Taking a trip with your friends can be blast! But if you make some mistakes when planning, they will be less than enjoyable. Listen to this week’s episode for all the mishaps and mistakes you should avoid when planning your next girls trips!

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Transcript:

JQ: Hey Travel babies had to postpone a lot of trips lately. Are you ready to finally reschedule? Well, we are. Let’s try to avoid all the mistakes we’ve made in the past, especially when it comes to planning girls trips.

Juliana: This is travel babies. We’re just two sisters trying to travel the world in style. But sometimes things don’t go as planned. Each week we talk about all the important travel topics to help you decide when, where and how to explore the world in style. And I’m Juliana from Travel with Juliana.

JQ: And I’m JQ from Jqlouise.com. And before we get started, don’t forget to subscribe and give us a five star review. If you enjoy our podcast, it really helps us a lot.

Juliana: OK, so last week we talked about how to plan girls trips, so we went over all the top tips to plan an amazing weekend with your friends. So if you haven’t listened to that already, you should go listen to that one first.

JQ: Definitely. And then this week, we’re actually flipping the script and we’ll be talking about all the things to avoid when planning a girls trip and all the mishaps and mistakes you should avoid.

Where to go for your girls trip?

Juliana: Yeah. So the first mistake you want to avoid is only planning summer trips, especially with girls trips. Exactly.

JQ: I mean, I think, you know, whenever we think of, oh, I want to plan a girls getaway, you know, summer trips instantly come to mind because you usually think of going to the beach, going to the pool, that kind of thing. But I mean, you’re really missing out on so many other cool trips you can take with your friends.

Juliana: Yeah. I mean, I love to take like this winter we took so many ski trips, like, I mean, Pierre-Luc, but doing that, like with a friend or a group of friends would be just as fun, too. Exactly.

JQ: I mean, like, you know, ski trips aren’t just for guys. You know, girls can have the same kind of luxurious getaway that you have in the summer, but at a ski resort.

Juliana: Exactly. And mean even all the ski resorts like around here in the northeast have like pools and, you know, hot tubs. And it’s all open during covid. And it’s just like so fun to do a full day of skiing, which is a great workout. And then you go eat, you go in in the hot tub and relax. And it’s just great, you know, friend environment, too.

Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

JQ: And some of these ski resorts have the most amazing spoors. Some of them are even better than, you know, warm weather resorts.

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I love a good warm weather, you know, trip with girls or with you. But I think, like, really taking advantage of each season and in different places. What that place has to offer, I think, is a big you know, people miss out on.

JQ: Yeah, well, and I think the other thing is, if you do want to go to kind of a classic warm weather place, I mean, think about the shoulder season. You know, the spring or the fall can be even more fun.

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. I mean, you know, I guess this isn’t really like a girl trip, but obviously we went to Rome for your wedding in October and that was like off season. So many things to do, but less touristy because it wasn’t the summer. So, you know, take advantage of the off season.

JQ: Yeah, well, and I mean, another amazing trip that actually was a girls trip. You know, I went with Shelly to south of France for like two weeks. Yeah, exactly. And I mean, even in September.

Juliana Yeah.  I think September is like the perfect month to go from the U.S. to anywhere in Europe because it’s like everybody is back in school back to work. It’s the end of the summer and things are just less crowded. But the weather is still gorgeous there. So you have to take advantage of that.

JQ: Exactly. And I think when you’re planning a girls trip, you know, especially if you’re with, like, you know, four or five, six, seven people, I mean, you also want to keep in mind your budget. So traveling during the off season can be so smart because you can get way more bang for your buck.

Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. And I mean another, you know, kind of tip you want to avoid is only picking these classic, like girls trip spots like Miami, Vegas, Bahamas, like these are all really fun places to visit. But, you know, like we were talking about don’t miss out on other places, like get creative.

JQ: Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, this really just flows from, you know, not only choosing summer warm weather destinations. I mean, like get creative. I mean, trust me, I love Miami. I love Vegas. Like me and Juliana go there, go to each of those places like multiple times a year normally. So, you know, I’m not saying don’t go to Miami or don’t go to Vegas, but get creative. I mean, if everyone has the same idea, you know, wherever you’re going, it will be crowded.

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. Luckily, New England, there’s plenty of like really close destinations, but you can go to them on, you know, the off season so that it’s not as crowded, but you still get a really fun trip out of it. Like I went to York, Maine, one spring, I think it was like two years ago, you know, and it was like late May, early June. So it was like, you know, not summer in Maine, but beautiful weather and really not crowded.

