The Perfect Travel Companion
- Through the lens of a Single Woman :: Part-III -

AK Sophia *

Imagine that you are driving through a lovely mountain road, pine forests on both sides and suddenly an awful smell invades your senses. As you turn to your side, you suddenly realized that your friend is throwing up as if it was her last day on earth...

Searching for a perfect travel companion can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. While planning a trip, deciding on location, travel arrangements, booking hotel and comparing prices are important, equally important is finding like-minded people to travel with. Believe me, they make or break the trip and I have had my experiences, good, bad and the ugly!!!

Imagine that you are driving through a lovely mountain road, pine forests on both sides and suddenly an awful smell invades your senses. As you turn to your side, you suddenly realized that your friend is throwing up as if it was her last day on earth.

I usually divide people into two main spectrum; one who is least affected by curvy roads and one who throw up even on straight roads, leave aside the curvy ones. It is tough when you get stuck with the second lot but travelling is all about being prepared. Eat less on the day of travel or take one of those medicines which control your stomach (Domistal) or numb your brain (Avomine).

Another scenario to think about, you love your walks, short hike where you commune with nature and yourself, looking for the calmness inside your soul. Imagine one of your good friend tags along, she hasn't walked/hiked for some time and her main prerogative is to fill up the silence with mindless chatter (to your dismay) - A low-down on Aishwarya Rai baby, about how Lindsay Lohan got all busted out, about the latest Louboutin shoes in the market, the Berkin bag one could die for and the constant cribbing about how tough the walk is- a buzz in your ear that refuses to die down.

So instead of the peace and calm-what do you get??? I bet many a friendship would have broken up during those walks. Trust me, maybe I would not do something so extreme but I would definitely not include that friend anymore in my travel plans.

This scenario is from personal experience and it's turned out to be a trip of great learning. Holidaying in group and what you assume would be a stress buster for you turned out to be a maniac working holiday, pandering to everybody's wishes, making sure that everybody gets to do what they like, juggling plans, making sure that a peaceful pact is maintained amongst all the group members and in the bargain, losing yourself. So by the time you returned from your trip, you feel as if you are in need of another holiday. There can be many more examples;

Imagine getting stuck with a shopaholic??

How about with somebody who like to click self-portraits in front of all monuments, winding curves, malls??

And a die-hard non- veggie getting stuck with a veggie??

Furthermore, about having a person who is always late?? And then, post your trip you can give talks on "schedules going haywire"

And the list is endless. However, the aim is to appreciate and understand the differences and work towards a common goal. Setting clear expectations, I learnt, helps a lot in making a trip successful and enjoyable.

Not everybody is blessed with the perfect travel partner. And if you are lucky to have a bunch of such people, my advice is 'NEVER LET THEM GO'. Treasure them!!!