The holiday season’s fast approaching and with one in four of us saying that we’re planning to go away with friends. Beware before booking, as 10% of friendships end after a joint holiday.
A survey of 1,000 EssentialTravel.co.uk customers found that although holidaying with friends is extremely popular with 97% having gone on a joint holiday before, a third of these said they would not holiday with the same friend(s) again.
“Even the strongest friendships can be put to the test during a holiday”, says Philip Jordan, Marketing Director at EssentialTravel.co.uk. “Just because you enjoy the same bars, fashion and music, doesn’t mean you’ll have the same attitudes towards holiday activities, spending and chores. In fact, 25% of people said they felt differently about a friend(s) after holidaying with them, and not always in a good way.
Some of the most popular reasons for holiday bust-ups included:
* A friend spending too much time with a holiday romance (28%)
* Disagreements over money – specifically how to split bills (24%)
* Wanting to do different things, i.e. sunbathing as opposed to looking around museums (19%)
* A friend acting ‘differently’ on holiday to how they do at home – most common personality changes include behaving outrageously, recklessly and selfishly (16%)
* A friend moping over their partner back at home (13%)
However, there is help at hand for all ‘travel-with-frienders’ – Check the 8 top tips on how to holiday with friends and not fall out:
1. Share the planning. While it’s true that some people are better at finding that perfect little hotel than others, resentment will build if one person feels they are stuck doing all the work – and that’s before you’ve even gone away.
2. Don’t assume that you have the same attitude towards money as your friends. And work out what you’re going to do about money before you get there, i.e. split everything or pay for yourselves.
3. Keep it small. The idea of a big group of you might sound really, really good fun when you’re all planning it in the pub, but less so when you spend the entire holiday trying to keep everyone together and more importantly – happy.
4. Share the heavy lifting. Sure, some people are happier cooking, and others would rather do the washing up, but try and make sure the chores (because there are always some) are spread out as evenly as possible.
5. Spend some time alone. That way you get a break from those little things which are starting to really… niggle … and chances are you’ll even be pleased to see each other again afterwards.
6. Going away with another family? Set rules for the kids – and adults. You may not mind if your children are up all night and drinking coke for breakfast, but if your friends take a stricter approach, you’ve got a battle on your hands – on all fronts.
7. Don’t compromise too much. This is your holiday too. If you really want to go on a day trip, or eat at a particular restaurant – do it, even if it means doing it alone. Don’t and you’ll only end up resenting your friends for it afterwards.
8. Chill out. Everyone has their faults – we all snore, slam doors, leave our rubbish around and get overly uptight sometimes. Remember it’s not forever, so let it go – after all, you’re on holiday.
