Female Travel Hack · Hacks For Wanderlust · Travel Listicle

5 Important Things To Consider Before Picking A Travel Buddy

Girl, Unspotted

Traveling with someone is all fun and games until true colors show. Whether it’s with your bestie, your sister, your significant other, or a stranger, travel will somehow bring you to depths your relationship has never been to before. Unless your idea of travel is an all-inclusive trip, or more like a vacation, (which is fine too), traveling is not always easy. It goes beyond museum hopping or sipping Mai Tais under a big umbrella– way beyond everything you see on Instagram. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, so if you’re going to be roughing it with someone, you have to pick carefully, no matter how sociable or likable you are. Here are 5 important things you need to consider before making a commitment.

1.) You will annoy each other.

 
Travel is no walk in the park. If you’re there together for the real deal which includes double digit hours of overland travel, sleeping in crappy mattresses surrounded by strangers, and a strict $15 budget a day, things will get a little bumpy. Patience declines, temper rises, and friendships/relationships gets tested. Circumstances may arise and if you’re around each other 24/7, you’re bound to get in each other’s nerves.

Quick Fix: Time outs from each other will refresh your mood. Go get breakfast alone, go for a walk, or go on a solo adventure for a breather. Absence always makes the heart fonder.

2.) You won’t always be interested in the same thing.

Even the most tested relationships doesn’t realize how different they are from each other until they’ve traveled together. You may be BFFs, but don’t assume that you’ll share the same interests when you’re out exploring the world. Remember that you’re finding out new things you’re both not familiar with and one of you may be down for that while the other one isn’t. You may want to go for a trek while the other would rather be sunbathing on a beach. You may want to shop on your last day but your buddy would rather go day drinking. The world is your oyster now, but when budget and timing is a bit limited, it can be a big dilemma.

Quick Fix: A simple civilized talk like you probably already know. Just avoid making assumptions that the other will be down for anything you’re into. Speak out also if you don’t feel comfortable doing something. Avoid peer pressuring each other because that’s just immature. It’s okay to do things separately, you know?

3.) It’s all fun and games until someone had a little too much to drink.

Part of the unspoken rule of traveling together is to have each other’s back when nights get a little wilder than you’ve expected. Once you’ve signed up on a trip together, pulling things like “if you get too drunk, I won’t be responsible for you!” is a complete d*ck move. There will be times when sobriety will be out of control and this should be highly considered because let’s be real, no one wants to babysit.

Quick Fix: Before making a serious commitment together, perhaps consider their drinking habits. If your bff is someone who can’t handle her liquor, then she probably won’t make the best travel partner if drinking is an essential part of the trip. If you yourself is a handful after a few shots, then it’s probably best to make an agreement on limitations prior going to the trip. Otherwise, you’re both setting yourselves up for unnecessary drunken drama.

4.) It will bring out the worst in you.

Annoying each other is one thing, but traveling together also means letting down your guard completely. Your travel buddy will see your temper. They will witness your meltdowns. They will know your weakness. If before marriage they say the true test is by living together, for me, in any relationship, the real trial is through travel. Although you’ll both roll with the punches just fine, it will change your relationship. It could be for the better, or it could be for the worse.

Quick Fix: Patience really is the key here, but that gets compromised too when shit gets tough. You can’t fix the other person, but you can fix you– so check yourself before you wreck yourself.

5.) And it will bring out the best.

Yes, it will change your relationship. But if you do it right, it will take your relationship to new heights. You will make memories that you will both grow and evolve from. Travel already changes an individual, so imagine doing it together. You’ll be forever bound by an experience so intangible you’ll both never forget it. If you’re family, your bond will be even stronger. If you’re best friends, your ties will be even deeper. If you’re in a romantic relationship, it will give you a chance to get to know each other on another level higher and deeper than any domestic relationship can.

Quick Fix: Ask yourself if this person deserves to see you at your best. Can your friendship endure the punches that comes along the way? Is your relationship strong enough to turn traveling together into a positive light, instead of letting it break you? After all, traveling should be shared with someone special enough that you’d want to keep them in your life even after the adventure ends.

