Going on vacation with friends sounds like a the dream. Between different schedules and ideas of what a vacation should look like, it's often not that easy. Our tips will help you organize a vacation with your friends.
Find a date early on
Finding dates is always the most difficult thing when vacationing with friends. Vacations, weddings, vacation closures and other dates are difficult to reconcile. It's best to get together six months to three quarters of a year in advance and agree on a date.
Extra tip: If you don't have any teachers etc. in your circle of friends, it's a good idea to avoid school holidays and not to go on vacation during peak times. Outside the vacation periods, such as the summer vacations, hotels, rental cars or campers are often cheaper. Also resorts and beaches are not that overcrowded and cafés not as busy.
Deciding on the type of vacation
Agree early on what kind of vacation you want to take. Do you like to be out in nature and do you want to do some sports activities or do you prefer sightseeing and shopping? If everyone communicates their own ideas and you discuss them afterwards, there'll be no disappointments on vacation. There are endless ways to spend a vacation with friends: You can rent a vacation home, book a hotel or get a camper from us. Think carefully about what you all want to do and what's important to you.
If all of you like to be flexible, a trip in a VW bus is a good option. This way you can make several stops and always have your bedroom with you. It's also handy that you can cook your own food and save money. Take a look at our Top 5 dishes for camping vacations. Another advantage is that you're not dependent on the weather. Bad weather at your spot? Then just break down the tents, pack up and move on to the next sunny spot.
If flexibility is not that important to you, a vacation home is a good choice. It has the advantage of being completely at your disposal and you can have fun. No matter what you decide: Discuss beforehand, then you all have the same ideas about your vacation.
Book all-inclusive packages instead of planning everything yourself
If you want to make it easy for yourself, then book all-inclusive packages instead of booking everything individually. Especially on a vacation with friends, it can be difficult to agree on all the little details and organize everything yourself. It's therefore easier to agree on a package that pleases everyone. The advantage of such packages is also that they're often cheaper than if you book all services separately.
Our recommendation: The Off Guide
Off Guide
Did you know we have our own travel guide? The Off Guide.
It creates individually planned routes for camping trips. These are tailored to your personal vacation ideas and include locations, campsites, activities and restaurants.
For a road trip without the stress of vacations planning.
P.S.: Your trip still remains flexible, because the Off Guide provides input without fixed bookings.
Friendship ends when it comes to money - as our grandparents used to say. So that this is not the case, you should agree on a budget beforehand. You should agree on how often you want to eat out, how often you want to cook your own meals and how much money you want to spend on hotels, hostels or campsites.
It's difficult to go on a vacation with friends, if everyone has a different idea on how much money the vacation should cost. If one person likes to eat out every day and prefers hotels but another prefers to cook in a hostel and visit flea markets it can quickly lead to misunderstandings. If the approximate budget is clarified in advance, it's easier to agree on a vacation and everyone knows what to expect.
Use apps to sort finances
Extra tip: When you're on vacation with friends, it's often not easy to keep track of your finances. Who paid for which purchases and who still owes whom money for the toll? The best thing to do is to agree on an app at the beginning of the vacation in which everyone can enter their expenses. At the end of the vacation, the whole thing can be settled and everyone will be reimbursed for their expenses to the cent. The handy thing is that not everyone has to give money to each other, but the app calculates everything automatically and you save yourself the work of calculating. Take a look at the app Splitwise - here you can create a free vacation group and easily keep track of your bills.
Schedule free time
No matter how well you get along and how positively the preparations go - plan breaks from being together as well. When you spend a few days together with friends, it can happen that you're quickly annoyed by others. It helps to plan short breaks from each other beforehand. The easiest way is to split up in groups. For example, one half goes to play beach volleyball at the beach and the other half prefers to go to an exhibition in the city. Don't be afraid to do things on your own. Getting away from the hustle and bustle of a group vacation for half a day can have a very good impact on group dynamics.
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