Random Thoughts On Friday- Travels with Friends and Family

When you travel, who do you take with you?  On pretty much all of my trips, with the exception of a few short day adventures, my wife goes with me.

Occasionally, my pal Rick goes with me on a day trip if I want to go somewhere maybe 2-4 hours away, and my wife can't go.  We have done a lot of trips where we literally get on the road and start driving with no plans.

When I was growing up near Owensboro, me and my best friend Brent would take day trips all the time.  As soon as we got our licenses, we were exploring.

Over the years, I have had a lot of friends that have been good company while driving around.

Like many other travelers, I have become very aware and careful of time and resources.  I like to get a good early start every time.  Being on the road by 6AM instead of 9AM means I have 3 more hours to see new places.

And this kind of gets me back to road tripping companions.  An old friend got into a habit of never being able to leave until noon.  Another friend always insisted on eating at the Olive Garden (forget trying the local unique spots).  As much as I love these people, their insistence on doing things a certain way have forced me to find other friends for my road trips.

That goes both ways too.  I am sure they have new friends for their road trips too.  Friends who love Italian food, and friends who like to sleep in instead of start early.  I am not offended.

But it is so much fun when you find friends who enjoy some of the same experiences while traveling as you.

If you are planning on a long trip with others, you especially need to make sure that they are on the same page as you.

We have done several longer vacations with our friends Nate and Holly.  They both enjoy minor league baseball, art and history.  We have had a lot of fun traveling with them as our interests are almost identical.

I have a friend who has a large, extended family.  They have done several family trips, where nearly 20 people go somewhere together.  Even though my friend enjoys these trips, they sound like epic fails to me.  Someone(s) in the group always forgets to pay their share of the cabin/room rental.  And they always deal with the timing issue.  Plans to leave early in the morning are cancelled, because one person in the caravan had a last minute obligation come up.  The plan to leave at 8 in the morning becomes a frustrating delay as 19 people hang around as the 20th person arrives at 1 for departure. 

I know of another family group that had been planning a trip to Disney for a year.  About a month before they were to go, one person pulled out because they had not saved enough money.  Another person pulled out because the first person couldn't go, and then another person backed out because the second person backed out.  At that point, things started going bad for the person who had made reservations, bought tickets, etc.

I only go on trips with close friends who enjoy the same things, want the same out of the trip, and who I care about.  I think it is a good thing to be careful about road tripping friends.