Traveling with a friend can be a wonderfully enriching experiencing, bringing you closer together and creating lifelong memories. But it can also test your bond and shine a harsh light on your differences. As the latest season of “The White Lotus” showed, friends often get into conflicts on vacation.
“Travel pulls people out of their usual rhythms, and that can bring out differences you didn’t realize mattered so much,” Sanah Kotadia, a licensed professional counselor with Balanced Minds Therapy, told HuffPost. “You’re spending more time together than you normally would, making back-to-back decisions, and trying to meet different needs with one shared plan.”
While one person might want everything clearly scheduled in an itinerary, the other might prefer to take a slower, less structured approach.
“Add things like money, hunger or stress, and it doesn’t take much for tension to build,” Kotadia said.
From flight delays and lost luggage to smelly hotel rooms and bad weather, unexpected snags are the name of the game with travel ― and it’s not always conducive to bonding.
