Typical Tour Lengths   

     a. Short Tours (1-3 Days): Ideal, if limited time or splurging on high-end amenities focused on 1 or 2 significant sites (e.g. Mexico's Teotihuacan from Mexico City or  Chichen Itza from Cancun.

     b. Medium Tours (4-7 Days): More culturally immersive time flexibility focused on several key sites (e.g Yucatan Peninsula's Chichen Itza, Tulum, and Coba.

How many sites & activities for you?

Your choice of LBT package will, in part, be dependent on the number of countries, cities, sites, and activities you want to visit for the time & money available. 

Some want to just 'get away', relax and 'see' the countries, cities & a few Tier 1 sites they have dreamed of throughout their lives.   Others want much, much more: many sites, deep dive exploration, & all.

    a) Most LB tourist's minimal goal.
Most travelers seek the thrill of a site’s Charisma of Place … hoping .. day after day -- to be awed & thrilled by its historical & cultural significance.

Dedicated travelers seek a deeper connection to Tier 1 or 2 sites that they have always dreamed of (Rome’s coliseum, etc) or sites that their current research exposes exciting their curiosity (Rome’s catacombs.)

True independent self-guided travelers seek the quality of experience, NOT the braggadocio of a mere visit.

Anecdote: 1st to arrive at Michelangelo’s “David” statue: in Florence’s Accademia Museum, I stood alone for many long minutes contemplating the work itself, but even more so, his effort.

I tried to imagine myself 5 centuries earlier, sitting quietly watching Michelangelo’s intense concentration as he ‘chipped here & there, sanding roughness into smoothness, trying to imagine what his thoughts were then.               Charisma of statute & artist. 

“Charisma of Place”: is an old National Geographic Magazine’s geography term that describes the eerie emotional admiration inherent in a thing, person or place. Your tourist site visit should give you that feeling.

Anecdote: When a Cadet at the US Air Force Academy: President Eisenhower, former 5 star General, —-the man who shepherded the WWII Allies to the Nazi defeat’  ....

.... 'passed in review ‘ right before me.   Humbling awe.
                                       Charisma of person.

Anecdote: Rummaging amongst the German cannon bunkers: (aka pill boxes) at Normandy's Pointe du Hoc’s cliff-edge I tried to visualize heroic WWII U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion climbing & dying to take those steep cliffs. I was emotionally reverent & humbled at the memory of those courageous moments.        
                                 Charisma of Place & Persons! 

Charisma of Place makes a travel site special, not just to the tourist, but to the culture it sprung from. Your Shore Excursion choice should add to your knowledge and intellectual appreciation enhancing your Quality of Life a smidgeon and building lifelong memories. 

ADVICE:  Don’t try to pack in too many sites etc. ------- go deeper into fewer.

Anecdote: Caesar's Cremation site: One rainy morning in Rome’s Forum I stood alone under the canopy that protected the spot where Caesar’s body had been cremated.   [yt vid : Cesar]

I fantasized that my spirit was somehow connecting with his across time’s invisible barrier.  Moments later I walked the nearby Appian Way imagining that I was walking on the very stones that once felt the weight of Julius Caesar. [ytlk: Eng & France - time stamp]

Anecdote: The Balkans: In grade school, I remembered creating a map of the Balkans whichI apparently took pride in.

Six decades later I remembered ‘that’ map, researched the Balkans & spent 2½ months solo traveling thru the Southern Balkans & .....  2 years later, another 2 ½ months thru Northern Balkan countries discovering sites & experiences I’d never imagined before. 

Wise travelers seek the history, the humanity, the emotional & sensory Charisma of Places  the world has long revered or that they learned about somewhere.  

True travelers seek a deeper connection to Tier 1 or 2 sites they have always dreamed of (Rome’s coliseum etc) or sites their current research exposes that excite their curiosity (Rome’s catacombs.)

We only live once! Don’t squander your only opportunity. 

b. Maximum 'bang-for-the-buck' travelers.

Some LB tourists seek the max ‘bang-for-the-buck’ of visiting as many sites as possible and as quickly as possible. The allure is apparently the dubious ‘bragging rights’ of having visited as many countries, cities, sites & experiences as possible with selfies to prove it. 🥹

But IMO that is a silly ego-driven, misplaced fantasy because they will only wear themselves out and on their return home, simply bore their uninterested, mildly sheepish friends with their endless selfies.

Anecdote: My friend's reactions to all my 1½ to 3-month trips on my return: each time I returned from a 2-3-month foreign trip my BEST friend would, without my prompt, ask, “How was your trip?” I would respond simply, “Great trip", and that was IT. No further discussion; no curiosity. 

I suppose I expected to be welcomed back as the great adventurer. At first, I was annoyed & mystified until I accepted the reality that others have no duty to be enthused with my travels.

 True travelers seek the quality of experience.         
 NOT the braggadocio of quantity

* Globus: "Gems of the Balkans: 7 days/3 countries

c. My travel obsession.
Years after my Dating Game TV show's free trip to Europe at 28,  I often lamented my lack of photographs or journal. Even then, I realized that my travel memories were simply thin mental photographs with little context or nuance.

At 1st I transcribed my travel reflections on a handheld dictation device knowing in the future I might relish those audio recollections. Fortunately, before my extensive foreign travel, small video cameras like Sony's Handycam became available. Today, in my recliner,  my audio journals come alive again.                   [pplk; photos vs video]                               

I video-taped most of my US, Canada & Alaska hikes & kayak road trips which now, 35 years later, I can relive my earlier adventurers' colorful scenes and reflections even though I can barely walk at 85 after prostate cancer.

Anecdote (kinda): my travel obsession: I have been curiosity-obsessed with visiting my life's collected travel buds & all else my research uncovers, BUT ALSO with the myriad nuances of those Travel Buds.

[yt vid:m Casa Professa]

I want my video camera's telephoto to probe high above a Peruvian cathedral's altar for the dome's intricate artwork seldom noticed or seen by others. I want to poke around Chnia's 'off-limits" unrestored Great Wall portions, learning & imagining what I can.[yt Great Wall)

     C. Comfort and Pace:
LB tours can be a very physically demanding 'jumping jack' bus race from one site after another, then a constant walking & standing jaunt through one site after another site so guide can keep your group on schedule each day AND so you can your money's worth as promised in your package.

OTOH, smaller tours are usually slower paced with fewer daily site visits, but deeper immersion; and more question-and-answer conversations with your guide. Perhaps in a more comfortable luxury van with relaxed luncheons & multi-nights at the same hotel avoiding the usual toxic night & morning luggage haul in & out of your hotel. Overall, much less physically demanding.

Both size tour packages may offer free-time segments for self-guided exploration opportunities if you are not too worn out. [jlk free time] 

     D. Activity Level: Most tours are designed for the reasonably mobile.   Older or less mobile tourists might opt for shorter, more leisurely paced trips, while young, active travelers might prefer longer, more adventurous tours.