Many of my favorite memories are from big group vacations with family — gathering a list of local "must-dos," finding adventures for our group to infiltrate, and engaging in shenanigans with all my favorite people. When it came down to keeping everyone informed, however, we noticed that none of the current travel apps truly met our needs. I wanted something that broke down itineraries, allowed us to share costs easily, and ensured that everyone could contribute their ideas for the trip. I wanted a space that kept things simple on the surface — giving the time-compounders of the group their much-needed clarity — but also provided ample granularity for our more detail-oriented travelers.
Travel2Gather started as a love letter to those trips. From narrowing down and choosing a destination, to actually making the reservations and assigning a person responsible, we needed something that kept us all on the same page. There will always be the designated planners (read: eldest daughters) in every group, but I wanted a one-stop shop so that the "what time are we meetin' again?" texts from the boomers could lessen at least a little bit.
Our app strives to provide a calendar where everyone can input their arrival and departure times to streamline even the most mundane information. We want to provide chat channels specifically for your trip so important details don't get lost amongst your cousin's conspiracy theory ramblings. We know that breaking down costs can get awkward, so we wanted to include a way to standardize expenses and request reimbursement. The best part of any trip are the impromptu moments you could never have penciled into an itinerary (like leading an entire hotel lobby in a chorus of Hey Jude), but those moments can't happen if the itinerary never existed in the first place. Travel2Gather recognizes the complexities that arise when planning group travel and hopes to make traveling in big groups easier for everyone. Memories are our most precious commodity, and Travel2Gather aims to make group travel less daunting so more of them can be made.
As Thoreau probably once said, "There's something beautiful about traveling with the people you care about, and making sure the accommodations have the right number of bathrooms per number of poopers." This app is our small way of making that a little easier.