So this subject is hard, and I, myself, am not the master either. Traveling with new friends is hard because you are dealing with double the confusion and mystery – who is this person and where am I???

 

 

Okay, the “who is this person” is probably a bit dramatic because you most likely know them, just not well. Hence, the new in new friends. Traveling with new friends is something all study abroad students encounter. It’s like yeah I am going to get some friends together and go on a trip, well the people I just met that I have made some sort of connection to… you feel me?

Here’s the good thing about traveling with someone: you get to know them decently well in a short amount of time. The downside can be that you simply do not like what you got to know. The trick is whether or not you end up liking this fresh acquaintance, you cannot let it affect your trip. You spent time, money, and effort to be in this new location don’t let them away your experience or happiness. This happens to a lot of people abroad where they go on a trip and don’t have a good time because all they can think about when they recall Barcelona (I have never been to Barcelona & am not subtweeting anyone here, I am sure Barcelona is great) is all of the conflicts they had with their travel buddy. The upside can be that you just had a great trip, got to know someone knew, and have a future go to person to travel with! And hey, maybe they also know someone who travels similarly to you two, and so do you, now you have a travel group! The more the merrier.

Notice I used the phrase “travels similarly to you” because while you might think your travel buddy is a great person, if they are a city tours kind of fella and you want to go surfing and don’t care about a city tour; this might not be the travel buddy for you. Similarly some people like scheduled travel itineraries to make they get everything done, others rather just see how the day goes. On another level, maybe you are both hardcore planners and your itinerary doesn’t match yours and neither are willing to budge. Honestly, I have seen it all and the most important thing is:

Just because you don’t like traveling with them, doesn’t mean you don’t like them as a person!

Some of my best friends from high school, I would NEVER travel with. I love them, but I know we wouldn’t want to do the same things and would just waste each other’s time.I have made so many friends my closer friends by traveling with them and I have also let people ruin my mood during a trip.

Here are my do’s and don’ts for traveling with new friends listed below 🙂

THE DO’S

1. Discuss ahead of time your “travel style”

• Museums- boring or fun?
• Schedule or go with the flow
• Hostels or hotels
• City tour or surfing                                                              
• Beach or pool
• Alcohol all day every night or few nights out
• Clubs or bars
• Wake up early & seize the day or rest up

2. Do what YOU want to do

Don’t like what your travel buddy plans on doing tomorrow? Go separate ways for the day so you both obtain your trip goals and avoid getting irritated with each other.

3. Get to know your travel buddy before & during the trip

Grab lunch or coffee before you leave and just talk! You are going to be stuck with this person for a period of time! Learn things to discuss with them! While out to dinner or back at the room, get to know where they come from. Childhood memories and crazy college party fails are great conversation starters then can spark hours of storytelling and uncover shared interests.

4. Be each other’s personal photographer

Come on. Nobody wants to be the “can you take a picture of me” person. Not that you should ever be afraid to ask! But, my point is that you shouldn’t have to. Whether or not they are a steady poster on Instagram, even if the photos are just to sit on their laptop or be sent to parents, take pictures of them! At the end of the day, exchange pics both off guard and posed. Sharing photos at the end of each day also makes it so you aren’t trying to send each other 1,000 photos at the end of your trip.

5. Be open minded

Okay so maybe they want to eat a cuisine you have never tried before or your travel buddy suggests a hike to the view instead of a bus ride? Try it! Traveling and exploring is all about new experiences. Maybe you aren’t an outdoorsy person and would have never thought of getting there in any way besides an air conditioned bus, but, hiking could be fun? Then maybe you discover you LOVE hiking or you LOVE Thai food! The best experiences are unplanned.

THE DON’TS

1. COMPLAIN

Unless it’s a mutual “oh my god it’s so hot” then just keep it to yourself. Especially complaining when they are clearly enjoying themselves, just don’t bother. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and dragging theirs will only put you both in a poor mood. One of the most important parts of traveling with anyone is to keep your mood up.

2. Don’t go with what everyone else is doing if it doesn’t interest you

I am extremely guilty of this. My much more fashionable friends can shop for hourrrrs. And hey that’s them and they enjoy it! But I have been completely miserable walking from store to store in several countries because I wouldn’t just go off on my own instead. I missed out on activities that would have suited me better by not taking initiative.

