Best And Worst Travel Partners?

What do you look for in a travel partner?

I've only travelled with family or friends - and even then we have had personality clashes and arguments when we have been on trips together. I think sometimes travel causes some heightened stress and as a result it can be frustrating - or little things get on your nerves that wouldn't usually bother you.

Have you ever had any disaster stories about travel companions? Or any wonderful success stories you would like to share?

 

The best travel partner is the one who is sensitive to other peoples needs. Unless you are rich, traveling involves a lot of interactions with strangers in strange places and some times in close proximity (in a plane for instance). Thats why some one who is considerate of other peoples culture, traditions and space is an excellent travel partner.

 

I've only ever travelled with my family and partner aswell to be honest. A few of my friends have travelled away together but something always came up to stop me joining them, but thinking about it that might have been a good thing as I'm not sure how well we'd have got on being stuck with each other for that length of time!

 

Haha! Believe me - I've had some friendships pushed to almost breaking point because of travel, and some that actually did break.

Often I think I would be terrible on a TV show like the Amazing Race, because sometimes I have a bit of a tendency to be a stress-head when I travel. It's why in some cases I just prefer to travel alone!

 

I can believe it! Sometimes my friends test my patience on a night out never mind travelling and spending any length of time together.

Seriously though when your travelling it is important to make sure you're with the right people, and like you say, sometimes it can be stressful and you'd want someone there to help with the plans and be able to deal with any situation you might find yourself in, and not somebody who just tags along.

 

Yeah, that's definitely been part of the struggle for me. I'm a pretty organized person (or try to be) and so I felt like I was always the one making bookings, doing research on things like accommodation, transport, things to do and all that sort of stuff...and yes I've had people just seem to tag along as if I was their own personal tour guide or something! Like you said it's about being with the right people, and if there's too much of a personality clash it can really become apparent very fast when you're on vacation and dealing with jetlag and language barriers and all that sort of stuff!

 

I've traveled with my parents and once with a friend of mine and I can say no matter how close travel partners are, there will be arguments and hard feelings, but there's no other way around it...traveling as mentioned above can be frustrating and when we're tired we could easily get into arguments.

 

I always look for someone I get along with. If your going to be spending a lot of time with a person, and the enjoyment you have a vacation depends on this, then you should be careful to choose someone who will maximize that enjoyment. I travel with people I know well. You can't really know anyone until you've spent significant amounts of time with them. It's also safer to travel with someone your familiar with.

 

I want to have a travel partner who's also of like-mind meaning I need them to be culturally sensitive, quick on their feet and adventurous as I am. Travelling with your family is quite hard I agree that's why it's important to have an itinerary and follow it because my family especially always have their own plans despite the schedule that was already set months in advance. When you're travelling with a friends make sure you know each other pretty well for obvious reasons, you don't want to travel with a stranger right?

 

Maybe its just me but I have always preferred travelling with friends more than family. And this was before getting married, and post marriage I dare not say such a thing in front of my wife. She is my default travel partner now, I research the places we both would like to visit, book the accommodation and transport, carry the luggage and last but not the least also get to enjoy the place (that is only if I have chosen the destination myself).

 

I think its super important to find someone who is a compliment to your personality.

I am not very good at forward planning and tend to just "wing it" and therefore a partner who is super good at forward planning would be a great partner for me. This would mean they could do all the stressful plane and hotel booking and getting timetables for tours and such where I am very useful at getting a resolution when things go wrong. An example of this was finding a replacement hotel when I was on holiday and found that the hotel I was booked into had already given my room away to someone else.

They profusely apologised and gave us all passes to use there facilities and a full refund after I explained that they had ruined our plans. The hotel we did stay in was about a 10 minute walk from the original one (meaning we could use the facilities) and was quite affordable considering we just walked up to the desk and asked for a room for the week.

 

You are completely correct about travelling being stressful sometimes. The jet-lag, fatigue and unexpected problems that occur often combine together to make us snappy and bad-tempered. An inconsiderate travel-partner suffering from the same problems can quickly become someone who annoys us and arguments can break out. Its best to travel with someone you either know fairly well, so you will be used to each other being a bit stressed out, or at least someone you have met a few times before. When travelling in India before, I have met people a travelled some of the way with them, and I have met many wonderful people this way, but I've also met people who are not quite what they seem and their intentions are less than honourable.

 

I prefer to travel alone. I will take a good book or music to keep me company. I I tend to notice more things along the way and at my destination when I'm on my own, thereby making the trip more memorable. However, if I had to pick someone to travel with, it would be a sibling. We are completely comfortable with each other and have long since learned to adjust to the others moods and tastes. And since we know each other so well, not too much energy is lost in trying adjust to each others needs.

