Travel, as with most good things in life, is more fun if you share it with a friend. It's sharing the bad, the indifferent, and the just plain ugly that is what truly tests a relationship.
Opposites may attract, but it is similarities which determine how well you can travel with someone. First and foremost, you need to want the same things out of your trip. If one person wants to visit temples and the other wants to drink cocktails on the beach, you'll either spend most of the trip apart or angry at each other. Some compromise will always be necessary, but the more you agree on the less time you'll spend doing things you're not interested in.
Establishing rules and strategies is much easier to do at home before your trip than on the road. Some points you'll want to discuss with your travelling companion(s) are:
- Who is responsible for making the bookings
- How you'll be splitting expenses
- How much you're prepared to vary your itinerary at short notice
- What kind of sightseeing and activities you want to do
- What places or activites are absolute "must do's" you're not prepared to forego
- The minimum standard of accommodation you're prepared to stay in
- What, when, and where you like to eat
- How much time you'll spend apart
This isn't the first trip my partner and I have done, so we know we travel well together. It is however our first trip overseas, as well as the first time he's ever left the country. Since we're both medieval history buffs, we agree on our sightseeing agenda, and although I usually need a significant amount of time alone, he doesn't seem to register on my personal space. A rare thing indeed.
The best travel companion I've had, by a long way, is my mother. Alert, intrepid, and completely unflappable, she has dived WW2 wrecks, wrangled less-than-sober tour groups, and been evacuated from a warzone. She also has a knack for finding 'local' experiences such as introducing Noumean children to balloons, being the guest of honour at a traditional wedding, and was directly responsible for me spending my 21st birthday eating mystery meat at a very non-tourist market in Bali, with chickens pecking in the dust at my feet and the distinctive smell of hashish floating across from a neighbouring stall. Sounds a bit questionable in the retelling, but it was definitely a more memorable experience than any 21st party I could have had back home.
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