BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
"LETS GO ON A TRIP TOGETHER!"
How many times have you or your friends said this? And how many times has this actualized? In December, this conversation became a reality when we booked a trip to the capital of Romania, and reached out to our closest Berlin friends to ask if they wanted to join us. Much to our delight, everyone confirmed their flights immediately, and before we knew it, we were at the gate waiting to board our flight to Bucharest!
This Photo Diary features some beautiful shots taken by my dear friend Robin, and clearly, our first trip all together was a massive success. We had a fun packed weekend which included some tourist stuff, some foodie activities, and also time for some relaxation.
I am sharing three simple tips to follow if you are planning on discovering a new place with your friends. Following these will make sure you come back from your travels still as good of friends as when you left!
pre-plan
We had multiple chats beforehand on what everyone wanted to do while there, and we even used this as an excuse to have a Brunch / Dinner meet-up where we finalized the itinerary and made sure that the schedule was cool with everyone. Always remember to keep room for last minute changes. Flexibility is key here!
money talks
It is important to remember that everyone has a different budget, and a different idea of what it means to over or under-spend. Instead of openly asking how much money everyone was bringing, we instead made sure that all the costs and expenses were openly discussed beforehand. This way, everyone knew how much everything (airport transfer, dinner, hotels, etc.) would cost beforehand.
be flexible
All of the planning and discussions and budgets can all go out the window in a heartbeat, and for many unforeseen reasons. Therefore, the only way to truly enjoy a trip with friends is to remain flexible and open to change. People's moods, opinions and expectations change constantly, and so does restaurant menus, transit service and planned events. This is why trying to stick to a solid plan will never be worthwhile. Go with the flow, and remain fluid with your travel schedules.
Obviously the most important thing is to have fun! Take time to soak it all in. Enjoy each others companies. Realize that you will never again have these exact same moments together. So enjoy yourself on your next friends' trip. I had such a blast with these awesome Berlin souls! Although we almost crashed a prostitute wedding and had (an unwelcome) drink with the strangest Polish guy, the trip was everything we wanted and then some! We will always have Bucharest. #BucaFrip