Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tips for Traveling with Friends and Significant Oth-
ers
Keep the head-butts to a minimum.
Backpacking in Europe with your friends can create amazing life-long memories—or it can
be a complete disaster. Travel is often stressful, especially when you're in a foreign environ-
ment, and we tend to take out our frustration on the people we're traveling with. There are
numerous stories about best friends ceasing to talk to each other for months after the trip had
ended—this is way more common than you think. I'm sure just as many relationships have
ended because of traveling abroad. While you won't be able to remove all the stress, you can
take some steps to help lower the likelihood of getting into major fights. This section will give
you some tips that could save your vacation and friendship and/or relationship.
PRE-TRIP CONSIDERATIONS
Small groups work best.
If you're going to travel with friends, it's best to keep your group
small. Anything over four people is asking for trouble. Everyone has their own ideas and opin-
ions, and the chance for conflict grows as the group grows. It becomes very difficult to satisfy
everyone's expectations so everyone's enjoyment suffers in the end.
Communicate and compare travel styles.
A huge source of conflict arises when travel
partners don't know each other's travel style. Sit down and see what each person expects be-
fore traveling. Chart out a rough destination itinerary that all parties can agree on. Naturally,
there will be compromise, but if there is already tension at this stage, then there might be
cause for concern.
First consider each person's budget expectation because money can be a source of conflict.
One member of the group might be an extreme penny-pincher and may never want to spend
money on anything—no museums, no attractions, only takes the cheapest transportation, eats
cheese and bread for every meal, etc. This person could drag the group down with their un-
willingness to spend any money. Alternatively, you could be on a tight budget while the other
members in your group have plenty of cash, so you end up spending way more than you anti-
cipated.