JQ: Yeah. I mean, I think that’s a great point. I mean, like, you know, especially this year where everyone’s just starting to kind of reschedule trips or schedule their first trips post covid. I think it’ll be important to get creative because it is still important to remain socially distant and kind of play it safe, at least for the next few months. So I think, you know, planning trips that are outdoor focus to that are you can be spread out. But, you know, I mean, at least in New England, it’s not hot enough to go to the beach. Yeah. Until. Late June,

Juliana: Right That’s why I’m really excited the weather’s starting to get nicer because at least, you know, by April and May you if we’re lucky, we’ll get nice weather in New England. So at least, you know, we can do trips that are near us, you know, like an hour or two hours away in the northeast and, you know, still have fun outside but still remain safe. That’s why I think, you know, I wanted to do so many ski trips this year because it was still really fun. It was all outside. You know, you’re never really close to anyone. You’re always alone on a lift. It’s a really fun, safe trip. So I think, you know, in Maine, there’s still at least another month of ski season. So that’s something to keep in mind, too.

JQ: Yeah. I mean, hey, why not plan a little spring ski trip with your friends? I mean, it’s a ton of fun. You’re outside, you’re active. There’s great restaurants at many of these resorts. And there’s like we said, there’s tons of like spores or heated pools or Jacuzzis. So lots of things to do.

Juliana: Yeah, definitely. And now’s a great time to explore, you know, different cities within the U.S. because obviously we’re still waiting for international travel to really pick up again. So, you know, this is a great time to just do trips that you normally wouldn’t take.

JQ: Yeah. And I think there’s some great cities that are perfect for girls trips because there’s lots of, like, fun things to do and like fun cultural things. Like especially I went to Charleston with my friend Caroline last year, like right before covid, and it was the perfect spot for a girls trip. I mean, the downtown is super cute. Lots of great photo ops. The restaurants are amazing. It’s very walkable, a really safe city. I think, you know, finding city trips like that will be a nice change of pace, especially since we’ve all been home for so long. As things continue to open up, I think I don’t know. I mean, this is a great yeah, those are great girls trip ideas. Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

Juliana: I mean, also because it’s honestly just nice taking a trip. Like, the reason I love Miami so much is because it feels like, you know, you’re on a beach here. You’re almost in a different country, but you’re not because it’s easy with data. You know, you can still work from there if you need to. Like, it’s just convenient and fun. That’s why I like traveling within the U.S., too.

JQ: Yeah. So, you know, basically, just keep that in mind. I mean, don’t always go for kind of the cliche girls trip destinations, even though we like those too.

Juliana: Yeah. And I mean going to, you know, different states that, you know, are probably cheaper than living in Boston or New York. You can save money by going on them as opposed to going on like a, you know, a big, extravagant trip in like Miami or Vegas, where it’s a bit more expensive. You can really, you know, save here and there, too.

JQ: Yeah. I mean, like some places that I’ve seen in a lot of articles lately, it’s like Austin, Texas, like places like that, because they’re really cool places. Yeah, also really affordable.  

Juliana: They’re really affordable. So you can, you know, get a lot more bang for your buck.

Not Being Honest With Your Friends

JQ: OK, so our next travel mishap to avoid is not being honest with each other.

Juliana: Yeah. I mean, so we talked a little bit about this in our last episode last week. You know, communication is really key. I think even more so if you’re going with a big group, you know, I guess it doesn’t matter how big the big of the group it is. But I think, you know, if one person really wants to splurge on something here and not everybody does, you just have to be honest about that again. Like if you’re on in a group trip, everybody doesn’t have to do the exact same thing all the time. They don’t have to stay together. You know, you can meet up at certain points of the day. But I think, you know, really being honest about what you want for the trip, what your goals are, what you want to see, what you want to eat, that all is really important.

JQ: Exactly. And like we said last week, I mean, the trick to this in kind of avoiding any awkwardness is just start the communication early. Like when you’re planning the trip, you know, make it so that everyone has a chance to voice their opinion on what they want to do on the trip, like how much they want to spend, like what they’re comfortable splurging on, what they want to save money on, like just start that communication as early as possible.

Juliana: Yeah. And I mean, a good way to start talking about this early is to start talking about where you’re going to stay. So, you know, if you’re going for a week, maybe you change hotels once or maybe you stay in the same place once or maybe you get an Airbnb. You know what makes the most sense for everyone going on the trip and your group as a whole?

