Short on Time, Big on Adventure: Immersing in the Galápagos

The Inside Scoop recently chatted with 13-time traveler Carla Fischer about her experience on our 8-day Immersion in Ecuador: Quito to the Galápagos adventure—and how it differed from our traditional, longer itineraries. Read on to discover whether Immersions might be just what you—like Carla—have been waiting for.

By Carla Fischer, 13-time traveler from Fayetteville, NY

When I was growing up, my father was president of a German-American club in our Pennsylvania hometown. He used to organize group trips on the Christmas Markets along the Danube River Cruise—30, sometimes 40 people at a time. After joining one trip, people would come back to him asking, “When are you going again?” He ended up leading 14 of them.

This gave me the opportunity to take my first Grand Circle trip in my 40s, back in 2004, and I was hooked right away. I even convinced my now-husband to come along—he’s since joined me on multiple trips. We’ve done the Danube five times, partly because it’s one of the shorter itineraries.

Later, my father told me it was time for me to take over the group planning. He and I tried gathering people together—each of us bringing people we knew—but it was really hard. A lot of my friends couldn’t take that much time off work, or they were new to travel and wanted something more familiar like Paris or Rome. The length of the trips was a real barrier. I kept saying to my representative in Group Sales, “If the trips weren’t so long, people would go.”

Then Immersions came out—and it felt like, finally.

I travel constantly for work, so taking a short trip to Europe, even for just a few days, doesn’t feel like a big deal to me. But for a lot of people, it’s the opposite—they’re asking, “Where can we go in 7 or 8 days?” I had even started looking at other companies that offered shorter itineraries.

But I never wanted to go through another company! I listen to the many Inner Circle and Sir Edmund Hillary Club travelers I’ve met who have taken 40 or 50 trips with O.A.T. They don’t want to go with anyone else—they’re worried it won’t compare in terms of depth of experience. Immersions felt like a way to have both.

Different strokes, different folks

With the trip being shorter, the pacing definitely felt different. The days were longer, with less downtime. It wasn’t necessarily more physically difficult, but it was more demanding in terms of schedule—you might be waking up at 4am, for example. And in a destination like the Galápagos, the logistics naturally add to that. You’re doing water landings, climbing steep stairs that are more like ladders than what you’d find on a river ship. That all contributes to the activity level.

What stood out most to me, though, was the range of people Immersions attracted. Six out of the 11 people in our group were still working. There were two mother-daughter pairs, and both daughters worked. One pair was especially memorable: The daughter, in her early 50s, had recently been laid off after working for the Peace Corps, and she used the opportunity to travel with her very active mother, who was in her early 80s.

I don’t think you’d see that combination as often on a longer trip. Immersions really made that experience possible.

Immersing in the Galápagos

Snorkeling was a huge highlight—honestly, one of the best days of my life.

We’d hoped to do more, but conditions canceled one of the outings. Still, the time we did spend in the water was incredible. Sea lions swam right up to us—they seemed to think we were there just to play. They were zooming past us, jumping, even nipping at our flippers. I had an underwater camera, and you could actually hear us squealing.

During one snorkel, my husband put his face in the water and the first thing he saw was a shark. Our Trip Experience Leader told us not to worry—the bad ones only come out at night. Sure enough, one night while we were already sleeping, he sent us all a WhatsApp message: “SHARKS!” We went out on deck and saw 12 to 15 huge sharks circling the back of the boat. Apparently, the fish that gather under the boat at night are a favorite snack. It was pitch black, and we were shining flashlights into the water. Occasionally a sea lion would swim through and the sharks didn’t even care.

Another meaningful moment happened on Post Office Beach, where travelers drop off postcards in hopes that future visitors will recognize the location and deliver them. We dropped off postcards, and ours made it back to us in just three weeks. A woman picked it up right after we dropped it off—and actually knew one of our neighbors!

Planting the seed

I would definitely recommend Immersions, especially for travelers short on time. Even on a shorter trip, you still get meaningful experiences. We still had a Home-Hosted Dinner, for example. And we really bonded with the other travelers—those connections can happen quickly.

For me, it comes down to lifestyle. I travel all the time for work, and while I love it, I also like being home. After a 16-day trip to Greece, I was ready to come back. I don’t know how people do 30 days.

With something like Immersions, in 8 days you can dive into a place, have an incredible experience, and then return home feeling fulfilled—not worn out.

And perhaps most importantly, shorter trips can help bring in a new generation of travelers: people who are still working and might not otherwise consider a long trip. It’s a great way to plant that seed.

See how much you can experience on a shorter itinerary on our 8-day Immersion in Ecuador: Quito to the Galápagos adventure. See our full collection of Immersions itineraries here.