How to travel with friends and stay friends

There’s nothing like finding the time to experience new places with one of your closest friends. While the world back home can be crazy, the world of the unknown can be even crazier. Exploring it with someone you know can make the transition easier, and the trip even more special. The problem though is that with travel comes growth, and sometimes different growth leads to rifts between travel partners. How does one travel with their close friends and come out unscathed?

Spend some time apart: Even though you came to the other side of the world together, doesn’t mean you need to spend every moment with one another. Sure you don’t know anyone else (yet), but if you are at home, would you really spend every waking hour together?  Go on solo walks, eat meals alone and for God's sake, take some time to process away from one another.

Meet new people: Half the fun in traveling is meeting new people. From locals to travelers, meeting new people while abroad is what makes the experience so special. With that being said, you both don’t need to meet the same people. Meeting friends and doing things separately is a great way to keep your relationship intact. You and your friend from home probably have different interests, so why not meet people who share in common what you two don’t?

Split up and meet back up: It is absolutely OK to go to different destinations for a few days. This doesn’t mean you aren’t going to meet back up. In fact, unless you are trying to ditch your friend, this small break will get you even more excited to meet back up and share stories of what you haven’t experience together.

Communication: This is the most important lesson one can learn while traveling. If you want to have successful travel partnership, you need to communicate with one another. This goes as far as feeling sick to even being annoyed with something you friend is doing. An uncomfortable conversation can curb an uncomfortable fight.

Don’t lose a friend while abroad. It isn’t always easy to do something like this together, but if you put in the work, it is one of the best experiences you can have as friends.

Photo courtesy of Temple Education