Comments on: Nightmare travel companions

By: chris

chris — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:34:47 +0000

Sometimes the worst kind of travel companion is one that you’re really looking forward to spending time with! My friend upped and left me two days into a 10 day trip from Paris to Nice, saying she was home-sick. Aside from being disappointed that we missed out on the exciting journey together, (it was both our first times abroad without parents) I couldn’t help but feel insecure about whether it was my fault. She had previously managed to go 3 weeks in Kenya without getting home-sick that same summer! :S

By: Ted Nelson

Ted Nelson — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:31:03 +0000

Group camping trips can be the same scenario. We usually choose the people we camp with, but sometimes we bring in new blood and invite others to come. These new people usually turn out fine, but we have had some really annoying ones too.

By: ayngelina

ayngelina — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 22:43:33 +0000

I was shocked at the number of women traveling solo through Central America. It’s been really great to meet so many, they are so friendly and open to other travelers. Just today I told a girl I was headed to the market and she said ‘oh great I’ll join you’ we had a great time together and at the end of the day we were no longer strangers.

By: R.

R. — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:20:27 +0000

Ha! I think I might’ve been able to put up with you guys for a couple of more days in Muang Ngoi. (No Key Lime pies there but the place was certainly amazing.)

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 15:46:05 +0000

Thanks for the great comments (and some more illustrations of nightmare company!) R, I’m glad you didn’t mention a couple of annoying Brits you met on a trekking trip in Laos

Like you say Mark, the characters and rogues we meet stay in the memory for ever, and we do seem to grow fonder of them once we’ve left them far behind.

Your phone girl sounds like a real nightmare Ciki – would have been tempting to ditch the phone somewhere when she wasn’t looking

By: ciki

ciki — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:49:01 +0000

my worst travel companion – someone who had broken up with her boyfriend. Our travels were full of phone conversations (more like yelling) and topping up of phone credits .. etc.. it was very nerve wrecking. 1st and last

By: R.

R. — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:33:13 +0000

Aside from the occasional trek, I’d rather avoid organized tours. I had the misfortune of being part of a month-long tour on my first trip to Europe. I was 10 and I still remember the horror, vividly. Drama is bound to occur when you confine a random group of people together for an extended amount of time. I bet it would make a good TV show.

On the other hand, traveling alone is the best deal ever because you’re never really alone but the trick is that you get to pick your travel mates (even if they pick you, you could always sneak out the back door). I have to say that so far I’ve been extremely lucky. The most nightmarish travel companion I’ve met has been extremely annoying at worst and luckily I didn’t meet them while traveling but I did imagine the pain it must be to travel with them.

By: Mark Pawlak

Mark Pawlak — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:30:30 +0000

One of the most cited reasons to travel is to meet other people. It would be a little sad if we grouped up with like-minded folk all the time, don’t you think? Obviously there are limits to this theory; I don’t seek out trouble. And I would certainly advise a degree of caution and a measure of distance be applied. But bring on the characters and roll out the rogues, just leave us enough space to explore alone, or with people of our choosing.

My worst travel companion: A top bunk drunk, and all the late night shenanigans that he provided.