Travelling with friends can be an awesome experience or an unmitigated disaster, which is why choosing the right travelling companion is one of the most important decisions that you can make on your travels. With the right friends you will find yourself going on awesome adventures and you will have crazy holiday stories. Choose the wrong friend however and you will end up having endless arguments adn a miserable time.

For those who have never travelled before you should know that travelling with friends is not the same as your normal nine to five relationship. The ups and downs, joys and sorrows of your adventures will not only put a lot of strain on your friendship, but will mean you learn more about that person in a shorter space of time than you would under normal circumstances. This can be too much for some friendships and it’s not unknown for people to fall out with each other, moreover if you are travelling with friends you might find yourself in the middle of an argument between your buddies. Some of these problems are to be expected. If you have a partner then you know that arguments and falling-outs are a small part of a larger and far happier picture.

One of the most important things to remember is that travelling with friends doesn’t mean being on top of them 24/7. If for whatever reason things are getting too much, or you just want to do different things, don’t be afraid to spend some time apart. After all you can always arrange to meet each other again in a few days or even a few months time and climb Mount Merapi volcano.

Sharing adventures and exploring new places is a great way to both strengthen and reaffirm a friendship. The experiences that you share and the memories that you create will last a lifetime and beat any amount of evenings spent at your local pub.

In my experience the friends that I have travelled with are also the people who I am closest to. There is not one person who I would not be happy to share another adventure with in the future, because I know that a journey together would be a recipe for fun and good times, that’s the really great thing about travelling with friends.