7 Questions You Need to Ask Before Travelling with Friends

Imagine it, going travelling with friends and you envision this magical experience and getting to bond more through amazing experiences. You fantasize how incredible travelling with friends is going to be. The excitement about discussing where to go, what you’ll eat and see, what you are going to wear, and when to go overflows but then a couple red flags go up…but you ignore these, as you so desperately want to go.

I urge you DO NOT dismiss the red flags! You may not even see them as red flags, but just “Janet being Janet”. Remember you are paying for this trip too, taking time off work, and doing a lot of planning for it. You don’t want to have your amazing trip ruined by un-discussed details that could have made the outcome so much different. The following 7 questions are ones you need to ask before travelling with friends. I highly recommend you discuss these before anything is booked.

What is your budget?

Money talk is very important and if your budgets are off it could spell disaster. Knowing how much to spend on the things that are joint, like accommodation and getting around town, and even flights if you want to sit together need to be discussed so you are on the same page.

How do you like to travel?

This will also come into the budget talk. If one person prefers higher end hotels and will spend less in other areas, but the other person would rather spend money in other areas and find a less expensive place to stay, you want to know this before anything is booked. See if you can compromise to make it work without any resentment on either side. Be honest. Also if one of you is a lay on the beach and do not much of anything and the other is someone who wants to see everything there is going to be a conflict of interest. Make sure you both know what you want out of this trip.

Where do you want to go?

With so many choices you want to make sure you both have a plan of where to go that you are both happy with. Write out everyone’s choice and then narrow it down all together.

Are you open to doing things on your own?

This can help with the money situation as well as having your own space too. Everyone needs some alone time, so you want to make sure that is possible. If there are things that you are really interested in doing and your friend is not, is it cool to do things separately when wanted and then meet back up after? Finally are you watching your money a bit more than your friend? You can choose not to do all the things she wants to do and do more free things and meet up later.

Are you willing to help with the planning?

Planning a trip takes time, and much more time than most think. Even if one person enjoys that part of it more than the other, getting help with some of the decisions is incredibly helpful. Decision fatigue is a real thing and if one of you is always “it doesn’t matter what we do, I’m happy with anything” it becomes very old very fast if the decision making is put solely on one person.

Do you snore/talk in your sleep?

Just because one of you snores doesn’t mean that you can’t travel together. This is just a prep talk so you know what you need to be aware of. Do you need to bring ear plugs, do you need separate rooms, or do you need to have a one bedroom with a pullout bed in living room. Sleep is important to keep down the stress and mood levels.

How committed to going on this trip are you?

There is nothing worse than planning a trip and thinking you are all on the same page but then closer to the actual trip, people start dropping like flies about going at all. This leaves you disappointed and could change the dynamic of your relationship if left high and dry. It is like being strung along in the dating world.

Having an open and honest discussion on these topics will save you from a ruined, stressed trip and save your friendship. Many a friendships don’t survive a disastrous trip away together. You need to be honest with yourself and not compromise everything just to get away as you could resent the fact the trip is not what you wanted. 

Travelling with friends can be wonderful when done right. Save your friendships. Talk to each other and be honest. Your trip and friendships will thank you for it!