It seems everyone is looking to spend quality time with friends and family. We tend to be overwhelmed with daily responsibilities of work, errands and such. And little time left over to spend with people we care about. The most popular means to achieve quality time is to meet over a meal – “let’s meet for brunch, lunch or dinner.” But not many think to look to travel as a way to spend quality time. But you should because it’s by far the best quality time event!
Meeting for coffee or lunch or dinner or drinks typically lasts for two or three hours. In contrast, when you travel with friends or family on a trip, you are spending incredibly more time with them. A simple weekend getaway means spending all day Saturday and Sunday except for when you’re sleeping so 48 hours less 16 hours (8 hrs of sleep x 2 days) for a total of 32 amazing hours of quality time with your loved ones! If you went on a one-week trip, quality time shoots up to 112 hours! Wowza. That makes the usual 2-3 hour lunch/dinner outing embarrassingly lacking.
Not only do you get a mega-dose of quality time hours when you travel with friends or family, the quality time itself is higher-quality! You are enjoying unique travel destinations & having new experiences together – a beautiful vista, a scenic car ride, a boat excursion, camel ride, city sights, a long hike or walk.
When I’m asked after each trip how it was (whether its a chill vacation or adventure travel)… my very first top-of-mind thought relates to the people I traveled with. I’ll think of activities, sights or scenery we experienced together and the laughs and smiles that went along with them. It could be something unique as camel trekking or waterfall hike or something so super simple like laughing or having in-depth conversations on a long drive. I often think back on long drives on trips and the talks & topics that would have never been able to develop to that level during a short lunch or dinner outing, or an inside joke from the trip that remains just as funny years later as it was when it first happened. I have friends who gained nicknames from small group vacations many years ago and I continue to re-hash the particular fun and shenanigans of the trip to explain its genesis.
Quality time can come from unique or mundane experiences
On a Greece trip, I remember being on a private charter sailboat excursion on an absolutely perfect day and looking at everyone with their sunglasses on, slight wind blowing through their hair, and the biggest grins ever on their faces. And on the same trip, my friend Doug, stepping away from the hotel bar and backing up directly into the infinity pool, hearing the splash and seeing him submerged except for his one arm extended out with his iPhone being the only thing not in the water. Fast forward five years, we still talk about all that – from the major to the little quality time events, but all while traveling.
On a trip to Dominica, on one hand, I remember an all-day strenuous but amazing hike to the 2nd largest boiling lake in the world and bonding over actually making it through all that – together. On the other hand, I remember one friend challenging another to a simple game of ping pong, which turned into the self-proclaimed Pingpong Championship of the Caribbean with my one friend Jim gaining the stage name, Jimmy Chin. And smiling and laughing so much our faces and stomachs hurt.
On a trip to Iceland, I remember being with friends in a zodiac boat meandering around on Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon with majestic chunks of icebergs galore floating around us in all shapes and sizes ranging in color from solid snowy white to a surreal brilliant blue. And looking at everyone with big smiles with the shared feeling our day was right out of a National Geographic page. But I also remember, my friend & roommate Kathy, abruptly waking up in the middle of night freaked out about a cat that got into the room and walked over her in her bed. I went back to sleep as I could barely keep myself awake as she crazily shooed the cat out. As I drifted back to sleep, I thought it was funny the cat only walked all over her and her bed and not me. When I got up the next morning, I saw that my bed including pillow was covered in cat paw prints! How could I have slept through all that! Years later we tell that story and laugh about it just has hard now as we did then.
Amazing, memorable times can happen on interational vacation like these or even a simple domestic getaway.
Trips are unforgettable experiences of time well spent with friends and family. Whether its summer travel, winter travel or anything in between. Super-size your quality time with friends and family – go on a trip together!
