You are on a mountain top. You have spent the last 16 hours getting to this point. The view is the most incredible sight that you have ever seen. You have pushed yourself to the limit and you cry tears of joy as you are both exhausted and overcome with the beauty.
You look around and you are alone. While the feeling of joy and accomplishment is still there, your heart falls as you realize that no amount of pictures will be able to communicate the emotions that you feel at this moment. When you show the pictures to your friends later, it won’t mean the same thing to them. No matter how beautiful a picture is, you can never fully capture a moment.
Just then, your friend peaks their head over the crest of the mountain. They look like they are going to collapse with every step. Your heart soars! This is someone is truly experiencing this moment with you. The pain, the joy, the accomplishment, the emotions. While physically exhausted, you are emotionally filled. Your friend reaches you and you collapse together in laughter.
Solo adventures have their own place and importance in our lives, but for the average traveler who wants to get the most out of their adventure, here are three reasons why you should travel with friends:
The Money
You guessed it. Unfortunately, money is something that’s crucial for traveling. The further you go, the more places you want to visit, the higher the cost. By having friends that are traveling with you, you are able to split everything. This is especially huge for gas and lodging. But even food costs can be cut down by splitting it with friends.
When I went on an almost month-long 6000+ mile trip to the west coast with three of my friends, we were able to keep the entire cost down to less than $800 per person. A solo trip of this nature would have been over $1,000 in gas alone.
The Experience
As I mentioned at the beginning, the adventures that you have when traveling can never fully be captured. The only way to fully experience a moment is to be there when it happens. People travel to find things that are different than they are used to. They are wanting an experience unlike their everyday lives. But when you have these experiences and no one can relate to what you went through, your adventure feels empty. If you travel alone, the trip ends when you come home. With friends, the adventure is relived every time you see each other.
“A good friend listens to your adventures. A best friend makes them with you.”
The Security
Some places, actual physical security must be considered. When my friends and I went to Glacier National Park, they warn against traveling alone because of wildlife, exhaustion, getting lost, etc.
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
However, I’m not only talking about physical security. By having friends with you when traveling, you are more likely to try things that you wouldn’t otherwise. Whether it’s because one of your friends has a different interest than you or one of your friends is just really good at persuading you to do things. Maybe just by having other people around, you feel more comfortable exploring a place that you’ve never been to.
In any case, by having friends around you in foreign environments, you are able to more confidently interact with the experiences you have.
The next time you plan an adventure, why not ask a couple friends to go with you? Stop adventuring alone when you could be sharing your experiences with your closest friends? These experiences will drive your friendship to new levels of transparency and familiarity.