JQ: Exactly. And then, you know, also there’s lots of apps now where you can split expenses and you can track everything. Like on The Bachelorette, we use this thing called splitwise, like there’s plenty of apps or you can just kind of keep track loose and just about and will each other as you’re going along, but have a system that way. Everyone’s comfortable, everyone knows like everything’s fair and just everything’s transparent. Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. And I think it’s you know, everyone will probably end up being around the same amount at the end of the trip, you know, especially if you guys all did pretty much the same thing. So I think it’s really you know, it’s just a nice gesture for you to always offer to pay something so that it’s not all falling on one person. One person has to get Venmo like hundreds of dollars at the end of the trip. So, you know, the more you can spread it out and the more you can, you know, just offer it’s just a nice gesture so that everyone feels like everyone’s doing their part because the trip, obviously, you want it to be fun, but it is work just planning it. So you want to, you know, really put your put your work in there.

JQ: Yeah. And just like, you know, try to be thoughtful like it’s not rocket science, I mean, just like be thoughtful and if someone’s doing a lot of work planning, then maybe you offer to charge something on your credit card or you know, or you order the Uber like just that way. It’s not all falling on like one or two people.

Juliana: Yeah. And again, I mean, if the more you can talk about this before you actually go on the trip, the better. Because if you realize, oh, this person’s really not going to do anything, they’re really like, you know, kind of being selfish. You just you probably shouldn’t be traveling with them anyway. So that’s really good to talk about it beforehand and plan as far ahead as you can.

JQ: Yeah. I mean, and like, you know, whether it’s a selfish thing or whatever, I mean, just people have different personalities and different things that they want to do on a trip. So just talk about it early. And if it’s your first time going with this person or this group of people, like just really try to talk things out as much as possible before you’re on the trip.

Choosing the Wrong Hotel

Juliana: Yeah, totally agree. OK, so the next travel mishap to avoid is choosing the wrong accommodations. You know, this can be really important and really kind of make or break your trip..

JQ: And this can mean a lot of different things, depending on who you’re with and what your goals are for the trip. But, you know, it really ranges from just kind of the luxury level of accommodations. If you were planning on having a luxurious vacation and someone books like a budget hotel, obviously you’re not going to enjoy that. But it could also mean, you know, packing in too many people into an Airbnb. And I think this problem comes up when people are used to doing this, like when they’re in college. But then, OK, maybe you’re in your mid 20s now, like, you don’t want to do that anymore.

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think now obviously we’ve been on a lot of trips, just you and me. So that’s not going to be an issue. But I think in college, doing that was fine. But now, you know, I’m twenty five and I want to be more like an adult. So I want to, you know, have my own bed and home bathroom, like those kind of things. But, you know, some people don’t mind doing that. So you really just have to talk about this beforehand and make sure everyone’s on the same page.

JQ: Yeah, I mean, I think on that level of choosing accommodations, that really comes back to our other point of just being honest with each other and just getting on the same page about budget and how much you want to spend in the type of vacation you want to have. So really that can be solved before you’re on the trip. I mean, just if you’re open and honest with each other, you should be able to come to an agreement. And also it comes down to should you be traveling with each other? Like if you have totally different ideas on that, then maybe you’re not the best travel buddies.

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. And I mean, another thing that you definitely want to talk about before is just like where you’ll stay. So obviously, if, you know, depending on the city, you want to stay near the attractions you want to go to, near the restaurants you want to go to, because you don’t want to have to waste time, you know, or spending money on ubers or walking really far or just not being near the stuff you want to be near. So definitely don’t skimp out on doing the research that you need to for these trips.

JQ: Yeah, I mean, that’s one of our other big points from last week’s episode, is that you should do as much research as you can because if you know, oh, this hotel looks nice, but all the things we want to see are an hour away. Like you shouldn’t stay at that hotel no matter how nice the hotel is.

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. Again, and like Jacqueline said, it’s, you know, how much of the trip do you want to be, like, really luxurious like. So, yeah, if you if you’re only about like I want to say it’s like the best hotel with the best, the best restaurant. And you plan on spending most your time at the hotel. That’s great. You can do that. But if you want to be out seeing sights and be, you know, seeing whatever city it’s in you’re in, then stay in a hotel that’s close by. Maybe it’s smaller, maybe it’s a little bit less luxurious. But, you know, like specifically for me, I’d rather do that. You know, I want to be in the city center typically. Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

JQ: Yeah. And like that also really depends on you’re the type of destination that you’re at. I mean, if you are at a beach location like you’re on an island somewhere, then obviously you want to choose the nicest resort that you can because likely you’ll be spending a lot of time just at the resort using their amenities. But if you’re on a city trip, like if you’re in Paris or London or Rome, you really want to choose your hotel based on the local neighborhood that you want to spend the most time in.

