One of the first blog posts I wrote when we launched our International Tours business in 2014 was titled, ‘6 Reasons To Go On An International Sports Tour‘.
Well, today I learned I was going about that all wrong. I learned about the ‘Pratfall Effect’. Basically it’s a phenomenon where people are more like-able when they make a mistake. In marketing it’s now trendy to tell people what is wrong with your product or service. So, that should be easy. Here we go…
Reason #1 - The Flight
International flights are LONG. For next summer our shortest flight, Costa Rica, is about 3 hours. Our longest is Washington DC to Vienna with a Lisbon stopover. All together, that’s about 16 hours! Making matters worse, airports are usually not too fun and planes are uncomfortable. There could be a delay. They will probably lose your luggage. Food on the plane – that could be hit or miss too. Lastly, jetlag with the time change can be a real bear.
Sure you might make some awesome memories doing something most others never do. But there is a reason a lot of people never take a trip this long – it can be brutal! If you hate flying and adventure – reason #1 alone might be enough to say no to a trip like this
Reason #2 - The Refs
Are you the type of person who gets worked up at referees? I got bad news for you. You are definitely NOT going to like the referees overseas. It’s possible a small part of it is they just hate America and/or want to see the home team beat the big bad American’s who came into THEIR country. More plausible, however, is simply that the sport is just played (and called) differently in their country. They aren’t used to seeing the game played a different way, so what is different to them is hard to judge.
Making matters worse is if you yell at them constantly they might not even get offended because they might not even speak English and know what you are saying :). Also, yelling at the referees is probably a little less common in their country so they might be offended and give you even less calls than you deserve.
Either way, if you don’t typically appreciate referees, I can tell you almost for certain – you won’t like the referees on a tour with SAWUSA!
Reason #3 - The Food
We probably spent more time talking about food with our ground partners than we do other aspects of the tour (buses, hotels, etc.). This is because getting the food perfect is impossible. As the saying goes, “there are no solutions, only trade-offs”. Half our travelers want to experience new foods, authentic restaurants, and have a sophisticated palate. The other half only likes three specific American meals.
Buffet meals are great because they allow for people to eat quickly, have many options, and fill the bellies. But they sometimes lack the ambiance of an authentic restaurant.
Local restaurants offer the cultural experience we want. However, sometimes they leave customers wanting more food or food they are more used to eating.
Also, their are logistical challenges in getting large groups of people fed quickly. Sometimes we have to do a prix fixe menu with limited options compared to the restaurant’s full menu. We do this for the time savings way more than the price savings. Otherwise we’d have less time for sports, excursions, and free time.
So, what do we do? We try to offer a balance of authentic local restaurants, buffet meals, long sit downs, and quick bites. Basically, we try to make half the people happy, half the time :).
Do we get it perfect with our meals. Nope, but we do our best.
Reason #4 - The Sports
While we’ve had kids hit game winning shots to win the Gold Medal, do you know what we’ve also had happen? Sometimes the kid misses the dang shot, and we lose.
If losing a game or not winning Gold is going to ruin your tour, this would be a huge risk to take to spend all the time, effort, and money to go on a trip like this only to not come home a conquering hero. I mean, could you really even brag that much to your co-workers about a Silver or Bronze?
While we try to get the Sport part perfect, it doesn’t always go to plan. We take pride in the way we vet our coaches. But it is a challenge for a coach to take complete strangers and mesh them into a cohesive unit in 10 days. When it happens, it’s magical. However, it doesn’t always happen.
Making matters worse is the travel can hurt athletic performance. We’ve had parents tell us the kids should’ve been resting in their hotels in air-conditioning all day to prepare for a game at night. That’s just not what our tours are about. You are flying across the World to experience new cultures, meet new people, and get out of your comfort zone. Yes, the sport part matters – a lot – but it could be less than perfect.
Reason #5 - Their People
You know what is weird about foreigners? They have their own customs and norms and languages. They sometimes don’t care at all about ‘how we do it in America’. This can be a tough pill to swallow for some travelers.
You want that refill on that drink? Fat chance. You want to use the bathroom for free without buying something from them? Not gonna happen.
You want that French male waiter not to look down his nose at you, you filthy American? You want that guy to not smoke on the bus? I could go on and on.
People in other places are going to be different. If different isn’t your thing, you probably won’t love an International tour.
Reason #6 - Our People
Without a doubt the ‘secret sauce’ of a SAWUSA tour is our people. Sure, we try to get the hotels and food and buses and sports stuff all right. However, the true magic of our tours is taking large groups of complete strangers and having them come together for a unique and intimate experience. It’s so common to see our travelers crying and hugging at the airport saying good-bye on the last day. It’s truly remarkable to see this happen year after year. Our tours have produced lifelong friendships, even marriages!
But there is a catch. Sometimes we get some not-so-fun-to-travel-with guests. Sure, we try to vet them out through our thorough application process. But each year we have at least one slip through the cracks. These guests can be annoying, and selfish.
If your idea of a perfect vacation is an island on a beach with no other guests to annoy you – then this type of trip might test your resolve.
Conclusion
So, that’s it. 6 perfectly reasonable reasons why SAWUSA really isn’t all that great and our tours aren’t all that worth it. If you are someone who likes to get both sides of the story, make sure to check out the, ‘6 Reasons To Go On An International Sports Tour‘ and also our thousands of past traveler testimonials. If this article did not successfully talk you out of doing a SAWUSA Tour then definitely do, or do not, not apply using the link below :).