The WhatsApp group is where so many holidays go to die.

It begins, as these things do, with someone dropping an idea into the chat. Eight people immediately respond with fire emojis, the indelible “yessssss” and many, many exclamation marks. Someone creates a poll. Three weeks later, nobody has booked a flight.

When you think about it, going away with people is a small experiment in communal living. Who plans, who pays, who compromises, who cooks, who needs three hours alone every afternoon?

Travel has a way of exposing the dynamics of a friendship or family remarkably quickly. Organising a holiday for two is logistics. Organising one for eight is diplomacy, and the biggest challenge isn’t necessarily finding somewhere everyone wants to go. It’s converting enthusiasm into an actual booking.…