Juliana: Yeah, like, I think when you and I went to London, we stayed in Mayfair and pretty much everything we went to was in Mayfair. And so we like I think we only took a few ubers just because it was late or something. But staying, you know, being in Mayfair where a hotel was and just being able to walk like across the street to something we want to go to was amazing. And we got to be right in the city.

JQ: Yeah, exactly. Like on that trip, we specifically knew we wanted to explore Mayfair, so we chose a hotel on this beautiful little street, like all the restaurants we want to go to, we’re like right down the street. There was a salon we wanted to go to there were spas we wanted to go to.  So we really planned the trip around that neighborhood.

Juliana: And that’s something you can easily do in any city. I mean, look at the neighborhoods. If you’ve been there before, obviously, you know where you like to stay, where you don’t. So really, like, just focus in on that one neighborhood that you’re staying. And even Paris, I mean, you go to Paris for a week, you can’t see every neighborhood. So just pick like one or two where you like. I want to go to this restaurant when they go to this incident, there’s plenty of great things in any neighborhood.

JQ: Exactly. And that’s one thing that I’m afraid people will forget about when they start traveling again this summer, because, you know, no one has really traveled in the past year or so. Some people might be so excited to kind of try to do everything on their first couple of trips this year. So just keep that in mind. Like, you can’t do everything, no matter how long your trip is, even if you’re there for three weeks, like you could never do everything in Paris in a lifetime. So really hone in on what your main goals are, just like we talked about last week. I mean, just identify, OK, what is the purpose of this trip? Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

Going With the Wrong People

Juliana: Yeah, definitely. OK, so our final mishap is going with the wrong people.

JQ: Yeah. So I mean, this might sound a little mean, but it’s really not. I mean, if you have a best friend that you know, you love going to coffee shops with going to dinner with going, you know, all around town with like they’re probably a good friend to travel with because you guys like to do the same things. But if you’re not doing these types of things with your friends in your hometown or in your home city, likely you’re going to have to work out some kinks and bumps when you’re on a trip together.

Juliana: Exactly. And I mean, you don’t even know how someone is when they travel, until you travel with them. So, you know, it’s a little bit of trial and error sometimes. But like Jacqueline said, if you’re doing all these things in your home city, then and you’ve never traveled them before, they might be a good new travel buddy. So definitely try it out.

JQ: Yeah. And just like it really gets back to the being honest thing, I mean, just really talk about, you know, what you want to do on the trip before you go. And usually a lot of this can be avoided. But figure out who are your great travel buddies and then, you know, keep going on trips with them.

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. I mean, I, I love to go on trips, obviously, with you. Like, I think that we have a good back and forth. You know, we know exactly what we want to do on the trip. We talk about it beforehand. So, you know, just keep these same travel buddies, you know, lifelong because especially if you like, become friends in college and you really like the same things and you go on a trip together in college and then you want to do something different when you’re, you know, more in your mid 20s, like, I think that’s a great relationship to build. Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

JQ: Yeah. And I mean, I don’t know. It just really with this one, we just want you to keep in mind, you know, everyone has a different personality. Everyone travels different. So you really just have to figure out, you know, what works, what doesn’t. And, you know, maybe if you have a friend who loves to go to the spa, loves to just hang out at the beach, then do a luxurious, relaxing vacations with them, don’t do like a city exploration. OK, we’re going to see these sites kind of trip with them because that’s where you guys are going to disagree. Like if you really want to see, OK, I want to see these top ten best sites in Paris, but the other person just wants to lounge in the hotel, sit at a cafe and just go to nice fancy dinners. Then, you know, maybe you guys aren’t going to agree when you’re on your trip.

Juliana: Right. So, you know, definitely find those friends that like to do certain things. You know, no one no two people are exactly the same. So you can have some similarities, some differences. But if you know, OK, this friend likes to do these types of activities, I’ll go do those types of activities with them in the city. And that’s what makes it really fun. Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

JQ: Yeah. And like for me, one thing that I think is interesting is like I have some friends that love to go shopping and some friends that don’t. So like, if I’m on a trip with the friends that love to go shopping, I’m going to make sure we have time to go shopping, especially when we’re in Europe. We can go and do some nice luxury shopping and I’ll make time to do that. But other people, you know, that’s not their thing. So I’m not going to waste my time with that when I’m traveling with them. Keep reading for trips and tricks to help you plan the best girls trips!

Juliana: Yeah, exactly. We hope you learned a lot about what mishaps to avoid. Catch us next week for all of the best bachelorette party destinations. Thanks, JQ.

JQ: Thanks, Juliana.