Let’s start with a confession:
Most of our guests don’t do group travel.

There is a certain kind of traveller who scrolls past anything labelled “group trip” without a second thought. If that sounds familiar, you are in good company. Many of our guests have spent years artfully avoiding group travel, often with the same rationale: it feels structured, crowded, slightly awkward and perhaps just a little too close to an adult field trip.

The mind paints an instant picture. Lanyards. Headsets. A guide holding a tiny umbrella in the air. Forty strangers shuffling toward a monument they are not entirely sure they care about, wishing they had simply stayed home with a book and a good glass of wine.

So yes, hesitancy around group travel makes complete sense.

And yet, something interesting happens when these same travellers join a Satopia experience. They arrive expecting to feel like the odd one out, only to realise that everyone else feels exactly the same. It becomes clear quite quickly that this is not group travel in the traditional sense. It feels more like a thoughtfully assembled dinner party that just happens to be set in Patagonia, Provence, a private island or around a fire in the wilderness.

Within the first evening, people begin to relax. They laugh. They notice that no one is rushing them or herding them. No one is taking attendance. There are no matching backpacks or choreographed schedules. Instead, there is space. Freedom. A beautifully set table. And the feeling that you might have just wandered into the right place at the right moment with exactly the right kind of strangers.

A Different Kind of “Group Travel”

The difference is subtle but substantial. Traditional group travel is about managing numbers. Satopia’s approach is about nurturing connection.

Here, the group is small enough that no one disappears and large enough that you do not have to commit your full personality on day one. Conversations unfold naturally rather than being assigned. There is room to be quiet, to step away, to wander, or to join in when the moment feels right.

Most guests begin with the same confession: “I’ve never travelled in a group before.” What they mean is: I didn’t want this to feel forced, dull or socially exhausting. By the end, those same people are exchanging numbers, planning future trips together, and wondering how they managed to go so long without these kinds of shared experiences.

Because something happens when travel is shared. Meals taste better. Stories go deeper. Landscapes feel grander. There is a moment where you look around and think, not Who are these people?, but How did I get lucky enough to end up with them?

And while travelling solo will always have its charm, there is something undeniably meaningful about discovering the world with others who appreciate it the way you do. These connections tend to last. Guests stay in touch. They visit one another. They send messages months later saying, “I still think about that night under the stars.”

So yes, we still call it “small group travel,” mostly because the English language has not yet developed a more accurate description. But truthfully, it feels more like a beautifully aligned gathering of curious humans who share a love for travel that feels authentic, meaningful and just a little bit magical.

If you’ve always believed group travel isn’t for you, there is a chance you were right — until now. Because when the right people come together, in the right place, something undeniable happens.

And if you still think you’re “not a group trip person,” that’s perfect.

Neither are we.