 

My sister is much like you and prefers to travel alone or with family. She recently did 3 months backpacking solo through South America and said it was one of the best experiences she'd had. If she found like minded friends at her hostels she would do small day trips with them, but she had the freedom and flexibility of dictating her own schedule and not having to worry constantly about appeasing someone else's needs!

 

Finding the right person (or people) to travel with is probably as important as finding the right holiday and destination you want to go to. Some would say it's even more important as good friends can make a bad holiday good, but bad friends can destroy a good one.

 

So true @pwarbi! I've had bad holidays turn themselves around as a result of the company I've had, but I've also had amazing destinations somewhat tarnished because of arguments or drama associated with the travel partners I've had! It can go both ways!

 

I often find that sometimes the worst holidays can turn out to be some of the best and funniest times, depending on who your with.

I think when travelling it's best not to take anything to seriously and just accept the fact that things can and will go wrong.

 

Well, it can depend who you travel with, but as for me, my best travel partners would be my family, we are usually quite casual about things and try not to stress when things don't go our way. I remember travelling around Europe when one of the airlines made us stop in some other country for the night, they offered us a night in a 4 star Hotel, plus vouchers for food(a lot of vouchers), we went crazy and got way more than we needed, the point it that we had fun even though our plans had been changed, it's about finding a plus side of things that seem negative.

 

I think your right and a lot of people stress about things when they don't go exactly to plan.

Even if they don't then just ride with it sand make the most of the situation. At the end of the day if something doesn't go right, then panicking and stressing over it won't make a difference.

 

Not exactly a 'travel partner', but I did travel with them so.. probably my family. I have a pretty big family, you see - five adults (mother, father, brother, his wife and me) and two children. The problem? My parents refuse to pay for two rooms and force us all to stay in one room. That's basically a recipe for disaster.. and it worked. I could barely rest in my own hotel room because the kids were always so noisy, I had to sleep on the sofa (the beds were reserved for my parents and the two children's parents) and wake up with back pain, and the morning rush for the bathroom is practically The Hunger Games. And unfortunately, I'm not Katniss, so I never get the bathroom first - I'm more of one of those filler actor guys whose character dies at the very beginning.

My family are also extremely controlling on where we would go next, so I'm rarely able to visit places I actually want to visit. And for this reason, I now rarely go on vacations with them anymore (I was younger back then, so they refused to leave me at home for obvious reasons) and when I do go on vacation, I'd always either go alone, or have my close friend (or sometimes a close group of friends - this is mostly for when the cost is much higher than expected though, that way they'll help us pay a portion of it) go with me.

 

After reading your post I can certainly see why you font tend to go on holiday with them all anymore, that's for sure!

Growing up I was quiet lucky as I'm an only child so it was usually just the three of us, although I am all to familiar with not being able to go where you want part.

 

My favorite travel partner is unfortunately my ex-girlfriend. It was year of 2011 when we hooked up, and stayed together for the next 3 years. We were dreaming of going together to a vacation for such a long time, but we were simply too young. When we finally had an oppurtunity to go with my grandma we were so thrilled! Grandma wasn't even in the same hotel with us, and we had the greatest time of our lives in those 10 days, it was magical. After that, somehow it all went downhill really fast, as one smart man once said "it's amazing how a minute of hatred can ruin years of love". God, I really loved that girl, sometimes I still think that i do. She is impossible to forget. I really hope someday i will have a new travel partner to give me company like she did.

I can't name my worst travel partner, because I never had one. Everyone that i ever traveled with was more than fun!

 

Well, for me the best and worst travel partners are my family. Here is why they are the best:

1. They are very generous. My mother is especially generous when it comes to trips. She makes sure we eat the best food and stay in the better hotels. We also get a pocket money to buy what we want.
2. Comfortable. Since they are my family, I can snore, drool, do disgusting things and they won't laugh at me lol.
3. Fun to be with. We can talk about anything under the sun and laugh at silly things!

Why are they the worst?

1. They pick weird places sometimes. At times, I don't really want to go to a certain place but I have to since they paid for that trip.
2. Fights are inevitable. When we are hungry or lost, we can't help but get irritated at each other.
3. Picture picture! Ah, how I hate mandatory camera shots!

Anyway, this was back when I was little. Now, I travel more with my husband. But I still go on some trips with my family too!

