Going on a holiday with friends can be a great experience. It gives you more people to socialise with and, when you are travelling with children, you can share baby-sitting duties. Travelling with friends is also a good way to cut the cost of expensive holidays as you can often find better deals when more people travel together. However, going on holiday with friends for the first time can also cause stressful moments and no matter how well you usually get on, suddenly being thrust into close proximity for seven days or more often puts a strain on even firm friendships.
The key to a successful holiday with friends is to address potential issues before you set off. Have a meeting before you travel to talk about what you are expecting from the holiday. It might sound boring but it could save your friendship.
Will you spend each day together as a group, or just socialise together in the evenings? Make sure you know what your friends’ ideal holiday is before you agree to go. Some people’s idea of heaven is lazing by the pool every day while others prefer a full itinerary of sightseeing and adventure. There’s no reason why you have to do the same things each day but it’s better to let your friends know what you intend before you go so that no-one gets upset if you aren’t together all the time.
If you are taking children, tensions can occur if you and your friends have different approaches to parenting. For example, one set of parents might think children should be allowed to stay up late when on holiday while others believe it’s best for them to go to bed at their usual time. It’s also a good idea to establish rules for the kids. You don’t want one set of parents telling their kids they can’t have ice-cream every day if the others are letting their kids eat as many as they like.
Money can also become a source of holiday tension. Some people see holidays as a time to blow the budget, eating out every night and enjoying expensive sightseeing trips. This is fine if all the people in your party can afford to do the same things, but if you need to keep an eye on expenses, they may be reluctant to join in. Talk about budgets before you go to prevent tensions arising once you are away.
Remember holidays should be a time to enjoy spending each day, exactly as you choose so don’t feel you have to join in activities just to please your friends. In fact, it’s a good idea to spend a chunk of time each day apart – that way you’ll have plenty to talk about when you meet up again in the evening.
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