out their competitors' offerings, i.e. vote with your pocketbook.
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[TravelFun]

Ooooh, the YOLO pandora box has re-opened

Here's the official response to the initial discussions:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=12297&start=15#p52273

YOLO was introduced back in 2010 so don't think it's going anywhere! Like most of you even I have started using other adventure companies where age is not a restriction and I don't have to pay 'comfort' rates.

[AdamfromCanada]

I have noticed that alot of the African tours in 2013 have tunred into yolo. i am disappointed at this. I did the jburg to Nairobi earlier this year and one of the things that made the trip were the people and the range of backgrounds. Around a third of my tour would not be able to do it with it being yolo and i dont understand why this change would be made. People will know what they are signing up for and surely age doesnt matter on these trips? With my group we all enjoyed a few drinks in the evenings and there was only a couple who drank alot regularly.

I was thinking about doing the dunes delta falls tour but turning it to yolo has put me off and am know thinking about other companies.

Yikes! I was completely unaware of the YOLO shift until now, but that would really concern me too. I've been on five G Adventure tours now, and the age range has always been a great thing. I did the Dunes, Delta & Falls in 2009, and we had a group that included a 19-year old and a 76-year old. It was a great group with a really good mix of people. There was another group that ended up in the same spots as us with almost all young travellers and they were a gong show. They did party and drink almost every night, they were loud and obnoxious and even their guides complained about them constantly - they didn't ever want to get up and get moving in the mornings!

Now, I'm not against staying out and having a few drinks on a tour...I've done so many times. But I want a balance...not a party bus tour.

I'd definitely echo a lot of the concerns with a YOLO shift and hope that the company doesn't continue down that path too far.

[bexonthebeach]

I have done a few group tours now and one of the things I like most about them is the variety of people you meet on them - different ages and interests. I even ended up on a trip recently where I was the youngest person by over 25years and loved it, got on so well with everyone!

What I find particularly infuriating is when Yolo itineraries are completely different to the Classic offerings, which means to visit certain places you have no choice but to book a Yolo. I had planned on doing the Music and Mountains tour in the USA next year but it has since turned into a Yolo and I am having to reconsider. Although I am right in the middle of the target age range, I dont fancy being on a trip where the focus is partying. I like a couple of drinks, but I hate travelling with a hangover, especially overland!! And while I can of course vote with my feet, no other tour companies seem to do that combination of places

Maybe what G should do is recognise that offering an itinerary in only one style limits those who can book on it - what would be good would be 1 itinerary with 2 styles (Yolo and Classic) perhaps on alternate departure dates. That way those who want to spend their tour drinking and partying will gravitate towards the Yolo dates, leaving the other dates for those who want to get more out of their time/dont fit into the age category.