 

Absolutely, all holidays are subject to small alterations for a variety of reasons and the unexpected opportunities these changes give us are of great use if you use your time creatively to find other activities to take part in. I always have a few extra things I would like to do when I go to India in case I happen to end up with a spare day unexpectedly. Theres a lot to see and usually something local you can do. Its best to have a plan 'B' in case things don't work out as expected.

 

When things go wrong at the time it might seem like the end of the world but looking back on a holiday when things didn't go to plan can often provide a funny story to tell people about.

As long as it's not something like the wing falling off your plane seconds before take off or anything like that of course!

 

Once I traveled a bunch of pensioners as a young adult or teenager at that time. I swear to god I was the only passenger under 50 years old. It was a few day long trip around Europe and it wasn't my best experience, to tell you the truth.

 

I can only assume that you didn't realise who else was going to be on the tour? Haha...as soon as I turned up and saw them all I'd have been asking for a refund to be honest!

 

Oh well, something like this was in my head too. Sadly it was a gift from a family member, but she doesn' think that through. It was an April, and in europe only pensioners travel in the spring usually.

 

My favourite people to travel with are my partner and a friend that I met in India. They are pretty similar to me in outlook and personality which really helps avoid stress and arguments!

Generally I prefer to travel with people who have similar wants from the trip- to see important historical or cultural sights but not NEED to see EVERYTHING! Usually we each choose some things that we definitely don't want to miss then just take everything else as it comes. It's been a good system so far!

 

That sounds like the way I like to travel with people too. That idea of having some absolute must sees, but being happy to just wing the rest and see what eventuates is big for me. I like having some structure (so I'm not just clueless about what to do!) but some level of free time and no planned activities so that I can just go with the flow. I think it's a happy medium!

 

@amelia88 Yes, I do like to do some research about where I'm going so I don't regret missing out on something amazing! Generally though it's fun to just explore and see what you find!

 

I think any travel can be stressful. Nothing ever goes according to plan! I think the best travel partners would be someone who can make light in almost any situation and roll with whatever comes at them. Someone who can take a deep breath and then try to think of a solution. So basically, someone like me! Ha Ha Ha!

 

From my experience, it's best to travel with someone who likes to experience the same things as you. I like to constantly be moving but to also get in a lot of relaxing time. My daughter and my boyfriend are the same way.

We used to take a lot of family trips when I was younger and I hated them. My main problem was that my step dad and older siblings wanted to spend all of their time seeing historical things. That wasn't exactly a priority to me when I was ten.

 

I am not convinced that travelling with friends is always better than with strangers. I have had good and bad experiences with people I know.

Probably the worst overall was the guy who seemed happy with the plans we made, which were mostly budget friendly but included the odd 'must do regardless of cost' thing. Once we arrived he decides to tell me he is actually flat broke, so could do nothing except sit around on the beach.

 

If I'm to travel somewhere, I'd pick up someone who's either a travel enthusiast or has some motivation. And, of course, is capable of paying on his own.

 

Oh yes - paying on their own is definitely an important thing! You don't want to agree to travel with someone only to end up subsidising their trip because they can't afford it! I'm not on a huge travel budget myself - I have to scrimp and save to go on my vacations - so I wouldn't be able to afford having to pay someone else's way!

 

I don't like sharing rooms with sloppy people. I'm a bit of a neat freak, so I sort of get a bit bent out of shape when I'm dealing with untidy people.

 

I've travelled with my brother in the past - he's a pretty good companion to be fair, though I think this is partly because I'm the oldest and he's used to me being in charge and just doing as I say! We shared a room as kids, so sharing a room abroad is not much different. He's also excellent at sniffing out bargains which I take full advantage of.

 

I actually have a good group of friends who I often travel with. We've known each other since we were kids, so we all get along pretty well. I would feel lost if I travelled without them.

 

I do not travel very often, although I will say when I travel there are a few characteristics I would want my companion to have. First I would want to bring someone who wouldn't panic in a high pressure situation mainly like being lost. And second I would want someone who doesn't mope and complain all the time because if you go somewhere and your companion doesn't enjoy the place all that much then I wouldn't want a negative Nancy around me most of the time taking away my fun just because he or she isn't having any.

 

I've enjoyed travelling with people who are energetic and open minded. Athletic has been a plus for me because we get to free-run or climb into areas with great views on previous trips. We all know that one guy who doesn't want to do anything because he thinks it's boring or a waste of time. We came all this way for holiday!! Let's go out and explore!!

 

I would agree that it is of no use to anyone to be travelling with a person that panics or moans, but a balance must be struck.

