solo travel vs companion?

jennifericous

Im travelling to india in a group of 5, me my bf and three girl friends we met last summer in holland. I've never travelled with anyone other than myself and my bf. im looking forward to this!
so I'm wondering if you guys prefer travelling alone, or with company?

wandering_kat

Tough question - though I undoubtedly prefer to travel alone, i think i'd go mad if i didn't hook up occasionally with like-minded people, whether to travel further together or just hang out for a while.

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cyberhippie

Poor lad does he know what he's letting himself in for!!

SHIMLA

Choice no. 4 - it depends on the people. If I feel the company is not right, then I'll go solo.

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jennifericous

cyberhippie, i think he's prepared.well i hope!
hes not a real man's man anyway. what hes most worried about is not that we'll talk all the time about food,clothes and boys, as girls do. rather that he might have to protect us!

Kanbe

for me, its definitely the first one

ddevadatta

For me it depends on the people. For one I have to travel with others, because I have a family. Second if traveling with others it depends if they can travel with my kids. For the most part I have had good luck.

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R.T.

Five would be the absolute maximum. Could be hard to get along all the time, even if your friends are easy-going. I prefer one or two companions, although I wouldn't mind travelling alone (I think...; since I've never travelled without at least one friend by my side).

jennifericous

i am anticipating a few arguments. although we did live together for 3 months in holland, we were all very easy going then! however it was somewhat easier last summer because me and my bf went together and they all went independently so we could still do our own thing. i feel like there may be some tensions when we all want to do different things. I know what i want to do when i get to india, i do have a certain degree of flexibility. But, I dont intend on wasting my trip to india, who knows when il be able to afford to do it again! any tips on how to avoid conflicts when travelling with others, as i havent done it? I dont want to split up from them for a while because i want them to be safe in a group with a boy.im sure we'll figure something out.

wandering_kat

Maybe you should make some ground-rules before you leave, eg: designating certain days to split up just for the day.
You could also decide, if each of you has different places of special interest, that when each person's "place of particular interest" is reached, that person gets to decide the gameplan for that stopover......

*jyoti*

Well, haven't been to India, but have traveled otherwise and have travelled a lot alone. I've really enjoyed the time to just be with myself. Of course, when there are problems it would have been nice to have someone else to "bear the burden," but in general I enjoy the ability to do whatever I want to and not have to share my space or talk... And there are always people who are quite willing to stop and chat with you if you let them...

Kanbe

make sure several of you take a mobile
it'll be handy when trying to locate one another

agni5454

he he....if i had a choice between travelling alone or travelling with 4 ladies, i would choose the latter

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machadinha

The idea to have it be OK to split up for a day or even longer is sound advice. I don't know or remember how long you'll be going but with five people it would be very hard to want to do the same things all the time. You don't really need the bf for protection so it doesn't really matter; if some in your company feel they do they could just stick together right.

I've travelled with people I met on the way and we'd sometimes opt to take a separate room, or just split up for a week or so, just because we wanted to see different things or needed time on our own. When I travel with friends you sometimes opt to go your own way or stay in and read a book or whatever. Being out and about on your own even for a day will probably give you a very different perspective on a given place too, or having to arrange your own transport for a change or something.

One couple and three singles can also easily lead to tensions, depending on how couplish you are about it. Keep the group in mind as well. That you've lived together before should be helpful and give you an indication; friendships and even the best of them can go funny when travelling and being dependent on each other though. Is that person really so dominant or whiny and do they have to snore so loud?

In kindness Jen.

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jennifericous

thanks for those tips, i especially like the idea of each person getting their way when it comes to their 'special place of interest'
im sure we wont annoy each other with our personal traits, as im well used to all of them! Maybe they'll find me a bit dominating because believe it or not, i am the most informed one. i also never get lost and they all know it, so while im lookin around remembering where we are, they just follow me. so i would be worried to leave them alone. i sound like a real mummy!
my bf and i are very couply unfortunatley machadinha, but the others are well used to this. and we plan on toning it down as i believe PDA is not well recieved in india.
well i know im complaining alot, but i cant wait to get on a long train journey and have one of our great chats about life and politics and everything else in between. Im also looking forward to making new friends and bringin them along with us too. that might help ease tensions too. my response to the poll was i like the comradery of travelling with others, but then i have never travelled alone and experienced the independence and liberation of it.