5 Things to Consider Before Planning a Trip with Friends

There’s nothing like a beautiful beach and great company to provide a memorable travel experience. At the beginning of February, I was invited by a great girlfriend to join a group of 25 girls on an overnight trip. I really had only.met a few of them a couple of times, so I didn’t know 80% of the people joining the party. Can you remember the last time you’ve travelled with a house full of girls? I honestly cannot. From the moment I agreed to join Kahlea’s the Galentine’s Day beach mansion getaway, I was overwhelmed with excitement and a little bit of fear.

I had just come back from Siesta Keys the month prior on a visit with family and it’s one of the prettiest white beaches in Florida, so when Nikki (pictured below) invited me on the beach house for the girl’s party, I was really keen.  I love to travel solo and I often think of travelling more with friends. Everyone talks about how exciting it is to go on a trip with others, but hardly anyone gives you some insight before jumping on the amazing idea of a group trip. Going on a group vacation with people you hardly know can pose challenges when you don’t have the right mix, and luckily for me, I not only travelled with an amazing group of women, but met plenty of them at the beach house, too.

Before you snatch up a few people and book a trip together, I thought I’d share a few important things to think about to help ensure you all have the most incredible time.

5 Things to Think About Before Travelling with Friends

Planning It or Winging It
Some people are planners and some are not. I have friends who love to do a lot of the planning, but I’ve seen others complain about others not pulling their weight simply because their friends are the type to just wing it or go with the flow. There is no right or wrong in how you or your friends plan their trips. Avoid getting upset at each other and communicate clearly before you commit to travelling together. There might be way more compromising and more/less planning done than you hoped there’d be. This brings me to my next point below.

Budget Travel, Luxury or Both
I love to treat myself to a few nice nights at hotels, spas, etc, but I also am a strong believer that you can have all the wonderful experiences without spending hundreds or thousands of dollars just to have a great time. You can find amazing food at affordable spots and incredible views and experiences at a premium. Some travel luxuriously and others live for travelling on a budget. I believe in mixing both to get the most of my money and to ensure I can keep travelling a lot year-round.
I have a girlfriend who is wealthy, to the point where if she really wants to do something fun or stay some place beautiful, she can throw down thousands and not bat an eyelash. She is down to earth and you wouldn’t know she’s wealthy because she would never speak of money. I love her to death, but if I were to go on a trip that is longer than 4 or 5 days with her, this could lead to some serious financial reprocussions.

Independent Adventurers VS Group Experiences
Opposites attract, even in friendship, and when it comes to travel this can be incredible or be a disaster waiting to happen. As someone who is used to solo travel, freely visiting sites and do the activities whenever I want is a huge perk. Some people do not like to separate and always want to do things together, yet do not want to try any of the things you want. Don’t let your differences ruin a perfectly good friendship. Before agreeing to travel together, communicate about how you both travel to ensure you all enjoy your time together and separately where needed.

Personality Clashes
As mentioned in many of my prior posts, many years ago, I read that the 5 people you spend the most time with are the ones that make up the qualities you have or desire, so travelling with a few select friends who are very different can lead to challenges when there are some major personality clashes. If you’re really looking forward to a having particular experiences, travelling with someone who brings a lot of drama to your friendship may be a really big unwanted distraction.

Lifestyle Choices
An outgoing individual who loves to go out and socialize after a day of activities might be you, but your travel buddies may be the type to retire by 9PM. Think of how you’ll spend your mornings and evenings. As long as you’re both okay with the other’s late night tip toeing and morning rustling you’ll most likely have a wonderful trip. That saying, waking up on the wrong side of the bed, really does affect your day if you’re the type that wants their beauty sleep!

At the end of the day, communication is key! Differences are what make us all unique. Discuss ahead of time and have an amazing time once you’re ready to go!

SHOP THE LOOK

I got this swimsuit last summer, which you can see was shot on my Instagram. It’s sold out but I found some really similar styles aned options and have linked them below.  My weight fluctuates a lot, so I bought size 4 (and size 2 to 4 in clothing) and it fit well. If you purchase the orange floral applique bikini and beteween sizes, go with your bigger of the 2 because the material is smaller than average, but the appliques are large to make up for the smaller material.

I hope you enjoyed this post. If you plan on doing a group trip with friends in the future or have had a memorable experience on a group trip you’ve done (positive or negative), I’d love to hear in the comments below.

For more inspiration on style and travel, follow me on Bloglovin♥, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list for special announcements and exclusive content.

Xo,

Miki