The Journey Connects Us

Written by Kayla Smith - Certified Travel Advisor

The friendships you build while growing up are truly special ones. Whether you’re friends in elementary school, high school, or even college, you get to grow a friendship while experiencing a shared aspect of life together. While you and your friend may have had different upbringings, different personalities, or different life experiences up until this point, you’re able to have one key thing in common – you’re both navigating school every day. This one shared life experience builds a solid foundation for an unbreakable bond that could last a lifetime.  

The longest that you will typically go without seeing your friend while in school is about 48 hours when the weekend rolls around and your schedules don’t align (but let’s face it – you probably planned a weekend sleepover.)  

But what about when you reach adulthood? What happens when you go to different colleges or move to different cities? The friendship can certainly last and the great ones nearly always do, but the dynamic shifts quite a bit. When you see each other nearly every day, you’re completely in-the-know of what is happening in your friend’s life. Yet, when you grow up, you tend to go a lot longer without these life updates. What was once a quick, “Guess what happened!” has turned into a “Let’s plan a phone call when we’re both off work – I haven’t updated you in a while.” Unfortunately, this is all part of growing up and navigating a “grown up” schedule. There aren’t many deep conversations at 3am during a sleepover when you have to get up for work at 7am, and there aren’t many consistent life updates when you are only able to connect once every other week. 

This is why travel can be so much more than just hopping on a flight and going to a new destination – especially for childhood friends. When you make travel plans with your childhood friends, you can experience something together again for a longer span of time than your typical dinner date or 15 minute phone call. You’re sharing a moment of life AND living in the moment together. This type of trip isn’t something that you’ll have to provide an update on in a few weeks. Instead, this trip will become a shared moment and soon enough, a shared memory. 

In addition to the joyous occasion spent together, you are also temporarily relieved of your adult responsibilities. A vacation with a childhood friend is a golden opportunity to simply live in your youth again, no matter your age. That 15-minute phone call that you used to complain about your job is now a 30-minute water aerobics sessions at an all-inclusive in Mexico. The raving review you gave your friends of a restaurant that they should try is now one that you’re trying together. The “we should plan a trip” text message is now a full-fledged adventure that has exited the chat. 

Oftentimes, a trip is planned to celebrate something – whether it be a wedding anniversary, honeymoon, or birthday party. However, I encourage you to take a look back at your life and analyze the little things that are worth celebrating. In my opinion, the friendships that have lasted throughout the years are definitely celebration-worthy.  

What are you waiting for? Call your bestie and book the trip – it is probably way overdue.