The Joy of Traveling with Friends

The Joy of Traveling with Friends:

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend.”

– Robert Louis Stevenson

Yes, you got me right. Today, we are going to talk about travelling with friends. I always felt that the word “friend” or “friendship” is a much understated word or relationship in our lives. If we are sad, lonely or unhappy, we look out for a friend to share our problems with. If we are happy or excited about something, we look out for our friends first to celebrate with. If there’s a secret, then it’s always shared between two friends only. So today we will discuss about the joy of traveling with friends!

Initially, when I started off, I used to travel solo and I simply loved that experience.  It gave me a thrill that I cannot express. It gave me the confidence to look after myself, take care of my things, be alert when travelling and made me street smart.

Then, I was advised to travel with a friend. I was not sure about this idea, because I felt, even though I have lots of friends, it would be difficult to make travel plans, keeping both person’s schedule and convenience in mind, as well as the finance part that comes, when travelling on an International trip. So, I wasn’t too keen.

The idea however stuck in my head and I thought there’s no harm in giving it a shot. I felt that one must be open to experiencing every kind of travel. So, I along with 2 other friends (friendship made from an earlier group travel), decided to travel together. I must admit it was a wonderful experience and an experience that I cherish with all my heart. I look forward to many more such travels with my friends 🙂

Travelling with friends can be an enriching experience or a fatal experience :-). Thankfully, mine, was a very enriching experience. It can further make or break your friendship! One needs to be careful, when travelling with friends.  If you have like-minded friends, who share similar interests and wish to do similar things that you would want to do on your travels, then the journey and overall experience would indeed be blissful. However, if your friends are completely on a different wave-length, then the journey could be a little rocky.

Travelling with friends does not mean that you need to do all things together all the time. Here are 10 Tips for traveling with friends. One needs to be able to give each other the space required. For example, maybe I am interested go out for dinner and my friend wishes to call it a night, it’s perfectly fine. I could go out for dinner and enjoy myself and my friend could rest the night away and nobody would have any problems. The important thing is to be on the same wave-length and be able to do things that make you happy.

There are many benefits of travelling with friends:

• Unlimited laughter: I cannot remember, when I have last laughed so much, as when I was with my friends. There was never a dull moment whatsoever. Even if there would be tense situation, wherein we missed the train or don’t know what to do next, our sense of humor, would lighten the situation and things don’t look so bad.

• Economical: Travelling with a friend(s), always does turn out to be cheaper, than solo travel. One gets good rates for room bookings (twin-sharing basis) and in some countries, where the food portions are really huge, one can just share the meal, (that’s exactly what we did) and it worked out super cheap. Also, we have the luxury of booking a cab, as the cost for a cab when split between 2-3 friends, and the ticket for a bus, works out to be the same!!

• Clicking photographs: When travelling with friends, one need not worry about adequate photographs not being taken, as someone or the other would offer to click your picture and vice-verse.

• Safety: Travelling with friends brings in the element of safety. We can keep tabs on each other and help one another, which makes travelling a lot safer and more fun.
• Increases Tolerance: Travelling with friends makes us more tolerant. We may not agree with everything our friends suggests or wants to do, but, we keep an open mind and our tolerance level increases, as we realize that we are together for a short time, and want to make the most out of it and not let little things, get into the way of us enjoying ourselves.

This post is dedicated to all my friends with whom I have traveled and had lots of fun with. It’s a joy to travel with friends, and I am very grateful and thankful for my friends.

On that note, let us keep travelling and keep sharing our stories here.

Your Travelmate