For blogger Margaret Hicks, tours were never her thing. She’d rather wander around, exploring and taking in the sights herself. But then she became a docent at the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
“We not only had to take a few tours to get into the program, but once in, we took tours all the time,” Hicks wrote. “And oh my goodness, I learned so much.”
Hicks considers herself a very visual person, and, when traveling or 
appreciating architecture, she always enjoyed exploring and picking up facts where she could, “but to listen to an actual person and look at the actual building all at the same time – well suffice it to say, I learned a ton that way.”
Hicks believes there’s nothing wrong with wanting to do things on your own. “But you miss the deeper understanding, you miss ‘the cool,’” said the now-believer.
A year and a half after her revelation, she visited Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Hicks and her husband were mesmerized by the majestic scene, but they found themselves leaning into organized tours, straining to hear what was being said. “We had no idea what we were looking at or why,” she acknowledged.
Read Hicks’ full essay here to lear more about the ways organized tours enhance the travel experience. Then get in touch with us at Peak Performance Tours to start planning the group trip or school trip of a lifetime.