How to Travel With a Friend

Traveling with a friend can be awesome. It can also be stressful. More stressful than traveling with a significant other or family. If you know how to do it right, you'll still be friends when you return. It helps to plan trips with someone you know you  have things in common with to begin with. This National Best Friends day, I want to share my tips on how to travel with a friend, and not kill each other in the process.

Talk About Budget

We all hate to talk about money, especially with friends, but if you don't do this before your trip, I guarantee you will not be friends after your trip. Tell them what you're comfortable spending and find out what they're comfortable spending. 90% of the time, they will not be the same, and that is okay. It sucks if they are planning to spend twice as much as you can and you don't find out until you're on Day One of your vacay. It's always easier to spend less than come up with more, when you have bills and rent to pay. 

Set Expectations

Talk to each other about your travel styles. Are they chill about everything? Can they handle your micro-planning? Is it the other way around? If you are drastically different travelers, you may not work as travel partners. Of course, you could be like me and my friend who came with me to Disney last year. She was super chill and enjoyed that I am a super planner and planned all our days. I gave her an itinerary, made all the reservations, bought all the tickets, and she just went with it. 

Talk about the other stuff too. Are you a morning person? Is coffee a must before people talk to you after you wake up? Do long silences make you uncomfortable? Do they plan to help you drive? Are you unwilling to help them carry their bags because they're a chronic overpacker? It's easier to know these things before you leave home. That said, expect the unexpected.

Plan Together

Also known as knowing priorities and learning to compromise. Once you know your budget, talk about what your "must dos" are for your trip. If you're lucky, many of those things will be the same. You might also both find that the other wants to do/see/eat things you didn't know about, but actually want to to do/see/eat too! 

It's important that you're both happy on your trip. You can't both do things that only the one of you wants to do, because one of you will end up being bitter. Of course, compromising on things is important, too. Be open to new experiences. Do things that you only sort of want to do to make the other person happy. That brings me to this next tip:

Spend Some Time Apart

I get very worn out if I spend 24 hours a day with someone. I like to have my own space, my own room, some personal time. Just because you're on vacation with someone, doesn't mean you have to spend every waking moment with them. This could mean you get a two-bedroom to stay in, you keep up your morning run without them, or even that you go and do something alone for part of the day. It's possible they want to do something that you really don't. It's okay to tell them that they should still go do it and you'll do something else on your own. Time apart is good for you both. 

Be Honest

I really don't want people to tell me what I want to hear if they feel the complete opposite. If you don't want to do something I want to do, or I'm being annoying, tell me. I'd rather know than you be resentful. I'm not sensitive, so things like this won't hurt my feelings. And even if they do, I'll still know that it was probably hard for you to tell me, so I won't let it ruin our trip or friendship. If you need to just take a walk by yourself, tell your companion. If you don't feel like Italian food, tell your companion. If their incessant gum popping is making you want to punch them, tell them. Just maybe say it nicely and not threaten to throttle them if they don't stop. 

Traveling with a friend (or friends) can be super rewarding and a great bonding experience. Of course, it can just as easily break your friendship if you don't prepare and communicate, so following the 5 tips above can help you manage all expectations. 

What are some ways you make trips with friends better?