Traveling with other people can be tricky. First, just trying to coordinate schedules to go somewhere can be challenging. Then, you might discover new and interesting personality quirks in people you thought you’d known for a while. Lastly, after being with the same people for days - if not weeks - on end, you might all wind up getting on each others nerves a bit.
It’s tempting to not bother and just go by yourself - and travelling solo can be great - but at the same time, it’s nice to have other people you know around to share experiences with you. Having spent a few days hanging out with friends in Amsterdam, here are some things I learned that worked well for us, and might just work for others too:
1) No whining. Despite the fact that vacations are supposed to be fun, they can also be a lot of work. The jetlag, the unfamiliar languages and customs, the strange surroundings - it can be pretty stressful. Not to mention that things often can - and will - go wrong and throw your carefully honed plans (if you made any) into disarray. Whatever happens, try to recalibrate gracefully, make the best of things, and learn to enjoy the unexpected. Your companions will thank you and you’ll have a much better trip as well.
2) No picky eaters. Why would you travel halfway around the world just to eat the same crappy fast food that you can get at home? Try something new - really, it won’t kill you. (Unless you have a food allergy - in which case, I do understand and sympathize.) If all you want to do is eat at McDonalds, I’m happy to leave you there. Note that of the three friends I was with, one is vegetarian, one has a dairy allergy, and one has an egg allergy, yet we all managed to reach consensus on places to eat, enjoyed some new foods, and had a great time.
3) Be punctual. Jetlag can be brutal and make it hard to get up on time, or maybe in an unfamiliar city you might not know how long it takes to reach a particular meeting place, but overall, do try to be reasonably on time if you’ve agreed to meet your companions somewhere. Everyone has better things to do - like eating or sightseeing - than hanging around for 45 minutes waiting for you to show up.
4) Be prepared to go it alone occasionally. Not everyone likes to do the same things or see the same things on a trip. If you can all agree to disagree once in a while, and split up to do what you want, everyone will have more fun and you can compare notes and swap stories when you do meet up again.
So, props to my peeps for being such swell travelling companions and making a great trip that much better - it was a blast :)
Addendum: Just in case it wasn’t clear from the above, none of my friends (and hopefully not me either) were guilty of any of the gaffes noted above. Having been thinking about things, I really appreciate that we were all able to get along and have a good time on this trip.
