by Caroline St Clare

Created on: July 24, 2011

The notion of traveling with a friend can initially seem like a wonderful idea. After all, you share similar interests and enjoy each other’s company. What could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, even the best of friends can return home no longer on speaking terms after time spent traveling together, simply because they were unprepared. If you value your friendship, it could be worthwhile considering the drawbacks of traveling with a friend before you take the plunge.

First holiday together

Spending a few hours in the company of a friend is quite different to spending several days or weeks together. The longer you spend in someone else’s company, the more likely they are to reveal the less amiable part of their personality. When in the company of friends, most of us choose to show the friendlier side, after all, that's generally how we find and keep our friends. But sometimes, showing a permanently positive front when you’re feeling tired, irritable or unwell, can prove difficult on a daily basis. As long as your friendship is strong, it should be able to withstand the odd bit of tetchiness during the holiday. But if not, you could end up falling out and not speaking.

Type of holiday

Before volunteering to spend your hard earned money to go traveling in the company of a friend, it's vital you both agree on the type of holiday you both want. When traveling with a friend there will have to a fair amount of give and take on both sides when it comes to deciding how you are going to spend your time. If you’re looking forward to spending your days on the beach and your nights out partying, but your friend would prefer to be tucked up in bed early ready for a trekking expedition the next morning, you’re likely to end up arguing about what to do.

Meeting other people

When friends go traveling together, it's inevitable that you'll meet other people. Problems can arise if both of you don't like the same people. Even more uncomfortable, is if one of you strikes up a romantic friendship and the other is unwittingly put in the position of playing gooseberry. This is a difficult situation for both parties. Unless one of you is totally understanding and compromising, situations such as this can spoil a good friendship.

No alone time

When you travel with a friend, it can be difficult to have any alone time, just to do your own thing. If you relish the idea of spending some quiet time reading in your room, but your friend wants to spend every minute in

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