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82 thoughts on “5 Important Things To Consider Before Picking A Travel Buddy”

  3. I couldn’t agree more about the part where traveling together changes the relationship. One of my favorite parts of the change is the shared memories of fun and excitment you can bring up again and again (if you are a sentimental like me 🙂 ) and re-live the experience.

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  4. Me and my husband meet all 1 2 4 5. He can be a litle KJ at times but good thing he has me to keep convincing him to try different things. The part that it brings out your best in your relationship is my favorite cause the more things you experience together. The stronger your bond.

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  6. Thanks for this advice… I was engaged in some travels lately and I used to bring either one of my family or relatives with me because I cannot travel alone yet… i don’t have the courage to travel that far alone haha..but I wish i can find a travel buddy too ( a friend or someone who is not a family member LOL.. i think that would be interesting)

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  8. I’ve never had a travel buddy before that wasn’t family but after reading your post, I think it would be fun. I know there would be issues with that when it comes time to make decisions but I think it would still be fun.

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  13. Great tips! I think having realistic expectations and a good attitude are a must when travelling.. you never know what unexpected things might happen! Thanks for sharing your ideas.

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  15. I always travel with my family and never with friends. But I’d love to try with them soon! Pero for sure, I’ll get to miss my kids and hubby when I’m not with them. 😦

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  16. This makes perfect sense. Travel buddies are hard to find when you’re travelling to explore. It’s definitely better to find someone you’ll click with… in a lot of aspects, especially hygiene!

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  18. I agree with the list. It is important how you choose your travel buddy unless you want the entire travel to be boring. Number 2 is on point, that’s one thing I always make sure.

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  19. I don’t travel a lot, but when I do it’s always with my husband or closest cousin. I agree that when you do travel it’s very important to choose who’s going with you. That’s why I don’t travel a lot, lugging 2 toddlers about and another one coming our way can be a challenge, staying at home for now is the best haha.

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  21. I was smiling to myself when I was reading this article, because it is so true. My wife and I don’t always want to see the same things. She likes to shop more as I like museums more. She does not like getting lost while I don’t mind walking around. Yet we are each other’s constant companion when we travel, so we need to meet on a good compromise wherever we travel. 🙂

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  22. I think picking a travel buddy is like picking a best friend. You pick some one who can agree and disagree with you and still be able to compromise and find a good solution. You pick someone who can take the best and worst for you and you get someone who accept you and all your flaws.

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  26. This is a legit post! I have a friend who complaint to me about her travelling partner because of different travelling habits! Travelling really brings out the differences between friends and partners!

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  28. Great tips here, now that we are full-time family travelers, we know how all this feels. We do give each other breaks and have our alone time. Oh, but as responsible parents, we do have alcohol but don’t get drunk anymore but I imagine that is such a pain to deal with while traveling.

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  30. Just today my younger sister was saying that we 3 sisters should plan a trip because sisters are the best travel buddies. Don’t you think?

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  32. Wow, these are great points. I backpacked with my best friend for 3 months and though there were a few moments, I know I couldn’t have picked a better travel partner. You just have to accept that people are different and choose the person you know you can handle – and vice versa. We actually went on to move to NYC together and share a bed in a gross basement for a few months, and I know I could only have done that with her. We aren’t so close now, but we’ll always have the memories!

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  34. It definitively brings out the worst in you. Grumpiness is a guaranteed outcome of tiredness, hunger and anything in between. if you find a good travel partner, stick with him/her, they are hard to come by!

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  35. Love the quick fixes. We are humans, each different. The key is tolerance. Quick fix: If you are not, solo travel maybe your thing.

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  36. Great tips Erica! It really is true, travelling brings the best and worst out in people because you’re having the time of your life at the same time as well as contending with the tiredness of early morning flights, long days exploring and late nights drinking!

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  39. Fantastic advice – things everyone should consider before traveling overseas with someone. Sadly I’ve seen far too many friendships break up because of travel! Solo travel was the best thing that ever happened to me until I met my now partner Mike. If you find someone you can travel well with you’ve found a partner for life!!

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  40. This is very true. I traveled with a girl that I barely know but it turns out a great trip, although everything you listed were part of our travels haha. I cant wait to travel with my boyfriend soon!

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  41. Haha. I’m very glad to have found a travel buddy in my partner. I annoy him but I believe he still loves traveling with me though. 🙂

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