Going away with your friends just might be the most stressful thing you do for fun. You laugh now, but you just wait. If you happen to make it past the “where are we going? how much will it cost?” and the dreaded “eeeehhh I dunno if I can afford it.” Then the hard part has just begun my friend. In theory going away with your bestest buds is like totes the best idea eva!!! But maybe even the people you trust with all of your secrets aren’t the best room mates after all…
So I’m here to share tips on surviving a holiday with friends based on my experiences.
~ Designate nights to cook
Set aside nights for each person to cook or organise dinner. This means that each night you’ll always have dinner organised and one person won’t be stuck doing all the cooking – remember they’re not your mum.
~ Designate nights to clean up
Similar to the cooking, make sure you share the cleaning up. Some of your friends might not care about how clean it is around them, and not want to clean up. So set aside a night that you’re each in charge of cleaning up.
~ Clean up after yourself!!!!
I cannot stress this one enough! Not cleaning up after yourself will cause a lot of arguments around the house and make your living situation oh-so-much harder!
~ Decide together on rooms
Be honest about which room you want to stay in, and if there are two people that want the same room, then they can work that out between themselves. This will save a lot of bitching and whinging in the long run, there will always be a compromise.
~ Work out how you’re going to divide food in the fridge/pantry
Someone ate your avocado? Uh-no. That’s not on. No one eats my avocado!!! Make sure you have clear boundaries in the fridge or pantry if you have paid for food individually. If the fridge isn’t big enough and you can’t designate areas, then LABEL, LABEL, LABEL.
~ Be flexible and calm
Don’t be stubborn. If there’s an issue be flexible and try to work with everyone. Sure, someone might get under your skin at one point or another, but don’t get angry about it. You’ll feel awkward later when everyone is avoiding you.
~ You don’t have to do EVERYTHING together
If a couple want to go and do their own thing for a few hours, let them. Remember it’s their holiday as much as yours. The same goes for you, don’t feel obligated to go out with everybody if you don’t feel like it. It’s perfectly acceptable to stay in, eat pizza and watch TV.
~ Plan some activities that you all want to do
Plan ahead before you go, you might get better deals. If you all want to go to a theme park then organise a day that you’ll go. There are often deals available for large groups of people which will end up making it cheaper for everyone.
~ Remember why you love your friends
Remember, after all is said and done these people are your closest friends. No matter how many arguments you had, how many people didn’t clean up after themselves or how many people had that bed you wanted, these people are your family. And we all know you’ll probably be organising another trip 6 months later.
M xx
