Confessions of a package tour snob

I sat on the same beach and hired the same banana lounges as my package compatriots. Yet somehow I felt like I was having the better holiday. But why? What was so different from my Lonely Planet-inspired holiday to their package tour holiday?

We both contributed to the Thai economy.

We both had an impact on the environment (possibly my impact was greater as I hired longtails as an individual).

We both experienced the wonder of the beautiful Andaman Sea.

We both expanded our minds and experiences beyond Australia.

We both followed a well-trod formula - mine was clearly laid out for me by the independence-loving folk at Lonely Planet, theirs by a commerce-loving package tour operator.

Aha! The difference: I also travelled to some more remote places (after doing due diligence on the place by an exhaustive check of my Lonely Planet) and “experienced” more of Thailand.

But I certainly didn’t go where Australians have never gone before. Everywhere I went, no matter how remote or difficult to get to, an “independent” (actually thousands, plus a fair share of package tourists) had been there before me.

I contributed to the local economy, I was responsible for some environmental degradation, I experienced something more than my life in Australia, and I saw some more of wonderful Thailand.

But so did my package tour friends.

Some say the difference is choice. “Packagers” don’t get to choose where they go, when they go, and who they go with.

But is this necessarily true? There are literally hundreds of package deals to Thailand to choose from. They cater to people who want different types of holidays, to different places, for different lengths of time, at different times of year, for different types of people, with different budgets. There are even “independent” style package tours.