I know what you’re thinking…that special person…but I’m not talking about love here, not in the typical sense at least. I’m talking about a travel partner. I’ve had some experience in this department while studying abroad and it’s not as easy as it seems. When you go abroad, especially alone like I did, you’re meeting a ton of new people, some of which you may end up traveling with. This of course was the first thing on my mind when I arrived, who will I travel with, I don’t want to go alone! But a lot of what I learned applies to traveling in general and hopefully my advice will help you find that “special person”.
Planning a trip can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be if you have someone, or multiple people helping you. You may be tempted to choose a close friend or a boyfriend to travel with and this is 100% okay! But if you don’t know the person as well, you want to make sure they are just as interested in the trip as you are. It’s never fun to bring someone along who isn’t interested and thus you are stuck dragging them along. If you aren’t sure if they’re interested in the trip, ask them what they plan on doing when they arrive or what they’re interested in seeing and if they answer with “I don’t care” or “I don’t know”, then they either haven’t done their research or they aren’t truly interested.
If you bring someone along for the trip, you want make sure they are going to be helpful in planning. It’s never fun to be the only one planning adventures and activities and always doing the research. I guarantee after awhile you will feel like a tour guide who only has half the attention of their audience. Ask whomever you are traveling with to get an idea of an excursion or tour they want to do while on the trip before you leave and ask them to figure out the cost, times, ect. and if they come back with very limited information and few details, you may be headed for trouble.
Overall I’ve found these are the two key traits you want in a travel partner; interest in the trip and willingness to help plan and organize. I can admit I don’t love to plan everything ahead of time but doing research and looking up things to do can save a ton of time during your adventure and also money. It’s always fun to travel with loved ones and close friends and it can still be fun even if you don’t know the person as well. But hopefully with this advice you can really find that “special person”.
Passports and Coffee 