While I do love traveling solo, having a travel companion also has its advantages. Costs can be split for things like rooms and taxis, they help with the loneliness of being far from home and if nothing else, they provide a wingman. But if you decide to take this route of traveling with a buddy, make sure they’re the right person for the job. If you both aren’t on the same page, things can go terribly awry. You’re going to be with this person 24/7 for months on end. Just cause you’re besties in the normal flow of life back home doesn’t mean a thing. Don’t think that everything will just go smoothly; it won’t. Disagreements will happen and at some point they will inevitably get on your nerves, so make sure you thoroughly check their resume before asking them on a travel date, unless they’re of the same blood. In that case, you may be stuck.
Having the same general itinerary and amount of time to travel is important and will save you trouble right off the bat. Traveling with someone who wants to see four countries in a month while you want to take a month in each country just won’t work. They’ll be rushing while you’re trying to hit the breaks creating tension at every stop. It would also lead to differences in issues of money. Someone on the long term plan is most likely trying to save money and extend their trip while someone on a “vacation” would be more into the luxuries for the short term. One half may prefer to splurge on a nice room with A/C, while the other is down with sleeping in the hut without power.
You must also like the same types of activities. I prefer a lot of physical activities, some cultural experiences here and there and a few days of rest sprinkled in, but not everyone is cut from the same loaf. Someone might love set tours while others prefer to find their own adventures. Some love temples while some might lean more toward the seen one, seen them all. Some want to sit around and read all day while others feel that is a waste of a day in an exotic location. It’s all based on personal preference so make sure your companion is like-minded.
If your travel companion won’t join you in partaking in fried grasshopper, you might need to find a new one.
If your still not sure whether this person is the right one for you, go on a practice run. What do I mean by that? Do a short road trip or weekend getaway with the person. It’s away from your normal friend routine and will give you a better idea of the person when they’re away from the familiar. How much is preplanned and how do they handle complications? I drove back from Vegas with my current travel companion, a trip that ended up taking 10 hours instead of 4. Conversation was great, but when we got bored of the stop and go traffic, we made a pit-stop in the middle of the desert and filmed ourselves throwing poor ants into a crazed funnel spider’s web. On the same page? I think yes.
