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When people decide to go on vacation, they need to decide if they wish to travel independently or take an escorted tour. In all of the years that I have travelled, I would rather travel independently.

Just for the fun of it, I have received travel brochures of escorted tours to Europe, Hawaii, as well as within the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. They do describe the day-to-day intinerary, as well as what's included, such as airfares, hotels, meals, transportation, sightseeing, transfers between the airport and the hotel, and so forth.

Just last week, I went on to the websites and message boards of two escorted tour operators and expressed my opinions on why I prefer to travel independently instead of with a group, I was treated like an outsider. I also wanted to see what other people who took these tours had to say as well.

Based on the information that I read, taking an escorted tour is definitely not for me. On these tours, you have to get up at the crack of dawn, have your suitcases outside of your hotel room, get washed up, dressed, go down to have breakfast, and then leave between 7:30 and 8 o'clock in the morning, and they have to stick to a very strict schedule.

There is a lot of walking on these tours and you have to be able to keep up with the group. I am unable to do this because I am extremely overweight, I have arthritis in my knees, and I have had to stop periodically and rest. This one tour operator has a tour to both France and to Italy where preparing your lunch in a restaurant, with the help of a chef, is included. You also have to go out and buy the food in order to prepare it as well. Well anyway, I used to be a hospital/nursing home food service worker and I was on my feet all day long; but now, I can no longer do this type of work. If I ever took one of these tours, I would have to either stay at the hotel or sit down to prepare my meal. Another tour operator has an escorted tour to Mexico's Copper Canyon, where you have to walk on uneven terrain. Ditto if you're in Europe and you have to walk on cobbled streets.

I also read that there are children on these tours, and in my personal opinion, escorted tours are definitely not suited for children. How many times have you heard children ask whenever they're on a long trip "Mommy are we there yet?". Some tour operators don't even allow children younger than 8 (one doesn't allow children under 5) on their escorted tours, but there's no age limit on independent tours. Since I don't have the patience with

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