How To: Best Tips for Travelling with Friends
Great friendships can be made and nurtured when travelling.
Back in 2012, we’d organised a crossing of the Simpson Desert with a group of Tvan enthusiasts, kicking off the adventure from Mount Dare where we met Dave. Following the trip, we kept in regular contact. Dave would become a key resource when penning articles on remote travels, outback repairs, and running an outback pub.
On his many journeys between his home in Melbourne and Mount Dare, he would drop in and say hello and we would do the same.
It’s been a similar case with other people we’ve met while travelling. Sitting around the campfire or chatting over a beer and a meal at the local pub recalling the highlights of the day. Friends are made easily when travelling.
With good company, the fun factor always seems to ramp up a notch or two. Those extra laughs all work to help unshackle the binds of daily life, so you can kick back and relax.
Friends add value in diverse ways. If you leave something at home, friends may have something you can use or help modify something to suit.
If you break down, they help you make roadside repairs. If you injure yourself, they can help patch you up or at least keep you calm until emergency services arrive.
Friends also keep you on your best behaviour; people are less likely to be grumpy or moody in mixed company.
They can help in other ways too. If one group arrives at a campsite early, they can assist by getting the campfire going, or preparing the evening meal to reduce workload for the latecomers.
Best of all, you can share the memories and the photos from the trip.
How to choose good Travelling Friends
It’s critical to identify friends with similar interests and outlook, for example those with an interest in four-wheel driving, camping, exploring, cooking and more.
You want to spend time with people with a balanced sense of humour. They should exude a positive vibe and bring out the best in you, rather than drag you down. And they should be even tempered – no-one likes a grump!
Often people with the same vehicle or camper trailer will travel together. You may have met them through work, a four-wheel drive club, or through other friends. Group trips often introduce new friendships which lead to trips outside of that group.
The bigger the group, the greater the chance of finding someone you butt heads with, which may work to the detriment of your enjoyment. So, tread wearily.
What’s the magic number?
For a remote extended trip, we reckon six is a good size. Not too big, not too small. Make sure you’ve travelled with these people before. It’s one thing, spending a weekend with someone you find out you don’t really like that much. They might be loud, an overbearing alpha male, or just plain annoying. Imagine enduring an extended trip with such a person!
Tips for Happy Campers
- Be flexible and open to new ideas. While history and museums may not be your thing, you may glean something unexpected from it.
- On extended trips, share the leadership, with each vehicle responsible for a day’s itinerary. This gives everyone an opportunity to be involved.
- Be wary how easily noise travels. Music, doors slamming early in the morning, and voices at night. They all travel surprisingly far.
- As a backstop, we always take some earplugs. It may not be your friends creating all the clatter. It could be another group nearby.