Finding Your Travel Buddies

The people you travel with can often make or break your trip. That is not meant to stress you out, but being abroad often means you’re going to travel, and it’s helpful to find people that you can travel well with. Some people like to just wander around a city and go window shopping, others want to go to museums and learn everything they can. Everyone’s travel style is different, but personally, I like to have a plan, check out some museums, and see the culturally important sights, but also leave time to relax. I lucked out pretty early with people who also like to travel journal, making it a good sign that we all value the same things. 

Everyone meet my travel buddies: Emma, Juliette, and August! We met on the first day of orientation on the neighborhood tour for our housing and immediately clicked. Our first trip was to Cologne, Germany, and we didn’t tell each other this until afterwards, but we were all nervous. We knew that conflict and tension could arise while traveling, and it could potentially make or break the friend group. Spoiler alert: we all survived and had the best time. 

Planning a trip is stressful, even when you’re not doing it with three other people. The first thing we did was make a spreadsheet. Even if you’re not the biggest fan of spreadsheets or keeping things organized in one place, I highly recommend doing so. Having a shared spreadsheet or document is extremely helpful when you’re planning the trip and afterward. The four of us did a ton of research about which mode of transportation we should take, where we should stay, what we should do and put it all in the spreadsheet. We were only gone for a weekend, but this can be especially helpful when you’re planning a longer trip like spring break. 

With all of our information in one place, we were able to compare prices and for mode of transportation how long it would take to get there. The best advice I can give when finalizing plans for a trip is to have an honest conversation with the people you are traveling with. If something is too expensive for you, say so. If you don’t want to go somewhere or do a certain activity, say so. It’s better to have those conversations early so everyone has a good time and is comfortable with the amount of money they are spending.

When actually on the trip, it’s important to keep this communication open. Let your friends know if you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation or that you need food immediately because if you don’t, then things could get ugly real quick. 

You’ll also learn very quickly how well you’ll be able to function as a group. Surprisingly, Emma, Juliette, August, and I work really well together on trips; we’ve actually talked about how weird it is. We all have our own interests and facts that we mention, and everyone in the group is genuinely interested in hearing them. Juliette is a geology major, so she tells us about the different types of rocks and materials that we see in buildings and roads. She can quickly spot a fossil, even a really small one, and we’ll all immediately rush over to see it. I took an art history class during my freshman year of college and learned a lot about Gothic architecture, so when visiting cathedrals, we often talk about that. Going on a trip with us means you will probably have fun and learn something that you knew nothing about otherwise. We all like having a plan and knowing we have somewhere to go, but we still leave time to relax and do things that we just stumble upon. Emma will definitely do some research about whatever we’re doing, and August will make friends so we get the most out of the experience. 

My point with this is that you should take the time to be honest with yourself and find the people who are going to make traveling fun and less stressful. Make sure you tell the people you are with how you function on trips and know that it’s okay to say no to something or express your needs and wants for traveling. I’ve had the best time traveling with Emma, Juliette, and August and can’t wait for our next journey. Happy traveling!