3 People travelling -- ETIQUETTE for Sharing Costs
Dec 12th, 2004, 08:28 PM
#101
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 308
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
oh my goodness...you poor thing. You will look back on that trip one day and have a good laugh...you friend will probably never change.
I experienced problems with my 2 friends and likewise they with me when we travelled but not over money.
It was more over our little quirks and after sharing accommodation for 6 weeks..a little quirk becomes a big quirk.
Next year I'm travelling with 2 different friends and I've made sure that they know it is ok for us to get intolerant of each other occassionally.
This trip I'll make sure we get our own rooms as much as possible for breathing space....
I experienced problems with my 2 friends and likewise they with me when we travelled but not over money.
It was more over our little quirks and after sharing accommodation for 6 weeks..a little quirk becomes a big quirk.
Next year I'm travelling with 2 different friends and I've made sure that they know it is ok for us to get intolerant of each other occassionally.
This trip I'll make sure we get our own rooms as much as possible for breathing space....
Dec 13th, 2004, 07:02 AM
#102
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Reedpants:
It has been almost painful reading your reports of this lady's "idiosynchrasies".
Some people reading this thread may decide to pass on a wonderful trip out of nervousness over travelling with a "friend". Before you do, I would like to tell you a success story.
My sisters and I were planning a trip to France before they both had to cancel. I was having lunch with some friends from high-school (we're in our 50's) and "Susan" piped up, "I want to go!". We had not stayed best friends over the years, but agreed to get together and talk about it. Short version, she was serious and we decided on a 2-wk trip. We agreed ahead of time to speak up if there was any question about expenses.
Needless to say, I was a tiny bit nervous...as I'm sure she was. But it worked out beautifully. We had separate rooms the first week, but after that concurred we were compatible enough to share twin bedded rooms. We carried a "kitty" in a small zipper bag like you get at the bank. From the kitty we paid
ALL joint expenses as much as possible: tolls, parking, maps, porter tips, train tickets, museum fees, tour guides, etc. We even paid most meals from the kitty. If one person had a particularly expensive item we made a note of it on the receipt. Usually, even this wasn't a problem. I might order a more expensive appetizer, but she had a kir royale vs. my house wine. (Other times we took turns using our cr cards). We kept ALL receipts in the kitty. Each of us carried a journal and made a journal entry each time one or the other paid for a meal or joint expense...i.e., I noted mine as well as hers. This made for a good record when we settled up.
After we got home, we rested up and then went over all the receipts. It all balanced out to within 100 euros...or at least closely enough that it was NOT worth jeapordizing the conviviality of the trip over a euro here or there.
She even graciously paid for my dinner one night to thank me for all the planning I had done to find hotels, etc.
So, don't despair. It can be done. As Reedpants learned, I would NOT travel with someone I already had bad vibes from. I also think it helped that we stayed in separate rooms the first few days. It gave us a chance to figure out the other person's "tempo". So I say go for it if the other person seems compatible to your travelling interests.
Footnote: My friend and I are currently planning a 15-day Italy trip. And we have renewed our "best friend" status.
Just thought a happy tale on this horror thread might be reassuring!
It has been almost painful reading your reports of this lady's "idiosynchrasies".
Some people reading this thread may decide to pass on a wonderful trip out of nervousness over travelling with a "friend". Before you do, I would like to tell you a success story.
My sisters and I were planning a trip to France before they both had to cancel. I was having lunch with some friends from high-school (we're in our 50's) and "Susan" piped up, "I want to go!". We had not stayed best friends over the years, but agreed to get together and talk about it. Short version, she was serious and we decided on a 2-wk trip. We agreed ahead of time to speak up if there was any question about expenses.
Needless to say, I was a tiny bit nervous...as I'm sure she was. But it worked out beautifully. We had separate rooms the first week, but after that concurred we were compatible enough to share twin bedded rooms. We carried a "kitty" in a small zipper bag like you get at the bank. From the kitty we paid
ALL joint expenses as much as possible: tolls, parking, maps, porter tips, train tickets, museum fees, tour guides, etc. We even paid most meals from the kitty. If one person had a particularly expensive item we made a note of it on the receipt. Usually, even this wasn't a problem. I might order a more expensive appetizer, but she had a kir royale vs. my house wine. (Other times we took turns using our cr cards). We kept ALL receipts in the kitty. Each of us carried a journal and made a journal entry each time one or the other paid for a meal or joint expense...i.e., I noted mine as well as hers. This made for a good record when we settled up.
After we got home, we rested up and then went over all the receipts. It all balanced out to within 100 euros...or at least closely enough that it was NOT worth jeapordizing the conviviality of the trip over a euro here or there.
She even graciously paid for my dinner one night to thank me for all the planning I had done to find hotels, etc.
So, don't despair. It can be done. As Reedpants learned, I would NOT travel with someone I already had bad vibes from. I also think it helped that we stayed in separate rooms the first few days. It gave us a chance to figure out the other person's "tempo". So I say go for it if the other person seems compatible to your travelling interests.
Footnote: My friend and I are currently planning a 15-day Italy trip. And we have renewed our "best friend" status.
Just thought a happy tale on this horror thread might be reassuring!
