17 Things Nobody Tells You About Travelling With Friends

Some of these are funny. Some of them will save your trip. A couple are both.

1. 1The person who complains most about the plan is almost always the person who contributed least to making it.
2. 2Sleep schedules matter more than personalities. A 6am riser and a 3am returner sharing a room is a countdown, not an arrangement.
3. 3There is always one bathroom bottleneck, and it will be discovered on the morning of the nicest dinner.
4. 4Somebody will forget a charger. Statistically, it might as well be you.
5. 5Group chats are terrible at decisions and excellent at making everyone feel involved in a decision that isn't being made.
6. 6Splitting up during the day makes everyone like each other more. This is not a failure of the trip.
7. 7The friend who says they don't mind where you eat minds enormously.
8. 8One shared bathroom for six people sounds like a good idea right up until six people try to use it.
9. 9Whoever books the flights becomes the unofficial travel agent for the entire trip. Choose to accept this or delegate it properly.
10. 10Everyone's tolerance for museums is roughly 90 minutes, regardless of what they claim in advance.
11. 11The cheapest flight is rarely the cheapest option once you add bags, seat selection and a 5am airport taxi for six.
12. 12There will be one meal that costs three times what anyone expected, and it will be nobody's favourite meal of the trip.
13. 13Someone will get mildly ill on day three. Bring more medicine than you think you need.
14. 14The last day always goes to waste unless one person plans something small for it.
15. 15A group of five is easier than a group of six, and a group of six is dramatically easier than a group of eight.
16. 16Nobody remembers the itinerary. Everyone remembers the two hours you spent lost, hungry and laughing.
17. 17The trip usually gets planned by the same person every year. Ask them if they want to, or take a turn.

The best group trips aren't the ones with the best plan. They're the ones where the plan was agreed before anyone got to the airport.