Are You Travel Compatible?

Traveling with your spouse or children is one thing. But traveling with your bestie? Something completely different.

Before you head to destinations unknown with your BFF, have a heart to heart to ensure you’re on the same page. Failing to do this in advance could ruin your trip, or worse yet, your friendship.

You can be great friends with someone who is vastly different than you. Your differences may even strengthen your friendship! But that doesn’t always translate to travel compatibility.

For example, maybe you’ve both fantasized about a dream vacation to Rome. So of course it would make sense for you to both go together, right?

Not so fast.

To you, the ideal Roman vacation may be sleeping in, grabbing a cappuccino, meandering through the streets, people watching, and striking up conversations with the locals.

But to your potential travel partner, the ideal trip to Rome may be getting up before sunrise, hightailing it to every major attraction, and finding the perfect Instagrammable selfie spots.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with either of those vacations, but you need to be on the same page.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that everything will be fine. If you are not travel compatible, neither of you will have the trip that you envisioned. You’ll both end up frustrated, disappointed, and your friendship may be permanently damaged. 

Before you make travel plans, sit down for a candid conversation about what you envision for your trip. Here are some questions to discuss with your best bud.

Transportation questions

• Will we fly together or meet up when we get there?
• Do we have (or need) a passport?
• Will we rent a car or use public transportation? If we rent a car, who will drive?

accommodation questions

• Will we stay at a posh hotel with amenities and a scenic view, or a budget room to save funds for other activities?
• What are our minimum comfort requirements to ensure a pleasant experience?
• Who will research to ensure there are positive reviews?

financial questions

• What is our overall budget for this trip?
• Who will be the primary person making all the arrangements?
• Will we split everything 50/50?
• Will we pool our money together in advance, pay as we go, or settle up later on?

Schedule questions

• What does an ideal travel day look like to each of us?
• Do we want to get up early to beat the crowds? Or will we stay out late and sleep in?
• Do we want to meet new people or keep to ourselves?
• Will we have structure or avoid a schedule?
• Which attractions are our top priorities?
• Do we want to shop, explore, just get lost, or book adventurous excursions?
• Will we stick together or break out occasionally to do our own thing?

FOOD AND DRINK

• Will we dine on street fare, seek out hole-in-the-wall restaurants, or treat ourselves to upscale restaurants?
• Do we want something all-inclusive, or should we keep the ability to choose where we eat and drink each day?

This is not a comprehensive list, but should get the conversation rolling to see if you’re primarily in agreement about your expectations for a trip. If your answers are vastly different, talk through it to see if you can find common ground. Hopefully you can come to a mutual agreement, have a memorable trip and still be friends after you return. If you can’t get to that point, that’s okay, too. Better to figure it out before you go.

(And as a side note, even though I primarily travel with my husband and/or my children, we still discuss a lot of these questions as a family just to make sure everyone has an enjoyable experience!)