Traveling is a wonderful way to bond with friends, whether you’re catching up with old pals or strengthening new relationships. But when you’d rather catch rays on the beach and they’d rather go on a 5km uphill hike, things can get a little hairy. While going away to a distant country seems like an excellent idea (and it is), there are a few things to consider before you book that flight.

1. Know Your Budget — Make sure you and your travel companions are on the same page in terms of budget. Travelling is going to be much too stressful when one party expects everything to be 5-star and the other expects a shoestring budget adventure. Before you book anything, sit down with one another and discuss how much you’d ideally like to spend.
2. It’s Okay To Go Solo — It’s normal to want to do separate things. Just make a plan to meet up later. You’re not conjoined twins. You don’t have to go everywhere together.
3. Always Look On The Bright Side — It’s easy to commiserate with a friend when things aren’t going perfectly, but this is a slippery slope. With the two of you complaining, you’re both going to end up miserable. If your holiday hits a rough patch, find the positives and focus on the good stuff.
4. Keep The Group Manageable — Finding accommodations, booking restaurants, tours, and getting everyone to agree on one thing gets harder as your group gets bigger. It might be fun to go with a group of 10 friends, but bear in mind you may want to do some advance planning, expecially if it’s peak season.
5. Don’t Be A Control Freak — You’re in this together, so keep each other’s opinions and thoughts in mind at all times. If you wanted to plan everything, then you should’ve gone on a trip alone.
6. Pick A Group-Friendly Destination — Places like Bali, Bangkok, Phuket, and Siem Reap are used to large groups of tourists. You’ll find everything you can possibly need there and there’ll always be something for everyone. Destinations like these make it easier to bring a large group of people, especially if your group includes people with varying degrees of travel experience.
7. Safety First — Chances are you’re all probably going to drink at some point. If this is the case, look out for one another. The last thing you want is figuring out insurance at a hospital in a language you don’t understand.
8. Communicate — Don’t like something? Say it out loud. Instead of keeping all your needs and wants bottled up, tell your friends how you really feel. You don’t always have to do what the others want.
9. Clean Up After Yourself — If you’ve never traveled or lived with this friend before, then remember to clean up after yourself. Don’t leave your dirty underwear lying all over the hotel room. This goes for your body as well. Basic hygiene is a must when traveling with other people. Hell, it’s a must even if you’re traveling alone.
10. Pay For Things Equally — Pay for your share of drinks, food, taxi rides, and any other group costs that come up. Another way to do it: Create a group fund at the beginning of the trip for shared costs (taxis, airport fees, shared meals, etc.). Everyone chips in a set amount and once that fund is depleted, everyone chips in again.
11. Check-In Or Carry-On? — Depending on the length of your trip it’s best to restrict your luggage to just carry-on. It can be a waste of time and terribly annoying if everyone has to wait for just one person to get their checked-in luggage.
12. Try Not To Borrow Money From Your Friends — Find out what currency you need and how much you need for your own personal expenses. You don’t want to be caught without cash and having to constantly borrow money here and there from your friends. It gets annoying.
13. Agree On The Tone Of The Trip — You don’t need to nail down the itinerary to the very hour but it helps to figure out what kind of trip this is going to be. Is it a laid-back beach vacation where the most exercise you’ll do is walking over to the spa? Or is this an outdoor, highly physical vacation where you’ll be scaling a mountain? Feel each other out and see what you guys want.
14. Are You A Night Or Morning Person? — If you’d prefer to go out every night, dance till the break of dawn, and then sleep in till 2 pm, then you’d better make sure your friend is of the same ilk. If your friend’s a morning person, they’re probably not going to enjoy you stumbling home drunk into the hotel room at 4AM every night. If you’re with a group of friends, it helps to know who are the early morning risers and who are the night folk. Bunk accordingly and you shouldn’t have any problems.
15. Remember The Important Things — You’re here to have fun, explore a new world, and create awesome, new memories with your friends. That’s all. So don’t sweat it if you fail to check off everything on your travel to-do list. The important thing is you have fun and make everyone else back home jealous.