I’ve always been told that traveling with a friend for the first time will either make or break your friendship. While this may be a bit of an exaggeration (…or in some cases not), I have come up with some suggestions for anyone looking to take the plunge and travel with a friend!
(These suggestions are 100% based on personal experience).
TO DO
- Recognize when you are actually annoyed or just hangry (usually I’m just hangry)
- Buy snacks to stave off said state of ‘hangriness’
- Discuss itineraries the night before and prioritize together – that way you know what to expect and won’t miss the most important things if something goes wrong
- Take cute pictures of each other (it’s great to have someone to return the favour)
- Figure out a good way to split/transfer costs and have a conversation about it beforehand (Venmo is awesome!)
- Discuss budget constraints ahead of time – nothing causes more stress than money and operating on different budgets (consider setting a ballpark meal cost per day)
- Build in downtime where you don’t have to be together the whole time (reading, relaxing, etc.)
- Consider building in a ‘luxury’ night where you rent a private room instead of a group room hostel – sometimes bad attitudes come out of not having regular life luxuries
- Don’t deny the benefits of a selfie stick
- Be flexible! One of you will be late getting ready for one thing and another will be late for another – temper your annoyance knowing you’ll do it too
AVOID AT ALL COSTS
- Blaming the other person for anything (it’ll be your fault next time)
- Feeling like you need to be together 24/7 (exploring on your own is fun and can be a good way to get personal space)!
- Skipping meals to see more (see above on hangriness – even if it’s just a snack to keep you going, make the time)
- Being on your phone too much (I can be guilty of this too but you’ll see so much and have so many more interesting conversations if you put your phone away)
- Holding a grudge (will you really enjoy your trip if you’re still thinking about that one thing they did five days ago?)
And as a bonus….
TRAVEL FRIENDS ARE GREAT BECAUSE…
TRAVEL FRIENDS ARE GREAT BECAUSE…
- There will always be someone to watch your stuff when you need to pee
- You won’t go crazy talking to yourself
- Good company plain and simple
- Plenty of “candid” photos to choose from (do it for the Instagram-aesthetic!)
- An added sense of security (especially as a female-traveler)
- You can try more things (“Hey, wanna split x and y for dinner and then try z for dessert?”)
- If you see a cute boy you have someone to point him out to / discuss with
- If you manage to make it through OK, you will be friends for life
- FRIENDSHIP XOXO
“Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures…” – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland