Busted! 3 Rowing Travel Myths Uncovered

Irena Baker, who has raced at the Head of the Charles, is pictured here in stroke on the Neva River on our St. Petersburg trip.

Myth #1: If you race, you will detest Rowing The World trips

This is the myth we’d most like to bust. Most importantly, we know this is just not true. Truly. Why? Because we have had so many fit guests who join us and they have rowed iconic races, such as Head of the Charles, Henley Royal Regatta, just to name a few.  They love our trips. And, they sure can row.

You’ll find a mix of people from Switzerland, Australia, the U.K., Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere, many of whom have raced in the past and still do. But, whether they have or not, the overriding commonality among guests is the love of rowing, the love of travel, and the pleasure of rowing travel–seeing the world from a rowing shell. We won’t promise you’ll make friends for life, but we do promise that you might.

Arguably, these guests are experts on the liquids we are about to imbibe. But why argue?

Myth #2: You need to be an expert to join our trips

If you are an expert on wines, for example, you can be sure we’ll be using your expertise. However, you do not need to be an expert rower or rowing machine to join our trips. Every trip requires a certain level of rowing experience and skill, of course, ranging from “must be comfortable in coxed quads” to come on the Classic Thames trip to “must have at least five years of rowing plus coastal experience is an asset” to join the St. Petersburg trip.

Guests cycling with Kilkenny Castle in the background on Rowing The World’sFour Rivers trip

Myth #3: Too much rowing happens on trips

Hello! Is there such a thing? Well, yes, according to those of you who ask “how many hours a day do we row?” Or, perhaps you’re concerned there may not be enough. Generally, we row most of the days of a trip, so if a trip is seven days, we row on five of those days. And when we row, we row for two to six hours, depending on the trip, and if we are rowing point to point. On average, we row for about three hours. Perfect, no?

We know each guest’s raison d’etre is to row, but when we are not on the water, we believe in selecting the absolute best non-rowing experiences to complement our rowing outings, whether that be a hike followed by a heaping bowl of risotto alla Milanese, lunch at Sibuya Private Game Reserve in South Africa, or a visit to Kilkenny on Four Rivers in Ireland.

Relaxing and other intriguing options are important parts of the Rowing The World trip experience. To summarize:  rowing reigns, with lots of gains outside the racing lanes.