8 Things to Consider When Traveling With Friends
Everyone knows that when you get a group of your friends together things could go really right or it could way left. Now add travel into the mix and it’s a whole other situation. ( just think real housewives of any city and their infamous group trips)
There’s all sorts of scenarios that run through your head “will everyone get along?, will people have enough in common?, Will there be enough room on the bathroom counter for everyone’s products? ( ok maybe that’s just me and my friends) ... you get the idea.
There are a lot of things to consider when traveling a group friends, but here are my top 8 !
The Itinerary
Consider everyone’s interest and plan as a group. Even if you don’t do everything as planned, you save a lot of time, when you’re not trying to figure out what to do, day of. Depending on the number of people and the length of your trip, you can assign each person their own day, to plan, and then hash it out in the group text!
The Meet Up
It’s not always guaranteed that everyone will leave from the same city/airport, so coordinating your travel to arrive at the same time, is a great way to start off a trip and ensures that no one gets lost!
Room Assignments
Who gets what room and who sleeps where. Two of the most important things to consider when traveling with a group. Even though you’ll probably spend the least amount of time in the room, you want to make sure everyone is happy with their rooms and feels comfortable sharing a room, if necessary. If you are sharing a room, figuring out how long each person takes to get ready, will help you determine who gets the bathroom first and who probably needs to start getting ready 30 minutes to an hour earlier.
Food Preferences
In a world of special orders, food allergies, and particular eaters, it’s important to be aware of everyone’s food preferences; prior to picking the restaurant. When planning a group trip, I usually pick a few restaurants, before the trip, and send my friends the menu for each place. This really comes in handy after you’ve had along day of sightseeing and you just want to get something to eat!
Alone time
When traveling with a group, the goal is to make sure everyone has time for their individual interests. If time permits, it’s great to leave a free day for people to be able to explore own their on. Trust me, when you’re with each other from sun up to sun down, a little alone time might be just what the group needs to avoid any “misunderstandings”.
Photos
Friends don’t let friends take bad pictures... Let’s be rail when it comes to travel photos were all looking for that perfect insta worthy money shot. When taking your friends pictures make sure you take about 2 to 10 just to make sure they have plenty of options to choose from and then switch places !
Getting around
Discuss the plan for paying for transportation prior to leaving the hotel. Trust me it gets pretty awkward when trying to figure out who’s going to pay for the Uber when you’re already in the Uber. I suggest using the split fair feature and splitting the ride equally.
communication is Key
From planning til the end of the trip, communication is key. Creating a group text for the trip can gives everyone a chance to her to know each other prior to the trip, builds anticipation for the trip, and serves as system of record, in case of the need for receipts (lol). When traveling with a group, it’s also important to make sure you communicate with each other and talk it out, if any issues arise. There’s nothing worse then allowing things to build up to the point of having a full blown episode and realizing that you still have to show your face the next day.
P.S. dONT FORGET TO HAVE FUN !
HOTEL - Hotel Montfleuri
RESTAURANT - Cafe Le Plume
SIGHTS - Eiffel Tower, Academie Nationale de Musique, The Lourve