Travel Friends: Temporary or True?

Meeting people abroad is like putting a friendship on steroids. It’s easy to become very close with someone, very quickly, but sometimes you may wonder if your travel friends will remain in your life as genuine friends or will eventually be dismissed as transient travel-comrades.

The transition from travel friends to true friends can occur, but frivolous relationships are more likely given the fanciful environment we experience while traveling.

Exotic beaches, all-night parties, passionate dancing and mood-setting ambiance, all feed in to a romanticized Hollywood script that provides a fantasy-driven stage to make relationships seem more lucrative.

And that’s okay. That’s what makes traveling so much fun!

I mean, who hasn’t fallen in love or made a “best friend” while traveling? But do these friends ever transpire into anything else? Below are a few instances where I believe travel friends may have the potential to turn from temporary to true.

You Actually Share Other Interests Besides Drinking or Partying

Unless you are planning a spiritual cleanse, a yoga retreat, or a trip to an ashram, often traveling and partying go hand-in-hand. It’s no wonder why we meet so many frivolous yet fabulous friends abroad.

But if the conversation ends along with the party, and you no longer have anything meaningful to say or do together – chances are you found yourself a ‘fun’ but temporary friend.

Your Maturity and Playfulness Are In Sync

Everyone’s maturity level can stoop to the same level while intoxicated. That’s what makes it so fun. We can actually tolerate every type of person in the world as long as we are a few drinks deep. If your travel buddies share a similar maturity level and view of the world, while sober – you may have found yourself a true friend. If you can sit at the bar for hours but also get lost in conversation without the altercation of any substances, you have definitely found yourself a friend worth keeping.

The Friendship Stretches Beyond One Location

It’s a given that the longer you are with someone the more likely you are to get to know them. When traveling together, this process happens more quickly. If you meet a travel buddy in one part of the country and continue on together to seek out new adventures, chances are you will get to know your new friend on a more intimate level.

If you both withstand the roller-coaster ride of traveling for an extensive amount of time together (while not wanting to kill each other by the end) – you have most likely found a worthy friendship.

A friend is a friend. Sometimes they last forever, sometimes they last until the end of March. Meeting people on the road is half of what makes travel so amazing. So tell us:

Have you met true friends while traveling?