What Happens When You Book a Group Trip Solo: How 7 Strangers Became "Friends Traveling Together"
Less than a month after returning from an FTLO trip to Portugal, seven travelers who had arrived as strangers were back together in New York. It could have been the kind of reunion everyone talks about at the end of a great trip but never actually plans. Instead, it became the first of many.
Since Portugal, the group has traveled together to New York, Colorado, and North Carolina. (One member even flew from Los Angeles to New York for less than 24 hours just to make their first reunion!!) They have committed to meeting up once a quarter, created an Instagram account called @friends_traveling_together, and started dreaming about where they might go internationally next.
Their friendship did not begin because they all booked the trip together. Most of them did not know one another at all. They booked for different reasons: to take a long-awaited solo trip, celebrate a milestone, see Europe before starting a new chapter, or finally stop waiting for someone else to be available.
Then, somewhere between their first introductions, shared tapas, free evenings, and conversations that quickly moved beyond small talk, the trip became about more than Portugal.
We caught up with Julie, Elizabeth, Ava, Adam, Mikayla, and Rick (Erika wasn't able to make the call) to hear how they found FTLO, when the group first realized they had formed something special, and why the biggest hurdle is sometimes simply booking the trip.
First things first: what made you finally book the trip?
Julie: "I had met someone at a networking event who had just returned from an FTLO trip. I had been thinking about traveling solo, but I wanted to find a group so I would not be completely by myself or responsible for planning the entire itinerary.
What stayed with me was that this person had traveled with FTLO more than once and had made friends on those trips who they later traveled with again. They had such good things to say about the experience, so that is how I found FTLO."
Elizabeth: "I had always wanted to travel and had considered taking a solo trip, but I did not really know where to begin. It had also been a few years since I had traveled internationally.
It was the final year of my twenties, and I wanted to cross something big off my bucket list before turning 30. I remember being very on the fence when I signed up, but booking that trip became one of the best decisions of my life."
Ava: "I had just graduated from law school and taken the bar exam, and I knew I wanted to travel to Europe before starting work. My cousin Mikayla had already traveled with FTLO and had a great experience, so she encouraged me to join her.
Having the trip planned for us while also getting the opportunity to meet new people felt like the perfect fit."
Adam: "FTLO had been appearing in my social media algorithm for a long time, but I had never actually pushed the button. I finally booked very last minute, and the team helped make it happen.
I already knew that I loved meeting new people, but I was still pleasantly surprised by how aligned everyone was. We were all there because we wanted to meet people and have new experiences. That ended up being one of the best parts of the trip."
What did it feel like to arrive alone and meet everyone for the first time?
Elizabeth: "I was definitely nervous. I had not really traveled internationally by myself before, and it was intimidating to think that I had signed up to spend nearly two weeks with people I had never met.
Having the trip details ahead of time helped. I knew where I was staying, what the plan was, and that we would all meet in the hotel lobby before going to dinner together.
Once we sat down, introduced ourselves, and started talking, I remember thinking, “Okay, this is good. This feels right.”
Our Trip Leader, Isabel, was also amazing. She made everyone feel included from the beginning."
Julie: "I was not particularly nervous about the group, but I was curious about how the roommate pairing would work. Erica and I ended up being matched together, and it was honestly spot-on.
We naturally figured out the little things, like who went to bed earlier, who liked to stay up, and who wanted to sleep in. We were both pleasantly surprised by how well we clicked."
Was there one moment when everyone stopped feeling like strangers?
Mikayla: "It happened gradually, but there was one free evening when most of us went to a restaurant together. We sat around a big table, shared tapas, and started asking each other unexpectedly deep questions.
That continued throughout the trip, especially during the more unstructured evenings. By the end, we realized how deeply we had bonded in such a short amount of time and how much we were going to miss one another.
We knew we had to do it again. Now, we get together about every three months."
Everyone says they will stay in touch after a trip. How did you actually make it happen?
