How to travel with friends: Useful tips
Alexandra Savina
SUMMER - TRADITIONAL TIME OF HOLIDAYS AND TRAVEL. We have already told what to do for those who want to go on vacation alone, and now we share tips for those who want to relax in the company. It does not matter if you are going to relax with your best friend, a couple of friends or a big company - these tips will make a joint vacation easier and more enjoyable.
Find out what you expect from the trip.
Unfortunately, not always good friends make good companions: even if you don’t share each other’s souls, it’s not a fact that you’ll be comfortable traveling together. In stressful situations and in unfamiliar surroundings, people are always revealed in a new way, so the choice of companion should be approached especially carefully: it is better to go on a trip with a person whom you know well and with whom you have been in different (including unpleasant) situations .
It is easier and more pleasant to travel with those with whom you agree on the views and who share your interests. Therefore, before the trip is very important to talk about what you want from vacation and how you used to spend time traveling. Do you typically enjoy “tourist” entertainment, or do you like to explore little-known places? Do you like to shop abroad and how much time have you been accustomed to spend on it? Have you become accustomed to traveling on foot to travel a lot, and if so, can your friends support you in this or are they accustomed to travel by car or public transport? Discuss the daily regimen: do you like to get up early and go exploring the city or do you prefer to sleep before noon and spend nights in bars? An open and honest conversation will help identify discrepancies in views on rest and avoid many conflicts.
Think about the number of fellow travelers
Decide which company you are going to go on vacation for. There is no universal recipe, and in every situation there are pros and cons. For example, it is more convenient to rent rooms together, than in three: three in one room is often cramped, and taking a separate room for a third person is too expensive. If you still decide to go in three, it is very important that one of you does not feel like a “third person”: for example, try to alternate who goes separately from the others on the bus.
The trip together with the best friend or girlfriend also has its disadvantages: if you seriously quarrel, the rest of the trip will have to spend alone. In this case, it may be easier to travel as a large company: you can divide into smaller interest groups. If you still decide to go on vacation with a few friends, see if it would be cheaper to rent an apartment or a villa for everyone than to rent a few rooms. In museums and galleries, check whether there are discounts for large groups - it is likely that you will be able to take a tour for yourself and your friends at almost the price of a regular ticket.
Plan together
If the main plus of traveling alone is freedom, then on a trip with friends you will have to adjust to others and make certain concessions. Try to take into account the interests of each need at the planning stage: discuss how you want to spend time, what is important for you to visit and what you want to see. Share with each other information about the place where you are going: it will be easier for you to plan a route, make a trip plan and not miss something interesting and important. Listen to others and feel free to express your own wishes: it will be a shame if you invest time and energy into the trip, but you still don’t see what you want.
To plan the trip more conveniently, you can make general lists of tasks. In addition to the well-known Google documents and tables, you can use special services - for example, Trello.
Share duties
Surely even at the planning stage, you will realize that some of you are better at coping with certain tasks: someone is better at monitoring flights at a bargain price, someone has a good budget, and someone knows how to find interesting and unusual sights. Distribute responsibilities accordingly: it will be much easier to organize a trip. Make sure that one person does not control everything, without taking into account the interests of others - this, alas, happens very often, and other participants of the trip in this situation feel disappointed.
Discuss the budget
Another important element of the trip that you need to discuss before you find yourself in another country is the budget. This conversation can be very awkward and unpleasant, but it is necessary: what is absolutely normal for you may seem like a luxury and excess to another. And vice versa - if one of you is ready to live in a hostel and eat sandwiches from the nearest supermarket, it’s not a fact that the others will be delighted with this idea.
Find out what and how much you are willing to spend, talk about accommodation and where you will eat - in local cafes, restaurants or cook yourself. Set the rules and decide where you can make concessions to each other - this will help avoid many problems.
Share your expenses wisely
This advice is closely related to the previous one. You will have to share some of the costs, and there are several ways to make your life easier. If possible, try not to postpone calculations for later: it is better to figure out who owes whom, every couple of days, so as not to painfully remember who paid for the coffee, and who paid for the entrance tickets to the museum. You can use special applications to calculate expenses, for example Splitwise, they allow you to not forget who and how much you owe.
If you are traveling in a large company, where day-to-day calculations are inconvenient, you can have a “piggy bank” for common needs - joint trips to cafes, museums and other things. If one of you consistently spends more, such as ordering more expensive cocktails or food, he can donate a little more money.
Think about baggage
No matter how great the temptation is to put all things in one bag, it’s better if everyone travels with his suitcase: firstly, neither you nor your friends will have to carry everything on themselves, and secondly, you will not argue because of how best to fold things. Going on a trip, discuss what you can take at all, so as not to carry, for example, a few hair dryers.
Before the trip, agree what baggage you will take with you: if everyone is traveling with suitcases, then it is better to take the suitcase too, and if you want to be as mobile as possible, limit yourself to backpacks that you can take in your carry-on baggage - so you will not have to wait for each other luggage tape at the airport and stumble over bulky suitcases in a hotel room.
Get ready to change plans and make concessions.
The joint trip involves compromises. But if you cannot choose from two options, this does not necessarily mean that you need to look for a third, less fascinating one that will suit everyone - you can take turns doing what is interesting for each of you. Try to be more open to the new: it is quite possible that you will like the museum that your friends want to get into so much, although you were not going to go there. And don't forget to thank your friends if they agree to do something that interests you.
No matter how carefully you plan your trip and no matter how interesting itinerary, the reality is always more difficult and less predictable. Be prepared for the fact that your friends may be tired of a rich program and decide not to do anything all day long - and remember that lazing around is also useful.
Take a break from each other
It’s not necessary to make concessions to each other all the time. Even if you are traveling with your best friend, do not be afraid to split up sometimes in order to go about your business and spend a few hours or a whole day on something that is interesting to you personally. In large companies, this is even simpler: you can divide into groups of two or three. This does not mean at all that your friendship has cracked - it will just help you to get some rest from each other (you can even get tired of your best friends during the trip), and besides, you will have something to discuss at dinner.
Speak if you don't like something
If you are not satisfied with something, it’s better to tell your friends about it directly, and not to save grievances: an honest, open and respectful conversation will help solve many problems. Listen to yourself: for example, if you know that you become irritable when you get tired, tell your friends that you need to rest - they will surely meet you.
Be attentive to your friends and pay attention to their mood. In stressful situations, try to be careful not to tell your friends too much in the heat of emotion: lost baggage, canceled flight and even the most unsuccessful trip are not worth destroying good friendship.