Travelling with Friends

Travel is an extremely personal experience. Your whole perspective of the world is flipped. You don’t know what’s going on around you. You frequently get lost and confused.

Going through this experience alone is an intensely rewarding experience and one I strongly recommend. However, I want to talk about travelling with friends.

Deciding if they’re good travel partners

Before you go on a trip with your friends you must ensure that your friends will be good travel partners.

You do not want to travel with friends who will complain about the small annoyances of travel, such as eating weird foods, walking all day, getting up early to catch transportation, dealing with beggars, not getting a full night’s sleep, etc.

You also want to make sure the friends you bring are open to new ideas and perspectives. When travelling You will see new places and meet new people. You will find that the ideas and conceptions of the world you had back home will be completely different to the ideas and conceptions you discover on the road. 

Travelling with close-minded friends will stunt the spiritual and psychological journey of your trip.

On the road with your friends

So let’s say you’re friends are good travel partners and you’re on the road with them now. What makes it any different to travelling solo?

Well, there are a few things to consider.

Firstly you have to remember that you are in this together and unlike solo travel where you are the master of your journey you are instead a player in a team and you work together with your friends to have an enjoyable trip.

Secondly, you will not always get along. This is especially true of long-term travel with friends. Travel can be stressful at times and this can bring out the worst in us no matter how good your relationship with your friend is you will still get into disagreements and arguments.

Finally, disagreements. As is natural in friendships, especially if you’re travelling together, there will be times when you disagree with them. Whether it is about where to eat, what to do, where to go, etc. Now choosing good travel partner friends will help minimise major disagreements about where to go and what to do however on long-term trips you might find yourself wanting to split ways.

This is fine and vital to maintaining a healthy friendship. If you believe it’s time to split off with your friend there’s nothing wrong with doing so.

Conclusion

Choosing good travel friends can be a fantastic decision. They can push you to go into new experiences, and places. However, there are certain elements to consider before deciding to go on a trip with your friends.