How To Travel With Your Bestie Without Wanting To Kill Each Other
Travelling with your best friend may seem like a good idea – you’ve known them forever, you get along great and you’re so alike that you’re almost interchangeable – but you really can have too much of a good thing. Your dream friend-cation can quickly turn into a nightmare if you’re not on the same page when it comes to key things, like if they spent two hours getting ready every morning while you’re waiting by the door, stinging to get out there and explore.
[related_articles]40806,22434[/related_articles]However, with a little bit of planning and a lot of honesty, travelling with your bestie can also bring you closer and give you a bunch of those “forever” memories.
Here’s how to preserve your friendship on the road.
#1 Plan Ahead… Together
Set aside time to plan your upcoming trip together and never make an executive decision, for a few good reasons. First, this is a trip for both of you to enjoy, so make sure it’s not all about what you want. And second, you don’t want to take the blame when you book a stinker of a hotel 23km from the nearest bus station.
Plus, planning is half the fun – there’s nothing better than a beer or a cocktail with your bestie as you pour over some amazing travel inspo.
[related_articles]31832,28207[/related_articles]#2 Money, Money, Money
Discuss your budgets beforehand. More than one friendship has gone down in flames after a certified camper paired up with a five-star luxe-lover and attempted to negotiate Europe with completely different ideas of what travel actually is. Make sure you figure out what each of you considers a realistic daily budget, what standard of accommodation you want to stay in and what happens if you run out of money. And always be honest about your budget when you’re on the road.
#3 Time-Outs: Pick A Safe Word
My bestie and I came to an agreement after a super-grumpy-non-morning-person (me) lashed out during a disturbingly cheery 4am wakeup call from an eternally effervescent early-bird (her) – the ‘time-out’ safe word. Basically, pick a word without personal meaning (Banana! Tulip! Parrot!) and when one person says it, it means they need quiet time. It’s not personal, it’s not a fight – it’s just a time-out. It saved more than one tired/hangry/frustrated fight over nothing, and actually often ended up in a giggle.
#4 Don’t Miss Out — Even If You Go It Alone
Resentment is a bitch, and the last thing you want to do is hold something against your bestie for all time because you didn’t get to see everything on your bucket list due to his or her disinterest. It’s OK to go it alone – simply explain that it’s what you came here for and it’s not personal. Perhaps you could even find something that you think they’d love to do at the same time that you’re not particularly interested in. It also gives you a well-needed break from each other, even if you’re getting along swimmingly.
#5 Be Honest
Sometimes travel brings the best and the worst out of people, and that’s OK. The best tip is to be honest – even if you think it might hurt the other person. In the long run, you’re better off having a frank conversation about your issues rather than hating on each other for the majority of your once-in-a-lifetime vacay. At the same time, you have to accept each other’s differences, put aside the small stuff, and make sure you both have an amazing experience. After all, this is a holiday with your bestie – it’s what dreams are made of.
Check out Qantas flights and start begin your next adventure.
