If you take a travel tripod on a small group tour, given the pace of such tours, when do you have the opportunity to set up a tripod and take pictures? The tours I have been on with Overseas Adventure Travel (small groups not exceeding 16) keep you moving from early in the morning to after dinner. I barely have time to grab shots which I do while the guide is talking to the group and sometimes I have gotten so absorbed that the group has moved on and I don't know where they have gone. In those cases (which I try to minimize, not wanting to be a pariah), I just remain where I am so I can be found. (I also explain to the tour guide at the beginning of the tour that photography is my main interest so don't be insulted if I'm not listening to the lecture.)

You may ask why I don't go on photography tours and the reason is that I can't afford them. Even in those cases where it's just me and my wife and another couple who are friends touring (India, Burma, Iran), it imposes a burden on the non-photographers to go around setting up a tripod. I probably don't know what I'm doing, but on the rare occasions that I've bothered with a tripod (Induro C214 8X CF and RSS B40 head) when on a field trip with my camera club, it is a major pain to get the tripod at just the right height for the shot, especially since I've been warned not to use the center column because it reduces stability. It just takes a long time fooling with the legs.

If you take a travel tripod on a small group tour, given the pace of such tours, when do you have the opportunity to set up a tripod and take pictures? The tours I have been on with Overseas Adventure Travel (small groups not exceeding 16) keep you moving from early in the morning to after dinner. I barely have time to grab shots which I do while the guide is talking to the group and sometimes I have gotten so absorbed that the group has moved on and I don't know where they have gone. In those cases (which I try to minimize, not wanting to be a pariah), I just remain where I am so I can be found. (I also explain to the tour guide at the beginning of the tour that photography is my main interest so don't be insulted if I'm not listening to the lecture.)

You may ask why I don't go on photography tours and the reason is that I can't afford them. Even in those cases where it's just me and my wife and another couple who are friends touring (India, Burma, Iran), it imposes a burden on the non-photographers to go around setting up a tripod. I probably don't know what I'm doing, but on the rare occasions that I've bothered with a tripod (Induro C214 8X CF and RSS B40 head) when on a field trip with my camera club, it is a major pain to get the tripod at just the right height for the shot, especially since I've been warned not to use the center column because it reduces stability. It just takes a long time fooling with the legs.

If you take a travel tripod on a small group tour, given the pace of such tours, when do you have the opportunity to set up a tripod and take pictures? The tours I have been on with Overseas Adventure Travel (small groups not exceeding 16) keep you moving from early in the morning to after dinner. I barely have time to grab shots which I do while the guide is talking to the group and sometimes I have gotten so absorbed that the group has moved on and I don't know where they have gone. In those cases (which I try to minimize, not wanting to be a pariah), I just remain where I am so I can be found. (I also explain to the tour guide at the beginning of the tour that photography is my main interest so don't be insulted if I'm not listening to the lecture.)

You may ask why I don't go on photography tours and the reason is that I can't afford them. Even in those cases where it's just me and my wife and another couple who are friends touring (India, Burma, Iran), it imposes a burden on the non-photographers to go around setting up a tripod. I probably don't know what I'm doing, but on the rare occasions that I've bothered with a tripod (Induro C214 8X CF and RSS B40 head) when on a field trip with my camera club, it is a major pain to get the tripod at just the right height for the shot, especially since I've been warned not to use the center column because it reduces stability. It just takes a long time fooling with the legs.

A tripod is not an appropriate piece of equipment to take on a group tour. I have been on several such tours, and they do move according to the pace you described.
A group tour is a vacation for most people who usually have interest in taking some travel snapshots to record their memories of the trip; it is not a photography tour and should not be treated as such. When you get lost, and need to be found by the tour guide, you are causing a disruption to the group and are being rude. No one in the group appreciates it. I suggest you take one camera and an “all purpose travel lens” and learn to set up and compose quickly and move on with the group. From experience I can tell you, you can capture some very nice photographs that way. If you want more, you should consider traveling alone or spring for the photography tour.
Steve

I had the same problem and finally got smart. Buy a carbon fiber monopod such as the Sirui model P-326. It only weighs 0.9 pounds, is 60 inches high, holds 22 pounds and folds to 15 1/2 inches. Add a Arca Swiss style clamp to the monopod (don't waste your money on a ball head) and a Arca Swiss mounting plate and L-bracket to your camera and you will be in business. One thing you should be aware of when using a monopod is that if you fully extend all the legs, they are usually not 100% ridgid (even the expensive ones). By leaving about 3/4" of each leg retracted into the leg above, they will become very rigid and your camera will still be at eye level.