This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at NCSU chapter.
With spring break approaching fast, here are some tips to ensure you and your best friends arrive and return from your vacation destination as one (still) unified unit!
- Make an itinerary: The word itinerary may seem fancy and confusing, but the point of this tip is to just make sure you and your friends are planning accordingly. You don’t want to get to your spring break destination and not have any plans. You also don’t want there to be disagreements on what activities some of your friends want to do versus others. Plan your brunches & dinners, your beach days, and your night plans. Discuss sleeping arrangements, what outfits to bring, and any other details you can think of. This way everyone has an idea of what to expect without being bombarded.
- Set a budget: Now this tip goes hand in hand with the one right above; set a budget! Ensuring that everyone has similar budgets helps prevent arguments from occurring. You always hear how a friend group went to Miami as friends and came back as enemies. The best way to avoid this happening is to make sure there is transparency between everyone’s budgets so that some people are not wanting to do expensive activities while others are worried that they cannot afford it. You do not want anyone to feel excluded, so make sure you talk about it.
- Communicate: This is an obvious one but when you are with people that you are comfortable with you often forget to do this. Make sure that you tell your friends if an activity does not sound or feel ideal to you so you can make other arrangements. Also make sure that you guys are sticking together, and if you happen to get separated wherever it is that you are, just communicate! Make sure everyone is taking turns showering first, getting ready in front of the mirror first, and all that fun stuff. We always hear that communication is key to long lasting relationships, so why should your trip be any different?
- Remain Cool, Calm, & Collected: This one sounds easier than it is. Let’s remember that you are going to be spending all day with your friends, for at least a few nights. What may be okay for you, may not be okay to others and I’ll explain why. You are eventually going to get tired of being with those same people for a few days in a row but that does not give you the right to start acting like it. Keep your calm, be transparent, and take everything with a grain of salt. Most of the time the people that love you are not intentionally going to try to hurt your feelings. That’s why anything that is said on spring break may not be with the tone that you may be making it out to be in your head. This is no time for drama, have a side bar if anything and make sure you can take a joke or two.
- Have Fun: Last but not least, just try to have fun. You are only young once and deserve to take a break from classes and enjoy time with your friends. Make sure you laugh, are kind, give extra compliments to your besties that are also here to have fun. Make the most of it with your best friends because only time will tell when your next fun vacation will be!
Here’s to many more group vacations!