Although the video posted in September 2022 was revealed to be a joke, many people commented stating their friendships had ended during a trip.
In a video posted to TikTok, 27-year-old travel influencer N’dea Irvin-Choy from Los Angeles responded to the video with five pieces of advice.
“Here are a few pointers that I learned about travelling with girls’ trips and just travelling in groups in general,” she told viewers.
If someone followed all the advice and the trip still didn’t go well, Irvin-Choy claimed the person’s friends weren’t suitable people to travel with.
Choose your friends wisely
“First and foremost, you cannot travel with everybody. Not all of your friends are travel friends. You need to choose wisely,” Irvin-Choy said.
“Typically the person who shares your interests and hobbies is going to be the person you wanna travel with.”
Set expectations before setting off
The second tip was to discuss and agree upon the type of trip, as well as other details such as budget, activities, restaurants/food, accommodation and transport.
“Decide on all these details before you even buy a plane ticket, train ticket, a hotel, whatever,” she said.
By discussing the type of trip, friends can agree on the way they will spend time and money and avoid unspoken expectations or conflict.
“So are you going budget, are you going luxury? Are you going adventurous are you going chill?” Irvin-Choy said, adding that these things have to be decided before you leave.
Make some space
While it’s easy to assume a group should do everything together, Irvin-Choy said it was okay for people to do things separately.
“People always try to force other people to do all the same things since it’s a group trip. You don’t gotta spend every waking moment together,” she said. “People can go off and do their own thing; let them.”
Plan activities ahead of time
It’s fun to “wing it” while away but according to Irvin-Choy, having an itinerary as a base can go a long way in avoiding arguments.
“An itinerary is super-helpful, so helpful because you’re gonna get tired and when you get tired you get angry and a little bit snippy,” she said. You don’t need a super-detailed schedule or to plan weeks in advance, Irvin-Choy added, but planning a few days ahead or before you leave means you can make the most of your time.
“You can also work in breaks, so again, you don’t have to be around each other the whole time,” she added.
Agree on rules for drinking
Finally, Irvin-Choy said any trip that involved drinking alcohol, should have agreed-upon rules, for safety.
“By rules, I mean that when you are drinking no one can go home alone or can go to the club alone, or vice versa... you need to figure out some rules.”
