Holidaying with Friends
Last year I returned from a holiday with some university friends. Having been on holiday only with family or alone before, I can definitely say it’s a very different experience. Here's my thoughts of the experience back in August!
To be perfectly honest, I felt very much rushed into booking the holiday and was looking forward to the idea of going with friends more than the reality. With them stressing about booking a location, they did it somewhat without me fully researching it and I wasn’t very impressed with the end result. To be fair to them, the accommodation was better than I had expected but it was filthy, small and not the all-inclusive hotel I’ve become thoroughly accustomed to. When I got on holiday, I like to relax; I don’t want to worry about cleaning, cooking and making my bed. I love fresh bedding, a new towels daily and the opportunity to have room service...my type of holiday.
I am quite and independent person so I find it hard to be around people 24/7 and being cramped in such a small area was difficult. When personalities clash, the conflict is unreal and I can definitely say, one of them had a very strong personality. Opinionated is an understatement and I found myself feeling more and more bullied by the day. Being told almost hourly that I constantly complained was genuinely upsetting, especially coming from someone who really did complain all the time. I pride myself on being a pretty positive person, and apart from when I’m moping in bed, I don’t like for other people to be brought down with my mood. To be honest, I really don’t think I even did complain all that much. I wasn’t very well the last day but other than that, a simple statement of “it’s hot” would strike a huge blow up, or when I put the blind down on the plane - as many people do - apparently no. Selfish is another thing I really struggled with. Take photos for example, never once did anyone offer to take a photo of me. Instead, they gave me demands and didn’t return the favour in the slightest. Moreover, I hate when it’s one rule for one and another for another.
It’s also very hard to be in a group with two people who are very clearly best friends. I was always very conscious of the fact that my childhood best friend, Hannah and I, were closer to each other than the others, so I went out of my way to talk to the others when we were socialising as a group. They didn’t seem to share this conscious. They would go to the toilets together - leaving me alone at the table -, go to the cash machine together, even move to be together and away from me. I felt so isolated and alone half the time, and that was not the reason I wanted to go on holiday with friends.
One of the most annoying and irritating things is when people are completely different people when the other person is present. They say one thing and then either after spending time with the other, or the other is simply there, they would deny the conversation entirely. For example, I booked an organised tour of Split - quite happy to do alone - and when one of them said she’d like to come too, however mere hours later, she said that we never had the conversation and I’d made the whole thing up. It’s so undermining and incredible frustrating when this keeps happening, over and over again.
Sometimes I think it’s just so much easier to travel alone. You can book trips and do what you want, when you want. I’m not a fan of doing trips on the last day of a holiday as I prefer to have a relaxing day before travelling home.
My advice would be to make sure you don’t rush into booking a holiday because it’s a lot of money you want to spend and enjoy. Also, don’t feel pressured to saying yes!
I am quite and independent person so I find it hard to be around people 24/7 and being cramped in such a small area was difficult. When personalities clash, the conflict is unreal and I can definitely say, one of them had a very strong personality. Opinionated is an understatement and I found myself feeling more and more bullied by the day. Being told almost hourly that I constantly complained was genuinely upsetting, especially coming from someone who really did complain all the time. I pride myself on being a pretty positive person, and apart from when I’m moping in bed, I don’t like for other people to be brought down with my mood. To be honest, I really don’t think I even did complain all that much. I wasn’t very well the last day but other than that, a simple statement of “it’s hot” would strike a huge blow up, or when I put the blind down on the plane - as many people do - apparently no. Selfish is another thing I really struggled with. Take photos for example, never once did anyone offer to take a photo of me. Instead, they gave me demands and didn’t return the favour in the slightest. Moreover, I hate when it’s one rule for one and another for another.
It’s also very hard to be in a group with two people who are very clearly best friends. I was always very conscious of the fact that my childhood best friend, Hannah and I, were closer to each other than the others, so I went out of my way to talk to the others when we were socialising as a group. They didn’t seem to share this conscious. They would go to the toilets together - leaving me alone at the table -, go to the cash machine together, even move to be together and away from me. I felt so isolated and alone half the time, and that was not the reason I wanted to go on holiday with friends.
One of the most annoying and irritating things is when people are completely different people when the other person is present. They say one thing and then either after spending time with the other, or the other is simply there, they would deny the conversation entirely. For example, I booked an organised tour of Split - quite happy to do alone - and when one of them said she’d like to come too, however mere hours later, she said that we never had the conversation and I’d made the whole thing up. It’s so undermining and incredible frustrating when this keeps happening, over and over again.
Sometimes I think it’s just so much easier to travel alone. You can book trips and do what you want, when you want. I’m not a fan of doing trips on the last day of a holiday as I prefer to have a relaxing day before travelling home.
My advice would be to make sure you don’t rush into booking a holiday because it’s a lot of money you want to spend and enjoy. Also, don’t feel pressured to saying yes!
Comments
Post a Comment