The art of travelling with 48 people

We specialise in logistics PR… so here’s a very personal slant on logistics… a straightforward list of how to survive a coach journey.

Travelling with many can bring challenges…

This year’s ski holiday, as with the previous few, has consisted of travelling by bus to the French Alps. It takes about 24 hours. We stay in a Youth Hostel, so see the same 48 or so people every day, for usually three, sometimes four meals a day. And we’re a motley crew. Ages range from 75 to 5.

And I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a bus journey of over 900 miles, but it’s not for the feint-hearted. Apart from being folded over like some human Brompton for hours at a time, hauled out a sporadic sleep at 4am to wend your way into a motorway services, and coping with the noise levels, you also have to be tolerant of your fellow travellers.

So here are my seven guidelines for a successful trip:

1. Pack water, blankets and travel sickness tablets – the basics are extremely important
2. ipod/ MP3 player and headphones to while away the time. I like podcasts – particularly ‘For immediate release’, ‘The News quiz’ and ‘More or less’ – the latter two are Radio 4 programmes.
3. Take a toothbrush/paste in your hand luggage too. Whilst you may look like you’ve been through a hedge – that isn’t a real issue. How you feel is.
4. Make sure you have an organiser who can do a head count before you set off. Saying “are we all here?” simply isn’t a foolproof technique
5. Encourage the organiser to create a seating plan. As a group, we’re poor at democracy on seating arrangements.
6. Make sure every pair of seats has a plastic bag to put rubbish in. It’s amazing the amount of junk a 24 hour journey can create
7. And my top tip… is to invest in a pair of noise cancelling headphones. No need to listen to anything on them… just enjoy your own private silence.