When I was just out of school, I went travelling around Europe with a friend who I knew fairly well, but had never spent more than a couple of nights in a row with. We planned our journey very loosely and as such we did not have accommodation planned for each leg of the trip. A night came when we could not find a room at all. To his credit, my friend did not complain, but then we were approached by some very dangerous looking guys asking if we wanted to stay with them. They offered us drugs and said we could stay for free, and my friend was so laid back and unbiased he said yes!

I dragged him aside and told him definitely not and so we ended up sleeping in a train station instead. In that situation I would have much preferred someone more wary and focused, he was far too chilled, so much so that it could have put us in peril.

I would definitely recommend taking a short trip with a travel partner first before embarking on a long journey, to gauge what type of travel partner they will be.

 

Based on my experience, I find that the best people to travel with are those who can adjust to different situations. Things don't always go according to plan and sometimes, we need to adapt to the given situation. This one time, I was travelling in the mountains with some of my friends, some of them are first timers, It was the peak season and there were no more rooms/inns available on the foot of the mountain range. So there was no other choice but to camp out. Some of the girls freaked out because they aren't used to sleeping in tents. I was kind of annoyed because I already told them beforehand that it's a possibility because it was the peak season. It's a good thing that one of the locals was kind enough and offered his house. Well, he didn't exactly offered. He was more like coerced. I used all my charms and my wit, not to mention I almost bribed him so that he'll agree to let 8 strangers stay in his house.

 

Sometimes though you can take all the precautions you can think of, and think you know that person inside out only to find they can be a nightmare to travel with.

While I agree that maybe spending a short period of time with them to check them out could help, even then though it will be a totally different situation than going long distance, and for a significant period of time.

 

It's difficult to know if you'll be compatible travelling partners until you're a few days into your journey, which by that time is probably too late. Best just to stick to someone you've already been travelling with than risk it with an unknown quantity.

 

Had to travel to another city locally, so nothing too international, but the guy (my classmate, but still) kept wanting to drink from my water bottle. I was like.. dude, get your own bottle! But he didn't want to. He kept insisting and finally I gave him the bottle, then licked the opening of the bottle, then casually handed it back to me. Some people have no sense of personal space, and that was the last time I traveled with a guy to places. It's easier with girls because they are actually neater and know the space.

 

You should have tipped the water bottle over his head, shown him that two can play games like that, haha!

As for females being easier to travel with, I'm not sure that's always the case, as some can be a bit high maintenance, especially when it comes to them not being able to get their own way, as can often happen when travelling.

 

I'm not really high maintenance but perhaps if there's anything that I wouldn't like in a travel partner, it's someone who'd rummage through my things and borrow anything without asking. I won't also like anyone who'd make me pay for everything. I'm welcome to sharing the expenses but really, I have things to buy too and paying for my partner's expensive things is not my cup of tea.

 

My travel companions are usually with my friends and siblings. In some of those travels, there are complete strangers. Complete strangers in the sense that I don't know some of them personally. The usual core group is my sister and two of her colleagues from work. Then, I tag along with my sister, and another officemate takes a friend, or a cousin. At first, I thought I would have difficulty getting along with them because I'm an introvert. But that's the beauty of traveling that I come to enjoy. I meet new people, and funny because of that, we've ended up checking on each other's schedules for the next travel destination. If the next travel destination happens to be same destination we dig, then we agree to travel together again. From my travels, the ability to adjust with your companions is key to a fun travel experience. I guess, I've learned to do that over the years.

 

I think that could happen quite easily aswell, as if you know that person well enough to go travelling with them, they might also assume that they know you well enough to share your things. That would have to be one of the ground rules you set, before you set off on your travels, ask before you borrow!

 

Someone that has the same common interests as me. If we are going to be alone for an extended period of time I really can't deal with someone that's totally different. Someone that I can easily talk about things too and confide in. Someone who also knows when to be quiet too -- a trip can easily be ruined by a chatterbox.

 

Finding the perfect travel partner is always going to be tricky, and while I agree with you, I think that having somebody too similar could also cause issues aswell.

You also want somebody that will push and pull you out of your comfort zone aswell, because after all, travelling should also be about adventure.

 

Best travel partners, in my opinion, are the ones who know traveling isn't about staying in your hotel room. Of course some days you might not feel like getting up and going out, but it's a trip and you shouldn't waste all your time doing the exact same thing you'd do at home. The worst travel partners are the lazy ones and the ones who take too much risk for no reason. Once I've traveled with a friend who thought going out in the middle of the night to see how London looked would be a good idea. Nothing happened but I was scared to death.