This was my favorite travel report ever. I've told friends about it when they invite my husband and me to travel with them, telling them "BAD IDEA" and here's why.

I'm re-reading the trip report, which I had not before my last comment, and I'm having PTSD. OMG, I had totally forgotten about all the "Mean Girl" (and some "Mean Men") commenters that used to "rule" here. Those people used to haunt me so much I stopped writing trip reports or even asking a simple question.

And to add insult to injury, it wasn't even clear that they traveled all that much either.

I didn't realize this was a report from 2005. I have been traveling mostly solo since 1993, which was a "Rick Steves backpacking with a Eurail pass" trip. I had almost nothing planned on that trip other than the entry point (Paris) and the departure point (London, but staying with family of friends north of London in a house), tickets to a U2 concert in Berlin, and a vague idea that I was going to make charcoal rubbings of Jim Morrison's grave. I didn't have any supplies for that when I arrived so I had to buy paper, charcoal, the tube to carry my rolled up treasures in afterwards. Photos of me in transit always had that cardboard tube in hand - a mascot, like people carrying around garden gnomes for their photos. I found my lodging upon arrival in each place which included staying in a convent in Munich - with a midnight curfew I nearly missed because I had made friends that day upon arrival and we were still out and about.

Since that time, I have figured out that it mostly has to do with "expectations". I'm totally fine going on tours and have made great new friends that way - many of whom I still keep in touch with today including visits to Australia to see them again (or seeing them in NYC when they travel to the states), catching up in Biarritz when I found out that a friend I made on a previous trip was going to be there at the same time, visiting Paris and always always having at least a handful of friends who just so happen to be there at the same time and we meet for dinner or drinks or a stroll. What I am very allergic to is the "joined at the hip" aspect, where you are traveling WITH people and therefore expected to be part of their entertainment or "go along with the crowd". In my age group I know a fair number of singles and they like to travel in packs and it just all sounds so exhausting to be on all the time.

The above said, I utterly loved traveling with my parents and those are memories I will treasure always.

Yeah, I'd totally forgotten about all the sniping. It still didn't detract from the report!

I was a Fodorite before 2005, but somehow I must have missed this thread. It does bring back memories of a trip with a friend whom I still consider to be family, but I will NEVER travel with her again. She complained constantly when things were different from home, or if something cost more than she believed it should. I reached my breaking point when she threw a tantrum and yelled at a fast food worker for charging 10 pfennings (about 6 cents US) for a packet of ketchup. "KETCHUP SHOULD BE FREE!!" she bellowed. I could go on, but I can't top this report.

What a great read, I'm so glad this came up again.

I hadn't read this before either, a great read. I skipped most of the comments though.
I hope Barb is well and travelling still.

I know this is an old thread but I have been thoroughly amused. Barb, you tell a terrific story. And as someone who will travel next year with another couple who haven’t been to Rome, you have given me much food for thought! For one, I will insist that they do some research ahead of time. Many thanks for the wisdom and laughs!

Carol