Many people over 50 love to travel, but don’t want to travel alone. If you’re looking for alternatives to traveling solo, perhaps you would do well to find a good travel partner.
Traveling can be a bit of a stress-test for a friendship – being in new surroundings with a different schedule, different food, and even different customs and languages can present challenges to your friendship if you’re not prepared. Some otherwise wonderful friends are not always the most ideal travel companions.
Before you embark on a long journey, it’s best to think ahead and talk in advance to make sure you and your travel partner are well suited to travel together.
Tips for how to communicate and plan to find the perfect travel partner:
Discuss Your Goals for the Trip: What do you most want to experience on this trip? Are you hoping for a relaxing visit to the beach, or a bustling sightseeing tour with an action-packed itinerary? Do you want to spend time alone, or stay together most of the time? Do you want to meet new people, or get to know each other better? Do you want to experience serenity or stimulation – do you want to retreat from civilization, or get caught up in the excitement of an urban center?
It’s best to have a sense of what kind of vacation experience you want to get, prior to embarking on the journey. Talk with your travel partner about your hopes and expectations. Even if you don’t agree on absolutely every aspect of the trip, make sure you have enough common ground and can support each other in finding your ideal vacation experiences along the way.
Choose a Good “Roommate”: It’s wonderful to have a travel partner to share the adventure with – but make sure you are compatible. Is your travel partner easy to get along with in close quarters, or do they have a lot of particular needs that make it difficult to share space together? Do you enjoy each other’s company? Can you have fun talking to each other for hours – and more importantly, perhaps, can you enjoy the silence together and share space without constantly having to entertain each other?
Talk About Your Budget: Traveling with a friend is a great way to save money on accommodation and meal expenses, but make sure that you both have the same idea of what you want this vacation to cost. Will you be splitting the costs of the trip (hotels, restaurant meals, tours, etc.) or each paying your own way separately? Does one of you have more expensive needs than the other – will you both be happy in a no-frills hotel, or do you need a more deluxe set of accommodations? Talking about these issues in advance can avoid any misunderstandings or hard feelings once you are on vacation.
Take a Short Trip Together First: It’s often best to take a test run with your new travel partner, to make sure you can be a good team on the road. Before you book a round-trip ticket to the far side of the world, consider taking a short weekend trip to stay at a nearby Bed and Breakfast.
Choosing the right travel partner can make your vacations even more enjoyable and often affordable. Just make sure to discuss some expectations upfront to make sure you both can get the vacation experience you were hoping for – without any misunderstandings or disappointments along the way.
GVA SENIORS CLUB
However, if you fail to find a reliable travel partner, don’t worry. Join the GVA seniors club trips across Africa and meet like-minded individuals traveling solo. At GVA Seniors Club we believe that if you want to go somewhere you like but no one else wants to, just go by yourself. You will meet people with similar interests as you.
Learn more about traveling, volunteering and exploring new cultures as a senior travel with GVA Seniors Club.
LET US PLAN YOUR TRIP
Regardless of when you are planning to travel to Africa, we can make all arrangements prior to your scheduled dates. Just fill Volunteer Trip Planning Form below and let us get your volunteer holiday organized or Simply Make an inquiry and let us know your volunteer travel needs.
