Our first trip to Italy with a group was unforgettable, for all the right and wrong reasons. We laughed, we explored, we ate our weight in pasta—and we learned more than we bargained for about group dynamics. Turns out, there’s always at least one person who can find a cloud in the middle of a perfect blue sky. And when you’re running a tour, those folks make sure you earn every penny.
It didn’t matter how much effort we put in, or how well things went—some people just weren’t going to be happy. Worse, their bad mood could spread, making it tough for everyone else to enjoy themselves.
But let’s be clear: the trip itself was incredible. Venice was a dream, the food was out of this world, and most of the group was wonderful. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Still, it was a crash course in human behavior, and the lesson was this: some adults never outgrow the drama of middle school.
We didn’t have to wait long to see it in action. On day one, someone complained the hair dryers weren’t strong enough and the elevators were too cramped. Later, we had two nurses who were sharing a room—each pulled us aside, separately, to say the other was drinking too much and popping too many pills. They both said the exact same things about each other! By the end of the week, one person was furious that the other had borrowed her hair dryer without asking.
Looking back, it’s hilarious. At the time, it was…less so. But those early headaches taught us a lot about how to spot trouble before it starts—and how to avoid it altogether.
Somewhere at the bottom of a Venice canal lies many of the memories of that first trip in video. Leaving Venice, a GoPro was attached to our instructor Adam. As we got off the water taxi and loaded on to the dock, he turned suddenly, and the attachment hit me and there went the GoPro sinking fast. Maybe someday it will be recovered and a video of long lost moments will show up on the internet. That was one more moment of learning and something to laugh about now.
Back then, we were still finding our footing, flying on the cheapest flights and barely scraping by. On the way home, we had an eight-hour layover in Chicago. That’s where the legend of the McKay Participant Agreement was born. I remember sitting in O’Hare, opening my laptop, and hammering out the first draft: “Thou shall not be an asshole—to us or anyone else.”
It’s funny now, but those growing pains shaped every trip we’ve run since. And yes, every participant still signs that agreement before they come along.
Connections
That first tour was far from perfect and plenty of things went sideways. But looking back, it set the stage for everything we’ve built since. Sure, we’ve had to navigate a lot of human quirks (and we’re still learning), but there’s something kind of magical about the friendships that have grown out of all this.
I keep thinking about a group of women who met on one of our trips. Now, they travel together every chance they get. And it goes beyond photography, they’re part of each other’s lives, on and off the road, showing up for the big stuff and the small.
But it’s not just about new friends. Over the years, we’ve watched partnerships form, businesses get off the ground, charities come to life, and jobs created, all because a bunch of people decided to take a photography tour. Kids have gotten to go to school because of connections made here. Lives have changed. Ours included.
Of course, there are people we’ve lost along the way, folks who meant the world to us, and whose impact is still felt. Their stories are woven into everything we do.
When I step back, it’s clear this is so much more than a photo tour company.
Photography is the “glue” that brings us together, but it’s the adventures, the friendships, and the shared moments out in the world that have really shaped this journey—for me, for Ally, for our team, and for those who have come along with us that have allowed their lives to be impacted in ways they never would have expected.
