There’s something special about traveling alone. Many famous authors and writers have traveled alone, and come back to their homes with plenty of memories that were worth writing about. In fact, many of the greatest books, plays, and movies of our time were started because someone got inspired by a trip they took. It’s all about finding out where you want to go, and going off on the adventure of a lifetime.
Speaking of the adventure of a lifetime, why don’t you really stop and take the time to think about traveling with a friend? Now, a travel companion is more than just someone that’s along for the ride. If you really want to get technical, their job is to make sure that you feel happy, well, safe and comfortable. Indeed, there are just some places on earth that aren’t safe for a single traveler, and there is truly safety in numbers. It will be much more difficult for people to try to harm you when you already have someone traveling with you.
The good news is that a travel companion today can be of any race, and any gender. This means that it’s no longer inappropriate for a woman to be traveling with a man — it’s really what you decide to make of it. For example, you might be a woman with all male friends. Does this mean that you have to give up your friends just to enjoy traveling? No, that’s not it at all. Yu might want to take your male friend and just make sure that you two have separate beds. Of course, this all goes out the window if you’re talking about taking your boyfriend — it’s usually accepted that a woman is going to sleep with her partner in the same room, if not the same bed. This is similar for a man traveling with his girlfriend.
Yet if you’re single, you will have a bit harder time trying to take along a travel companion. There are a lot of different factors that come into play when you’re talking about getting a travel companion. You can’t just ask someone randomly. Like most great challenges in life, you definitely need to have the right plan at your disposal. Here’s how to choose the best travel companion for your needs.
First, you will need to think about where you’re going. While we all dream about living in a world where certain features and facts don’t play a role in our lives, you will need to stop and realize that you have to be able to take your travel companion with you wherever you go in any city you travel to. They have to be able to respect the local customs, which is something that they might not want to do for whatever reason. Traveling with someone that is not culturally sensitive isn’t a good idea — it will only lead to trouble in the end. You will need to really think about how you come off to the people around you if you were to have someone that isn’t sensitive traveling with you.
If you really want to have someone come along with you, this is one of the first topics that you will need to discuss with them. You can’t just stop and think they will automatically know how to handle themselves. If they have never traveled outside your shared host country, they may not know how to carry themselves. This is where you will need to let them know how to behave and what you expect. Yes, this sounds harsh but in the long run it just makes sense.
From there, you will need to think about who can travel with you that actually have the same schedule and financial resources as you. Again, this is something that you might not agree with at first, but if you really look at from the right perspective it does make sense. You must make sure that you always will be able to have someone that can afford to actually travel, unless you have enough extra money to take them with you. The last thing that you will want to do is try to take along someone that can’t get time off, or won’t take time away from their normal lives. There’s nothing wrong with having outside obligations, but someone that has too many of them might not be a good traveling companion for your needs.
You will need to think also about their overall temperament. Are they really someone that you will get along with? Taking along a distant friend might bring you together, but it also has a chance of making you separate further and further apart. It’s just a matter of feeling people out and doing what needs to be done for the common good. Generally speaking, similar interests actually do a lot of good in bringing you and your travel companion together. If they truly have a love of travel, the vacation will be a great time for them. They can help you take pictures or even record video of your adventures. On the other hand, someone that isn’t into traveling will not have the ability to appreciate the trip on the same level as you. Notice that phrase: on the same level as you. It’s not that they don’t appreciate it, but they certainly don’t see it from your point of view.
At the end of the day, a vacation is truly what you make of it. It can seem like all you will need to do is just take off on a trip, but the planning stage really brings everything together. The last thing that you want to deal with when you go to your travel destination is not being able to really get anything accomplished because you’re having conflicts with your travel companion. However, if you really take the time to plan your vacation out accordingly, there’s really nothing keeping you from an amazing vacation that you will love talking about for many years to come!
