Traveling with friends or family? Here’s how I survive (and thrive) during group trips

I recently spent a month traveling to Italy and Denmark with friends and family. This trip was a nice change of pace, as I’ve grown accustomed to solo travel over the last few years. I got to make new memories with people I love and re-learn what it means to travel with others. 

I did a lot of planning before this trip for everything to run smoothly and I’ll tell you now: it paid off. But still, I picked up a few seriously helpful tips along the way. 

Here are my top tips for helping you survive – and thrive – during your next group trip: 

Create a Well-Organized Shared Itinerary

Before I leave for any trip, I create a detailed document of all my important travel information. 

This includes things like departure dates and times, flight and train numbers, hotel booking confirmations, travel insurance information, and anything else I might need throughout my trip. 

I did the same for this trip and it was extremely helpful. Since it was shared, everyone could access the document and find Airbnb addresses, flight details, and anything else they might want to know. 

There was no confusion or questions about “What day are we going here?” or “What time is our flight again?” Everything was in the document. 

Plan Activities in the Morning & Keep Afternoons Free

When traveling with family and friends, I find that simply getting people out the door in the morning is one of the most difficult things. It’s so tempting to sleep in after long travel days, but I promise you it’s worth starting your day early.

Firstly, waking up early helps you adjust to a new time zone if you’ve traveled far. Secondly, getting people up earlier helps everyone avoid feeling like they didn’t have enough time to see or do something they were really looking forward to. Early mornings give the whole group more time throughout the day.

I recommend booking some planned activities for the morning rather than the afternoon to help you and your group stay on schedule and ensure everyone is up and moving. By having a set time that you have to be somewhere, it makes it harder to dilly-dally.

Create Loose Itineraries for Most Days

Some people are huge travel planners and some are more go-with-the-flow. We all have different travel styles. In my experience, the best way to maximize your time and keep things running smoothly when you’re traveling as a group is to create loose itineraries. 

What I mean by a “loose itinerary” is just having a few specific activities planned for each day. For example, you could have reserved museum tickets in the morning, a plan to wander a certain neighborhood in the afternoon, and then have a restaurant reservation for dinner. 

Some days might call for more detailed and timely itinerary planning, but sometimes a loose itinerary is all you need. Of course, it all depends on how much time you have. However, I’ve found this style of travel planning keeps everyone happy and there’s room for spontaneity. 

Discuss Your Priorities Before Each Destination

Whenever we arrived at a new destination, my friends and I would do a quick check-in to see what everyone’s top priorities were. This helped us plan and prioritize activities so everyone could leave each place happy and satisfied. 

I also recommend double-checking timing, availability, and transportation for your top-priority activities ahead of time. In some cases, it’s necessary to book things like tours, classes, or even museum tickets weeks in advance. 

Agree on Payment Methods Ahead of Time

My friends and I decided to rotate paying for meals, taxis, and bus tickets to keep things simple. This helped cut down on hassle and prevented confusion when it came to sending Venmo payments and requests down the line. 

But like any good rule, there were some exceptions: we split one-time tickets and meals over €50. Of course, this method wasn’t perfect, but it worked pretty well.  

I highly recommend figuring out a payment method that works for everyone before, or at the beginning, of your trip. At least for paying for things like meals or tickets. Sometimes it’s just easier for one person to foot the bill and then rotate. 

Have Rest Time Towards the Middle and End of Your Trip

The beginning of a trip is usually filled with excitement and lots of energy for exploring. But by the midway point and towards the end, the energy of a group really starts to wane. 

Work in some rest time in the middle of your trip and then again at the end. This might mean planning for a day where everyone can sleep late or ordering takeout for a chill night in. I promise it’ll do wonders for the group’s energy level. 

The last stop on my Italy trip was Naples and, at that point, we ordered takeout a few times for dinner. Those relaxed nights in were so needed. 

Split Up for Certain Activities

The truth is that everyone has slightly different interests and priorities when it comes to travel. For example, I’m really big on scenery and sightseeing while one of my travel buddies loves art history. 

You don’t need to be glued to each other 24/7 just because you’re traveling with friends or family. I recommend sometimes splitting up if it means everyone will get to spend time doing or seeing what they want. 

There were times when my friend wanted to spend time in museums and churches, while my other friend and I grabbed a coffee and went shopping instead. As long as you can reach each other to meet up later, don’t be afraid to split up to do different activities.

Create a Shared Photo Album

A shared iCloud album (or Google photo album — whatever you use) is a must when it comes to group travel. It prevents so much hassle when sharing photos. It’s also a fun way to commemorate your trip. 

I especially love going through my shared albums and seeing the spontaneous, silly photos everyone has taken throughout the trip. 

Plus, using a shared album is great because you don’t have to store everything in your personal camera roll. All the photos live in the shared album so your photo library won’t get overloaded.

Take Alone Time at the End of Each Day

My friends and I would joke about having “independent phone time” as soon as we got home to our Airbnbs at night. 

We all needed some time to sit down, relax, and respond to messages and notifications from the day. Having this quiet time allowed us all to recharge our batteries and unwind from long travel days.

Allow for some quiet time alone at the end of each day. Even 30 minutes can do wonders for keeping everyone happy. 

Pack Up the Night Before a Travel Day

This may seem self-explanatory, but trust me — this simple life hack works wonders in keeping everything running smoothly, especially if you’re doing a multi-destination trip. 

Prioritize everyone getting their bags packed the night before traveling to a new place. This saved my friends and I so much time and frustration throughout our trip. 

By doing simple prep the night before, everyone was more relaxed and ready to go each time we had to hop on a plane or train the next day. 

Make Sure Everyone Has Their Own Daypack

Be sure that everyone brings their own daypack for the trip. Truth be told, it just makes things easier when everyone’s responsible for their own stuff. Whether you do a purse + tote bag situation or use a daypack like me, make sure everyone is prepared.

This also applies to snacks and water. Everyone having their food and drinks on hand keeps everybody going throughout the day. 

🎙️ Listen to the Podcast: This article was featured on Episode 2 of the Travel Lemming Podcast on YouTube (segment starts at 8:30). Give it a listen! You can also find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!

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These are all tips I’d give other friends and family before traveling as a group, but I hope they help you, too! 

At the end of the day, traveling with loved ones is one of the best experiences you can have. Hiccups and mishaps can and will happen, but the beautiful and lifelong memories you’ll make along the way are incomparable. 

If you’re on the fence about traveling alone or with a group, read Catherine’s article about solo travel vs. group tours. She shares tons of helpful insights and tips.