How can four couples travel together happily?
Jan 17th, 2007, 06:08 PM
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We started with an 8 girl trip to Ireland last summer. It ended up with 3 only, but I still worried about it up till the time it was done 
Basically, I wrote out a 'travel plan and rules' first. Some of the rules:
Rule #1: No whining. Complaints are all right if given politely and reasonably. They will be listened to, and an attempt made to correct, but whining voids it.
Since I was the only one who had traveled to Europe, (and twice to ireland) they asked me to be 'tour guide'.
I asked their input, and mentioned that if they don't tell me they want to see something, they can't cry when we can't fit it in later, that their vacation will be ruined if they don't see it.
I wrote up a rough itinerary, with suggestions to see in each stop (we stayed 4 nights each in 4 places). I passed it around to everyone for their approval. Got very few comments back.
Money: Since I was making all the travel arrangements, they paid me ahead of time a set amount, and the rest after I bought the tickets together. I figured out how much the shared costs were (rental car, trip insurance, B&Bs, etc.) and divided by the number going, and they sent me checks. There was a couple hundred left in the 'kitty.'
For the ongoing expenses, we first used the 'kitty', and then, rather than replenishing the kitty (which would work, too) we just started covering the meals in turn. Dinner's compared to dinners, lunches to lunches. No breakfasts, as we were at B&Bs.
We weren't attached at the hip, but with just three of us there were few needs to separate. I slept in one morning when I was sick, and T went to the zoo one day while K and I went to the horse farms. No biggee.
Since two of the travelers were single, we had special rules in case one found a guy she wanted to flirt with - and rules to save a girl being flirted with and didn't want to!
Chores were minimal, as we were in B&Bs, but one of the places was self-catering, and we all sort of pitched in.
Driving - only two of the three drove manual, but that third could navigate well, so we took turns.
Meals - It was difficult finding restaurants at times, as one person had all sorts of food allergies she never mentioned before. Find out those first!!!
Getting up - we agreed on a time to be ready in the morning. Those that wanted to linger over breakfast, or took longer to get up got up earlier.
Eating habits - one of us grazed through the day, the other ate in one big meal only. That raised a bit of friction, and some nasty comments were said ("just wait an hour, she'll be hungry again"
. However, if you know this ahead of time, you won't get blindsided. That attached at the hip thing again - no biggee if you go off in small groups.
Hope this helps!
Basically, I wrote out a 'travel plan and rules' first. Some of the rules:
Rule #1: No whining. Complaints are all right if given politely and reasonably. They will be listened to, and an attempt made to correct, but whining voids it.
Since I was the only one who had traveled to Europe, (and twice to ireland) they asked me to be 'tour guide'.
I asked their input, and mentioned that if they don't tell me they want to see something, they can't cry when we can't fit it in later, that their vacation will be ruined if they don't see it.
I wrote up a rough itinerary, with suggestions to see in each stop (we stayed 4 nights each in 4 places). I passed it around to everyone for their approval. Got very few comments back.
Money: Since I was making all the travel arrangements, they paid me ahead of time a set amount, and the rest after I bought the tickets together. I figured out how much the shared costs were (rental car, trip insurance, B&Bs, etc.) and divided by the number going, and they sent me checks. There was a couple hundred left in the 'kitty.'
For the ongoing expenses, we first used the 'kitty', and then, rather than replenishing the kitty (which would work, too) we just started covering the meals in turn. Dinner's compared to dinners, lunches to lunches. No breakfasts, as we were at B&Bs.
We weren't attached at the hip, but with just three of us there were few needs to separate. I slept in one morning when I was sick, and T went to the zoo one day while K and I went to the horse farms. No biggee.
Since two of the travelers were single, we had special rules in case one found a guy she wanted to flirt with - and rules to save a girl being flirted with and didn't want to!
Chores were minimal, as we were in B&Bs, but one of the places was self-catering, and we all sort of pitched in.
Driving - only two of the three drove manual, but that third could navigate well, so we took turns.
Meals - It was difficult finding restaurants at times, as one person had all sorts of food allergies she never mentioned before. Find out those first!!!
Getting up - we agreed on a time to be ready in the morning. Those that wanted to linger over breakfast, or took longer to get up got up earlier.
Eating habits - one of us grazed through the day, the other ate in one big meal only. That raised a bit of friction, and some nasty comments were said ("just wait an hour, she'll be hungry again"
. However, if you know this ahead of time, you won't get blindsided. That attached at the hip thing again - no biggee if you go off in small groups.Hope this helps!
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kenav
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Dec 13th, 2007 11:34 AM
