Why Travelling With a Friend is Pretty Awesome
Originally posted on https://yogamae.ca/Blogs/Seattle.html
For the past couple years, I’ve been jet-setting solo — driving along the coast of California or snorkeling in Hawaii. This year for my summer vacation to Seattle, I decided I wanted to have a travel buddy — mostly so I could afford an Airbnb rather than sleeping on my parent’s futon in their Seattle apartment. Little did I know that travelling with a friend would help me achieve a perfectly balanced trip filled with adventures and relaxation. Here’s a few things I learned about travelling with a friend.
Collaborating on your bucket list
I asked my favourite co-worker to take the week with me to explore my parent’s new home in Washington, USA. I only had one must-do for the trip — see the mountains — and I left all other ideas to Emily and my family. There’s something special about collaborating on a vacation bucket list with people you know well. By hearing what’s most important to them on a trip, you learn more about the other person’s past experiences, things they enjoy the most, and the activities they love to share with you. For example, my mum added a craft fair to our itinerary (she loves crafts), my stepdad added dipping his feet into the Pacific (he had never been) and Emily wanted to go to this tiny town called Forks for the Twilight meme. All of these were truly special moments of the trip and I never would have chosen to do them on my own.
The importance of downtime
When I travel alone, it’s up to me to plan the things I’m going to do. I definitely tend to over-plan and get excited about everything there is to do at any given location. Often I end up trying to fill my days so much that I actually leave my vacations pretty exhausted. My trip to Seattle was totally different. With Emily and my family to rely on — I could leave more room for flexible plans, slow mornings and true downtime. Something about spending money and effort to visit a faraway place means that taking time to rest and drink or watch t.v. is usually the last thing I want to do. But it is so necessary to relax on your vacation! At least for me, having another person there gives me permission to relax and enjoy even the little things. With someone else, sitting in an Airbnb, drinking local beer and watching the Office feels like part of the overall travel experience. Being with a bestie makes me feel less guilty about doing the mundane things and taking downtime, and downtime is necessary for a true vacation.
Finding fun in the in-between
One of the less fun parts about travelling is the actual travelling part. Airports and airplane trips almost always become a disaster in some way or another, and the long and boring flights are draining no matter where you’re going. This is probably the best part about having a friend with you — the actual travel sucks less. Having someone else along for the ride turns the chaos and stress of flying into a fun adventure that you can laugh about later. For Emily and I, we completely jinxed our trip by having a perfect flight to Seattle. On the way home, every little thing became a chaotic mess. But what was a pretty stressful situation (cue running through an entire airport, losing items and leaving our luggage behind) became pretty hilarious. In the end, everything worked out anyway (somehow, it usually does), but having a friend there to laugh with turned the moment into a story instead of an exhausting endeavor.
Deep listening
Finally, travelling with a friend is amazing because of the conversations you get to have — but also the shared experiences that don’t require words. Emily and I had some deep and authentic conversations over morning coffee, but we also had days where we hardly talked at all. On our trip to Olympic Park we didn’t talk much, driving up a mountain road feeling the mist on our hands, or walking along the rocky Rialto Beach are still some of the best memories from the trip. You learn so much about yourself and each other from both situation. When you visit new and surreal places together you get to listen to and observe your friend in a new context. This helps your friendship grow in such incredible ways. Even the arguments you have on your trip (and yes, there will always be at least one!) teach you a lot about both of your values and how they co-exist in different situations.
Overall, Washington State was the perfect place to be for someone like me who loves both the big city and the wonders of nature. Even though there’s endless opportunities to explore, this was a great trip because I got to explore slowly with someone I appreciate in my everyday life.
And of course, also one of the best parts is finding surprise selfies like these:
