As humans, we are naturally social animals. What does that mean for your travels? It means that you will rarely embark alone into the wild blue yonder. Whether meeting with your friend who is studying in Barcelona or adventuring with fellow Americans in your program, you will have travel companions.
Here are a few things to keep in mind about picking your comrades in arms:
A good friend does not always equal a good travel companion. Sad, but true. When traveling, you're closer than roommates. You won't simply share a room with these people; you'll spend nearly all hours of the day together. When you're getting little sleep and moving at a fast pace, tensions can run high.
Evaluate potential travel companions a bit harder than you would if you were merely considering going to a pub with them for the night. It's not a question of whether or not you like them. Can you find enough conversation topics to cover four days? A week? Will they want to do the same sort of things you will? Can they survive being dragged to cathedrals and ruins? Can you survive them doing that to you? Are you all big partiers who consider a 1 a.m. bedtime too early? How do they fare when stressed? How good are you at resolving conflicts? And do they snore?
Money makes the world go round. While it may be a tad uncouth, do not be afraid to discuss budgeting with your travel companions and ask how much they are willing to spend. Money may be a sensitive issue, but it's better to get it out of the way early when there's not all the extra tension. And you don't want to be in another country, hundreds of miles from home base, only to discover that you're with the world's biggest penny-pincher or someone who will not eat in any place that has not been given a Michelin star.
This all may sound like a bit much, but believe me: Vacations can make a friendship unbelievably tighter - or tear it apart like a B-movie serial killer. I've seen both.
Size matters. In terms of numbers, don't go too big or too small. If you've known the person for fewer than six months, purely one-on-one time may be a bit much. On the other hand, if you've got more than four travel buddies, you start having more and more variables for drama. You'll get too many chefs in the kitchen trying to decide what to do or where to eat, and someone will be left unhappy. And while splitting into groups may seem like a viable solution, the shoddy communication methods that often accompany travel can make splitting up impossible.
Remember "me time." At times, when my friends had not yet arrived, had already left or were recharging in the hostel, I decided to go out and explore on my own. These were some of my favorite moments of travel, when I felt that I really got to know the cities I was in.
Allow some time for this. Agree on a meeting time and place, then go out (maybe with a map) and get lost. You'll discover the true feel of a city without the distractions of having to make conversation or needing to go somewhere. And you may discover something amazing that you never planned to see - like the time I found one of my favorite parts of Berlin, an enormous graffiti park.
As you travel, you'll discover that although sharing an experience with friends is wonderful, sometimes the best company is your own solitude.
Devin Toohey is a junior majoring in classics. He can be reached at Devin.Toohey@tufts.edu.
