Planning an outing for you and your family is different than planning one for a large group of people. Small, tight groups have the ability to move quickly, deal with changes on the fly, and have the flexibility to add or subtract activities at will.
But when you are making decisions for groups of 20, 30, or even 40 people or more, it’s a good idea to pad your schedule with plenty of time because usually, everything takes a lot longer than expected.
Seniors and Children
And if you are in charge of planning an outing for children or seniors, it’s important to add even more time. Both groups are resistant to being rushed. They often have specific needs that must be addressed along the way. And you need to include plenty of bathroom stops.
For teenagers or adults, things can move a little more quickly, but the nature of group dynamics demands that more time be spent on things like loading and unloading the charter bus, gathering everybody when it’s time to go, and taking headcounts to make sure nobody is left behind.
Start and End Times
Building more time into the event schedule means leaving earlier and arriving home later than you would if it were just you and your family. For example, an outing to a location that might take five hours round trip with your kids could take six or more hours when you make the trip with a larger group.
So it’s a good idea to pad your schedule by leaving at least a half-hour earlier than you might if you were traveling alone. And adding an hour or more to the time when you plan on arriving home at the end of the outing.
Finally, plan on unexpected delays or unplanned distractions because they inevitably will happen. When you pad your schedule with a little extra time, they won’t slow you down as much.
