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Choosing a travel partner is the most crucial thing in
determining if you have a vacation you’ll never forget or
one that you’dwant to forget!
72 | FireFlyz
A
part
frompicking your
life partner, picking a
travel partner is one
of those monumental
decisions. A partner
from hell would make
your trip unbearable
and leave you wanting to cut your trip
short, while a great partner will allow
you the new experiences you desire. So,
before you go off and pick the hottest
looking person as your travel buddy, ask
a few questions.
Firstly, you need to figure out if you
both have a similar budget. If you’re all for
living like a local and eating the delicious
and somewhat daring street foods, you
should have a partner who shares your
taste. If you’re into couch-surfing, while
they want 5-star suites, you’re going to
have a huge problem. You should not have
to compromise your travel experience to
suit someone else’s needs. Your partner
should also get the kind of experiences
they’re wishing for. Have a candid talk
with your potential travel buddy and break
the trip down.
You’d also need to know if your future
travel buddy has an independent streak
or is a spoon fed brat. You need a partner
who is willing to give you a break for a
couple of days and who is also willing to
go exploring on his or her own. You want
someone who is able to adapt to new situ-
ations and realise that plans made while
travelling are never set in stone. Someone
who is excited to share new experiences
and won’t freak out when you’ve met a
group of surfers who want to take you to
a locals only surf spot. Which brings us
to our other question: “How organised are
they?” Does every detail have to be nailed
down right to the second, or are they
willing to hop on a bus going nowhere
at 12am?
The best part about travelling is the
uncertainty of your plans. You never
know what may happen after lunch on
Tuesday. So it is wise to discuss your
travel styles and see if you can reach a
nice compromise to still allow for some
spontaneity.
One thing that can’t be avoided while
on a trip is stress. Not everything is going
to go according to plan and this is okay.
But you also need to knowhowyour travel
partner deals with stress. If you are more
of a stress ball, you would need a partner
who can calm you down and vice versa.
Having two highly reactive individuals is
going to lead to a lot of difficult situations.
Obviously, mishaps are annoying but you
should never let hiccups ruin your whole
trip. More so, you should never let your
travel buddy ruin your trip!
After all the questions and planning do
you still feel unsure about travelling with
another person? All you can do is cross
your fingers and hope that everything
works out alright. And if you need to drop
the travel buddy and go solo...as Nike
said...just do it!
Reflections
Have Buddy Will Travel
W o r d s :
L y l a D . M u r u g a y a h