3. Don’t party all night then wake up early

You will die. That is all.

Just kidding, but seriously, this may be fine to push through when you are at home and want to go out but have to wake up for work in the morning (this is also a bad idea) but, this is beyond horrible on a trip. You will both end up grouchy, you won’t want to do anything, and you might not get to fully enjoy the things you do do. If you decide to have a late night, plan/allow yourself to have a later start the following day. Rest up and reboot to have another successful travel day!

4. Agree to disagree, don’t argue

What good is it going to do you to argue with a person you are stuck with for the next couple days. You feel an argument coming on? Just drop it. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what it is, I promise you it is not worth the aftermath!

5. Don’t judge your travel companion

They don’t eat meat??? (lol me either) That’s fine! Doesn’t mean you can’t. They are scared to go snorkeling – you don’t know what trauma they may have with swimming. Same thing with drinking, and smoking. Drinking and smoking are things we all have strong opinions about. To me drinking is okay and fun (when you handle it correctly) and smoking… thank you for helping kill our atmosphere. We all have different upbringings and different opinions. Be understanding before judging.

I hope these tips help you survive the double unknown of traveling with a new friend!

Love & Safe Travels,

Ashley ♥️

 

 

Hello…yes, it has been a while.

So, where have I been?

I believe I last wrote while I was in Italy last October, and here I am again. This time around I am in Elba Island, but I will get to that in another post. So where HAVE I been? I was in Italy, the Netherlands, Brussels, France, Canada, Maryland, Pennsylvania, California, and the Dominican Republic since October. Unfortunately, I have been unable to write and update everyone due to breaking my laptop. Notice I didn’t say that I broke my laptop… but nonetheless I love the person who accidentally shattered it and now my laptop is feeling better!

I will begin posting again in here as often I can and then slowly get on a schedule. In the future, when I determine a schedule of posting days, I will publish it on here. I am very excited to be back to writing my public diary! I hope you are all ready to read about the ups, downs, tips, and tricks I have to share throughout my travels!

NEXT POST TOPIC: BRUSSELS, NETHERLANDS, FRANCE – TRAVELING WITH NEW FRIENDS

Love & Safe Travels,

Ashley ♥️

 

Weekend trips are at another level when you’re living in Europe! I had a week of wearing jeans and sweaters then got caught in a summer dream this past weekend…

also you can find videos of my trips on my YouTube just copy & paste the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJfVCTvYunE&t=18s

DAY ONE:

THE ISLAND OF CAPRI

Okay lets get one thing clear… yes capri pants do come from Capri! Fashion designer, Sonja de Lennart got the idea for the pants while on vacation here from the way the fisherman rolled their pants.

But this island is much more than above the ankle pants! The town of Capri is nestled along the harbor’s turquoise waters. When I first arrived, we went on 360 degree boat tour of the island. There are so many hidden caves and coves. The people of Capri are very superstitious so whenever we backed the boat into a cove we had to touch or lick the cove walls.

Another local superstition is that you have to kiss as you go through the hole in the “love rock” above or you will have seven years of bad sex!

SIDENOTE : Italians are all about the sex

After our stunning sunrise boat tour, I chose to hike up the island. The citizens of Capri must have the most amazing butts because the whole town goes straight up so everything is on a rather steep hill. No steppers needed at their local gym! The hike up was through alleys and neighborhoods kids were walking past without breaking a sweat on their way home from school.

View from the top of the hike

Looking down on the town and harbor was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful views I have witnessed. From here we got in a bus and went up the “Mamma Mia” road to Anacapri. They call it the Mamma Mia road because when you drive up it you hang over the edge and the drivers yell “mamma mia!” Too Italian.

In Anacapri we went took a chair lift to the tippity top of the entire island! The chair lift went over a more rural area and gave a complete outlook of Capri.

