Eurotrip (Part 2: The Group)

If you want to learn more about my Eurotrip, check out Part 1 of this series. These posts are all focused on the lessons I learned and adventures I had during my travels. This one is on the second week, which was mostly spent with MIT friends. I hadn't seen many of them in months, so this served as a wonderful Italian reunion :)

The Group

Traveling in a group of five, Ruth, Priya, Virup, Jin, and I took on Italy. I took the train from Rome to meet up with them in Florence, and of course, ended up jumping on the wrong train and making a 1 hour journey into a 4 hour one. Luckily, I was able to get in contact with them thanks to our universal wifi savior: Mcdonalds. You can always count on Mcdonalds, no matter what country you're in!

Florence was one of my favorite cities with all of its quaint village charm. I was glad I got to share my time in Florence with such great friends as we ran from market to Duomo, leaving raucous American laughter in our wake.

Cinque Terre was also one of the best hiking experiences I've ever had, especially in the company of avid hikers. The initial day of rain didn't dampen our spirits as we prepared for an early start the next day over thick hot chocolate and tiramisu. The villages all sported infinite winding alleyways that allowed for easy exploring for our energetic selves. We spoke with shop owners, marveled at the simple yet charming lives of the residents, and enjoyed our youth over the views of teal blue water.

Traveling in a group definitely contrasts with both traveling alone and with one. With a group, it's easy to feed off the energy and adrenaline of everyone, so 7AM wake up times and late night drinking are no thang. However, with more people comes more inertia. Moving from place to place takes longer and there was a lot of splitting up that led to some panic attacks, but mostly "searches" that ended in carousel rides and running through shops. It's also nice because you have built-in breaks. You linger over meals, spend more time deciding where to go and how to get there, and generally spend time enjoying each others' company. Solving problems with a group is also inherently less stressful than doing it by yourself. The whole bag storage fiasco ended in more laughter than anxiety, although I know I would have been stressed out had I been on my own. I also developed a deeper appreciation for hiking. In no other context would I have woken up at 7AM to catch the sun shining through the clouds from the top of a cliff. And without my friends dragging my ass out of bed, I would have missed a beautiful view of the world.

Traveling in a group of good friends is no doubt the easiest guarantee of a good time. It's easy, it's fun, and you have people you love to share the experience with. It's definitely my preferred mode of travel, but that's not to detract from the unique benefits of traveling alone or with others. More thoughts on that in the next post! :)