Find your travel buddy.

The only way to travel is with your best travel buddy. Trust me: I love my best friend to pieces. But if you stick us together 24/7 in close quarters for a few weeks in another country, we are both ready to strangle each other (sorry Ann...you know it's true).

Get me stuck in the middle of nowhere with my best travel buddy (Gare Bear, you know I'm talking about you), and I'll have the time of my life. So what is the difference? Why do I butt heads with Ann and not Garet on my trips?

A great friend is brutally honest, will never leave you behind, and is always there for you. A great travel buddy will use honesty, deceit, or whatever necessary to push you to be your greatest when traveling. While your best friend is often so similar to you that you can finish each others sentences, your best travel buddy is often the foil to your traits. They fill in your gaps and support your weaknesses, and you fill in and support theirs. Your strengths push them to be better as their strengths do you. I am a morning person, Garet is a night owl. I'm a conservative with risks, Garet is willing to do anything once. I'm more extroverted in public, Garet is a bit more introverted. I wake him up at 7 AM with coffee, he keeps me up 'til 2 AM with gin and tonics. He makes me more adventurous, I keep him safe. I introduce him to new people, he keeps us away from strangers. He's the perfect travel buddy.

Choose your travel buddy wisely; your trips will be infinitely more memorable, infinitely more fun, infinitely safer. If you choose wrong, don't worry. There are always more trips. Travel safe!