DAY TWO:

POSITANO

Ahhh… another day another island. After a night in the hostel we hit the docks. Nothing like a nine am booze cruise, am I right??? We bought wine before boarding

MONEY SAVER TIP: Buy booze from a corner store before any outing. A whole bottle is about 4 euro from a story but one drink normally starts at 6 euro when you are out. Also stores in Italy stop legally selling alcohol at 22pm so plan ahead!

and drank it as the sun rose while we laid on lounge chairs. While briefly stopped at a cove, Bella convinced me to jump off the boat. Thankfully the high salt content of the Mediterranean made it easier to stay afloat because I am literally horrible at swimming.

The beach of Positano was so hard on the sole but easy on the soul. While the views were dreamy, the black rock beach not only stabbed your feet but burned them too. It’s such a small place but a great day trip! Six euro and you can get the best mixed drinks of your life. I AM NOT KIDDING. I had maybe too many vodka peaches and “tricky tricky”s (don’t ask what was in those because I don’t even know). The peaches put me to sleep and I had an incredible nap on the beach and woke up with a solid tan.

DAY THREE:

POMPEII

Okay I am going to be very honest… I’m not really a sight see-er person. Pompeii was not as fun for me because yes it was neat but I am not a fan of just looking at things. I would compare myself to a golden retriever, and I need to be kept busy. The ruins just weren’t interactive enough for me. Of course I was still thought provoked by standing in the former home of Romulus and Remus. I couldn’t stop touching everything wondering who of my history books could have laid there hands in this very spot. I just wish it was somehow more interactive of a visit but it just consisted of walking down roads and taking pictures. Still a much apprieciated experience, Mr. Lumsargis my AP Euro teacher would have been proud.

welllllll that’s all for now folks!

Love & Safe Travels,

Ashley ♥️

Since I am only nineteen, I have never been clubbing in the states so I don’t exactly have something to compare this experience to yet. But, I can tell you what did go down. For starters, Italians don’t “pregame.” The average clubbing aged Italian still lives with their family so this is partially why there are no house parties, pregaming, or taking people home generally. But of course as cheap American students studying abroad, we pregamed! Then we took the metro and walked to the club. At the entrance, you pay an entrance fee and for your first drink upfront.

“How do they know we drink???” -an already drunk friend

What I assume is a major difference from the clubs back home is how they dance with each other. Italian boys will immediately spin you around and then they pull you close. It’s a much more romantic gesture than the grinding back in the states!

“you will love Rome, and the Roman men will love you” -Italian guy at bar

Another major difference is that in Italy they don’t really get drunk, or at least not trashed like your average college kid. They do drink but not to the point of being drunk (I think this is another thing they have mastered better than us).

KISSING

If you meet someone at the club, the norm for them is that you will kiss. Italians are in generally just a bit touchier as you probably already know and you will just have to get over it. Even my bartender kissed me and this is just normal for them. Not moving when someone gets close to you is something I’ve had to adapt to because “personal space” just doesn’t translate into Italian.

Overall, had an AMAZING time going out in Rome and met so many people. 10/10 would recommend.

Love & Safe Travels,

Ashley ♥️

miei amici da Roma Trè

maybe I have a weak palette but the sushi from an Italian club is the best sushi I have ever had…

the forbidden pregame with a pinky up to make it a little classier

The number one thing that turns people off to living abroad is fear of becoming homesick.

YES, missing your friends and family is going to happen! But, the number of people I have heard say this miss their, bed, room , house, etc. is crazy. When you begin your journey abroad you have to have the mindset of “this is my new home.” If you continue to think of your previous house as home, just that worldly connection can make you miss it. That home is just a house and houses are not permanent. Make wherever you are feel like home by: decorating, hanging photographs of family/friends, moving furniture to your liking and through words. Don’t forget to call your new living arrangement “home” to help psychologically convince yourself that you are comfortable there. Isn’t it funny how great of a role our choice in language can make us feel?

Sticks and stones may break my bones but…words can hurt me too.

Don’t let the fear of missing “home” hold you back from establishing a new one! Leaping out of your comfort zone is what we need in order to grow as individuals. Sometimes we need to get away from family, friends, and other ones we love so much to find out who we really are. Break away from your norm and discover more of what lies in the world around you. Let Earth be your home.

Love & Safe Travels,

Ashley ♥️

Hello loves!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton