Now Announcing: Mini Trips, the Perfect Long Weekend Getaway

My experience offering Mini Trips to my community—hint, they loved them!

Blog written by Ali Jackson (she/her), @findingmrheight

If you had told me a year ago that I’d go from hosting one TrovaTrip in 2023 to four in 2024, I probably would have laughed in your face. For starters, I had just barely introduced group travel to my community. I was still gaining trust in the space, teaching my audience what it even means to travel with TrovaTrip, and why the price tag is worth it. And, I was struggling with how to fit these trips into my own schedule. Enter: Mini Trips. 

The team at Trova knows it can be hard to fit more than a couple trips in a year, so they wanted to launch a more approachable, shorter trip—Hosts can still connect with their community and make some money while traveling, without over-extending their schedules. 

What are Mini Trips, anyway?

Mini Trips are like bite-sized portions of the incredible experiences you and your Travelers have grown to love. Spanning four days and three nights, they're designed to be sold as a getaway or quick trip - perfect for those with less time to spare. These condensed itineraries cater to Travelers with time constraints or budget considerations, offering a more accessible entry point into your TrovaTrip ecosystem (or an easier way to travel with you more than once!). 

But it's not just the Travelers who reap the rewards—Hosts enjoy shorter planning timelines, allowing for more flexibility in scheduling and the opportunity to engage with more of your community offline. Whether you crave a long weekend getaway or a mid-week escapade, Mini Trips are tailor-made to fulfill everyone’s wanderlust without compromising on the richness of the experience (in fact, I’d argue the experience is even richer!). TrovaTrip has your back with these Mini Trips, and I’m so excited to tell you how they’ve worked for me thus far.

💡Trova Tip: To view or request a Mini trip, log in to your account and search "Express" on the Itineraries tab.

What’s in it for my Travelers?

• Flexible scheduling. When I polled my audience about why they hadn’t signed up for one of my TrovaTrips, two responses overwhelmed the others: either they didn’t have the time to spend or they didn’t have the budget to allocate. We’ll get to that pesky budget issue in a moment, but a lot of potential Travelers have either limited PTO or inflexible PTO policies. They want to travel with you, but they just can’t fit it into their already busy schedules. I heard from teachers who can only take vacation during school breaks, shift workers who need weekend travel, and parents who can’t get childcare for more than a long weekend. These stories hit home because I started hosting with TrovaTrip to connect with as many people as possible and I wanted that travel to work for as many people as possible.
• A gateway trip. The thought of diving headfirst into a week-long adventure with a bunch of strangers has some people feeling a bit jittery. Maybe they haven’t traveled with a big group (strangers or otherwise) before. Or maybe they aren’t sure the price of a group trip is worth the investment. You could certainly travel for cheaper on your own, though we as Hosts know how different of an experience that would be. Great for some people, and some seasons of life - but the structure and planning of a TrovaTrip, coupled with the experience of traveling with a like-minded community, are unparalleled. But I don’t have to tell you that…you need to tell your Travelers that. With Mini Trips, you can show rather than tell, allowing Travelers to ease into your trips at a more accessible price point and time commitment. 
• Approachable price points. So let’s say someone is down to travel with you for a week plus. They see the value, they want to connect with you and your community, they’re ready to take the time off. One problem—they don’t have the budget. When I announced my first several TrovaTrips, I got so many requests for lower price points. These Travelers totally understood why my existing trips were priced where they were, but they needed something more accessible to fit with their budget. When I launched my first Mini Trip, one of the biggest selling points was the price!
• Value-packed itineraries. Not everyone wants down time on their vacations! With shorter trips especially, many Travelers are looking for more bang for their buck, to squeeze every drop of excitement out of their trip. The first thing I noticed about the Mini Trip itineraries was how full they are, in the best way. Not only are there more activities per day, but more meals are included per day due to the length of the trip. The trip inclusions on the Mini Trips have proven more understandable for Travelers. And, the fuller itineraries also soothe some of their anxieties that they might be left alone with nothing to do in between activities. 

Okay, so what’s in it for me as a Host?

