It seems that most of the difficulties traveling have to do with money. I guess it really is the root of all evil.

Hey Kal - next time go for Lucky Dogs! We can do that and hit Lafitte's afterward, can't we?

DH and I travel well together and hardly ever travel with others anymore. The best time we had with another couple was with ones we hardly knew. Ground rules were set up front; do what you want to do and we do what we want to do....no hard feelings if one or the other doesn't do it. If we did a tour they didn't want to do, they just took the car and picked us up when all was over with. Another rule was, if you want dessert.......order your own! You can have a taste of mine, but none of this sharing bs.
The worst trip we ever had was travelling with our former best friends. Guess we all thought we knew each other too well.

Whenever I read on this board about some extended family wanting to rent some big house for a week or 2 for a great vacation, I wonder about status of family relationships after trip.

Problems such as travel style, financial preferences, hours of wake/sleep can be solved with many discussions beforehand - others such as snoring, smoking, complaining are not as easily resolved.

"methinks," not so sure that money is the cause of most conflicts. Most of the complaints here have had to do with making choices about what to do, who gets to choose, how far ahead to plan and how much to plan, and esp. attitudes toward time -- morning vs. evening people, last-minute vs. 4 hours early people.

YUMMMMMMMMM... Lucky DAWGSSSSSSSSS.
@-) @-) @-) @-)
133 mo' days!

Yeah. I've never met new people on travels where I'm gone with old friends or family. ;)

You know cfc you have a point on that money thing. Our used to be friends have a whole lot more dough than we do, but wanted to be really chintzy on lodging and dining. Complained that everything was too expensive and was never happy with any of the restaurants. The only time they were ever happy with room rates was when I was working in the hospitality industry and could get employee rates for everyone. Or happy with drink prices was when we could get them comped! Go figure!!
So, yes, cfc, your point about money being the problem is probably right on in most instances!!
Well, its noon time on Friday and only 6 more hours until .((d)).....

You know, it's funny, my hubby and I ALWAYS get on each others nerves before ew get on the road. And I think to myself "how am I going to hanlde this"? But, it's only nerves and excitement to get going, and once we're on our way everything is great! We never have problems on vacation. One thing we are really good at is meeting people. We always end up at a local pub in the evening and never fail to meet interesting people!

I traveled from Germany to Egypt via ships, trains, and buses. By the time we got to Karnack (sp) in the middle of Egypt via a packed 3rd class train we were at each others throuts. He was acting like Moses leading the Isrealites through the desert and I was sick of hearing things like "you use to much toilet paper".

After this trip we vowed never to go back to Egypt and are still friends today. He is from Germany and I am American.

Jor, the German people are notorious for their spartan take on anal cleanliness. It's been estimated that Kimberly Clark's earnings would drop by half should the rest of the world adopt their frugal approach to hiney wiping. I'm sorry that you went in blind on this one, so to speak.

I went on a week's vacation with my college roommate, and though we've remained friends, I will say that we're not as good of friends as we once were. I admit that it was partly my fault, as I am an obssessive compulsive trip planner. My friend didn't seem to get the idea of having a schedule or planning ahead while we were travelling (which is unlike her in her normal everyday life). She wore uncomfortable shoes to Busch Gardens and then complained the whole time that her feet hurt. Not that it mattered, since she was content to shop the day away rather than ride the rides. She brought enough money to last about 3 days and then she had an empty wallet. I ended up paying for everything, and she complained the whole time because she didn't have enough money for souveniers.
I would never travel with her again, but she remains my friend. We can laugh about that trip now. Of course, I'm sure she tells the story differently.

Several years ago me and 3 single girlfriends went to St. Martin for 7 nights. We all agreed we could each do what we wanted, respect each others space, etc.

Of course, that changed quickly once we got there...2 girls became jealous when 2 other girls met guys and started hanging out with them. We did not expect them to hang out with these guys, we would just hang out with them for a few hours on the beach and then come back.

Friendships were lost over petty jealousy....now 2 of the girls are no longer speaking with the other 2 girls. It can get tricky traveling w/ friends.