Ava: "Our first reunion was in New York, less than a month after Portugal.
Four of us live around New York and New Jersey, which made it fairly easy to organize. Since then, we have also visited Julie in North Carolina and Rick in Colorado during ski season. A lot of our trips have been built around visiting someone’s home base.
Erica flew all the way from Los Angeles for that first reunion in New York. Her flight was delayed, and she ultimately spent less than 24 hours with us, but she still came. That says a lot about how committed everyone is to keeping this group together.
International travel is still a “not yet,” but it is definitely something we are talking about."
When did the idea of your Instagram account, @Friends_Traveling_Together, become an actual thing?
Mikayla: We had taken so many great photos in Portugal, and that continued once we started meeting up afterward. Mikayla suggested creating an Instagram account where we could share the trips and our story.
It felt worth documenting because it is such a unique way to have met.
Mikayla is now both our unofficial chief social media officer and chief medical officer.
What made the FTLO trip give these friendships room to grow?
Adam: "I really appreciated the mix of activities and the flexibility. Everyone was different. Some people wanted to return to the hotel and rest for an hour, while others wanted to keep exploring or occasionally sit something out.
There was room for everyone to experience the trip in the way that worked for them."
Julie:" The Trip Leader made such a difference. Isabel was amazing, and we were so grateful for her by the end.
We also loved how much FTLO worked with local people and experiences throughout the itinerary. Isabel still follows the group on social media and reacts when she sees us traveling together, which is really special."
Rick: "The magic was in having both structured and unstructured time.
There was enough planned that we could see and experience the destination, but also enough freedom to have spontaneous dinners, deeper conversations, and moments that were completely our own.
Some of us have even started using that same balance when planning trips with family and friends: enough structure to make the most of the destination, with space to rest, explore independently, or follow whatever comes up."
What would you say to someone still waiting for a friend to travel with?
Elizabeth: "You cannot overthink it. At a certain point, you just have to take the time off, say yes to the trip, and accept that you do not know exactly what is going to happen or who you are going to meet.
Even beyond the fact that this worked out so well for us, there is something meaningful about doing it for yourself. Give yourself the opportunity to be uncomfortable or nervous. It was one of the biggest growth experiences I have ever had.
You have to trust yourself. Knowing I was traveling with a reputable company made a real difference when I was deciding whether to go."
Ava: "The biggest hurdle is booking the trip.
Portugal was my second FTLO trip, and I had made great friends on my first one too. There is something reassuring about knowing the experience is planned and that you will be traveling with other people in your age group who are also willing to take that leap.
For me, that took a lot of the anxiety out of it."
Has traveling together changed what matters most about a trip?
Adam: "The people are more important than the place.
This group could end up in the middle of Ohio at a roller derby, and we would still have a great time."
Elizabeth: "The people make the experience, not only the destination.
This trip taught me to go with the flow, stop worrying about the things I cannot control, and enjoy the time we have together."
Portugal was only the beginning.
The group still has plenty left on its list: another international trip, more reunions, and possibly matching airport sweat sets.
But the part of their story we love most is not only how much they have traveled since Portugal. It is that each person had to make an individual decision before the group ever existed. They had to stop waiting, take the time off, trust the process, and book the trip.
None of them knew exactly who would be sitting across from them at that first dinner. They only knew they wanted to go.
They arrived in Portugal looking for an experience. They came home with the people they now want beside them for the next one.
If you're new to FTLO, welcome! 👋
FTLO Travel is a group travel company designed for solo travelers in their 30s who want to see the world, meet new people, and leave the planning to someone else. We build our small-group trips around the things we want from travel in our 30s: incredible places, authentic local experiences, comfortable stays, top-rated trip leaders, enough structure to make the most of your PTO, and enough free time to make the trip your own.
If that sounds like something you might be interested in, we'd love to have you on a trip! Check out our trips or submit your travel profile to get started.