• Shorter planning timelines. Of course, Hosts also benefit from the shorter duration of Mini Trips— it’s easier to fit them into your schedule (because you’ve got a lot going on!) and we know it can be draining to host several long trips. Even the most energetic among us (hi, it’s me) can leave trips needing some recharge time. But here’s the plot twist I didn’t see coming before exploring a Mini Trip launch: a shorter trip means that planning takes less time! When I reached out to Trova about hosting a Mini Trip, I was shocked to discover how quickly I could get on that trip. It makes sense: shorter trips take less time to coordinate and the lower price point means that Travelers need less time to budget for the expense. So if you think you’re too late to add another trip to your calendar this year: you might be wrong! I certainly was. There's always room for one more adventure, and Mini Trips are proof that sometimes, less really is more.
• Diversify your Traveler community. All of the benefits for Travelers that we’ve already been through mean that more people can join your travel community! Some may stick to Mini Trips, seeing them as easier to fit into their lives. Others might use Mini Trips as a springboard and find themselves hooked, eager to dive deeper into the world of travel with you. And some dedicated folks might find Mini Trips to be a fantastic add on, accompanying other trips they're already planning with you. It's like a never-ending cycle of connections and adventures, with each trip paving the way for new friendships, unforgettable experiences, and yes, a little extra cash in your pocket along the way. So, whether they're sticking to Mini Trips, leveling up to longer adventures, or mixing and matching to create their own custom travel playlist, one thing's for sure–Mini Trips are just what you need to add to your travel arsenal. 
• I mean….everything listed for the Travelers. For real though, a win for Travelers is a win for Hosts! When marketing my first Mini Trip, I emphasized every single one of the above benefits: the jam-packed itineraries, the easier scheduling, the friendly price point. And it led to a successful launch and a sold out trip! Bringing more benefits, and different kinds of benefits, to your Travelers makes more of them want to travel with you, leading to fuller (and more fulfilling) trips for you. And ultimately, a more vibrant community connecting offline.

Let’s get to marketing

To be honest with you, my Mini Trip marketing truly wrote itself. The trips answer the two biggest roadblocks that Travelers faced in booking my trips - timing and budget - and I was sure to emphasize that in my pre-launch marketing. My timeline went like this:

• Teasing content about how my next trip was going to solve two major pain points for Travelers
• Shouting from the rooftops about the shorter trip duration, the lower price point, and how I launched this trip specifically because of those two things
• Emphasizing how much these things had been requested, to add urgency since this trip would likely sell out quickly
• Detailing the trip’s itinerary that is value-packed with more activities and meals per day than any other trip I had launched (and pointing that out)
• 72 hours from launch to sell out! 

Check out some of my promotions for my Mexico City Mini Trip here! 👇

The response from my community was overwhelmingly positive. I had bookings from both previous and first-time Travelers, many of whom cited the above benefits as a reason for booking. And, several of those Travelers have since booked another trip of mine…before we’ve even left! It’s been so incredible that I was immediately considering launching another Mini Trip on the heels of my first one.

Ready to launch a Mini Trip?

So you already know you have a knack for bringing people together. You want to share that with more people, but finding the time and resources to host multiple long trips per year can feel overwhelming. That's where Mini Trips swoop in to save the day. As a Host, these bite-sized adventures offer a breath of fresh air, allowing you to connect with your community, earn some extra cash on the go, all without overwhelming your already-packed schedule. They're the perfect recipe for success, serving up flexibility, accessibility, and value in equal measure. So, if you've been dreaming of expanding your hosting portfolio and diversifying your Traveler community (sorry for the econ speak, but I just can’t help myself), Mini Trips have got your back. It’s the perfect time to try one out (just log in to your account and search "Express" in the Itineraries tab, then choose the itinerary that best fits you and your community) and let Trova know what you think!

About the author

Ali is an NYC-based dating coach here to help us love our lives, regardless of relationship status. She's fostered a community of kindred spirits who rock their lives to the fullest, whether flying solo or not. And now, she’s taking that show on the road bringing that community on amazing trips!

View Ali's Host Profile