This post details tips for planning the perfect getaway with friends loved ones or even a few new strangers! Get organized with this list before you head out on your journey.
A vacation is one of the best ways to spend quality time with friends. However, there are challenges to going away with a group of buddies. Friend circles are often made up of very different personalities – and you all may have very different interpretations of what a vacation entails.
Below are some tips for planning the perfect getaway that will help you to work in harmony so that you plan a vacation that everyone enjoys.
8 Tips for planning the perfect getaway
Choose the right friends
The first step is to choose the right group of friends. Ideally, you should all get on with one another – if two people in the group don’t get along, there’s most likely going to be tension and conflict along the way, which nobody wants.
On top of making sure that you’re all genuinely ‘friends’, you should make sure that they’re the type of people you’re willing to go on vacation with. You want to be able to relax in their company – you don’t want to be looking after them or be bossed around by them. This is particularly important if it’s only going to be the two of you.
Start a group chat
A group chat is a great way to keep everyone on the same page. You can pretty much arrange your entire vacation from here without having to physically meet up – which could be useful if there’s a large group of you and you’ve all got busy lives. You can even share links to deals you’ve seen or photos of important documents.
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are two of the popular platforms for setting up a group chat. A Facebook event page could be another solution.
Work out what type of vacation you want to go on
To work out the destination, you need to work out what type of vacation you want to go on. This is likely to depend on the types of people you plan to travel with. A few examples of the type of vacation include:
- Beach break: If you want a laid-back break of sunbathing and drinking cocktails, a beach break is almost the most reliable option. Plan a big summer holiday or catch some winter sun.
- Road trip: A road trip could be in a car, RV, or on a motorbike. This usually consists of staying in motels and seeing sights along the way – it’s a bit more action-packed than a beach break.
- Festival fun: From music festivals to beer festivals, these types of holidays tend to consist of an entire weekend of non-stop partying. Make sure you’re all interested in the festival and that you’re prepared to go camping.
Adventure Vacation Types
- Snow sports: A great vacation for the winter. It doesn’t matter if you’re an avid skier/snowboarder or if you’ve never tried snow sports before – it could be fun either. Just be prepared for a physically active getaway.
- Golf getaway: Golf is a great sport for playing with friends. It’s an activity vacation that you can take at your own pace. Learn more here about planning a successful gold getaway.
- Cultural adventure: You could plan to explore the history or culture of a city with friends or backpack around a country as a group. This is best suited to friends who want an educational adventure rather than a relaxing vacation.
- Cycling tour: This has the adventure appeal of a road trip, but is more physically active. You may even want to train for it if you don’t already regularly go on cycle trips. Best suited to friends who like to be active!
- Outdoor trek: If you and your friends are outdoorsy types you could plan to do a trek. This could include anything from hiking across Yellowstone to walking the Inca Trail. Consider training for this if you don’t regularly go hiking.
Once you’ve established the type of vacation, you can start picking out destinations. It’s worth noting that you can blend different types of vacation if multiple people want different things – a city like Barcelona could allow you to combine a beach break and cultural trip.
Find a date that suits everyone
You need to work out a date when everyone is free. The further you plan ahead, the easier it is to find a date without people already having plans in place.
Certain events like festivals may have to be booked on a specific weekend and you may have to book at a certain time to secure tickets – make sure everyone is aware of this.
Know everyone’s budget
Some people may be willing to spend more than others, but ultimately the vacation needs to be within everyone’s budget. If someone in the group keeps bringing up concerns with the price, you should try to compromise. There are lots of ways to save money on a group vacation – check out a few tips here.
The tips for planning the perfect getaway should ensure you all have a good time and don’t break the bank.
Explore your accommodation options
Where are you all going to stay? The best accommodation option is likely to depend on how many people are going.
If it’s just two or three of you, you may be able to rely on a hotel or hostel room. If it’s a big group of you, you may want to consider renting out a property between you. You can get vacation rentals suitable for up to 30 people. Ideally, you don’t want to be spread out across different hotels or rental accommodation as this will limit the time you spend together.
Consider the ‘divide and conquer’ method
The ‘divide and conquer’ method is a way of sharing out the responsibility of booking a vacation. Each of you plans out a different aspect of the vacation (for example, in a group of three, someone could plan out flights, someone could plan out accommodations and someone could plan out attractions). You can still check that everyone is happy with each aspect before booking.
Of course, some people may prefer to simply plan it all out together or let one person take charge. Just make sure that everyone in the group gets a say.
Pay what you owe promptly
There may be times when it’s easier for one person to book all the flights together or all the attraction tickets to take advantage of a deal before it disappears. In these cases, everyone must pay back that person promptly so as not to cause any conflict.
It could be worth keeping track of the exact amount that everyone owes – otherwise, it can become too difficult to remember who owes who what.
*This is a contributed post, all images owned by jetsetandforget, unsplash.com, pexels.com and pixabay.com