Worries every time there’s a hurricane?
2 Likes
Our DD has two friends she does an annual girls trip with. I’ve never heard a complaint. They are just happy they can make this happen every year!
I would be fine traveling with someone else. I think I’m pretty flexible, and also don’t need to do everything with my travel companion(s) and that includes my husband!
I think the hardest thing is actually biting the bullet and deciding to go!
4 Likes
I’m pretty picky about who I will travel with. My kids,my sister, my college roommate and my friend L. are about it.
I get up early (6 AM). It’s best if there is somewhere I can go get coffee outside of the room. I get up in the night to use the bathroom. I prefer to sleep in a very cool room. I am happy to pay for a separate room or a single supplement (I would NEVER agree to share with a solo traveler I didn’t know).
I have no issue doing separate activities.
5 Likes
Okay, the only way I could see her side of that is if you had a quick turn and had to get to your gate quickly, or if it was an international trip and she didn’t want to be behind 200 people on the flight in the immigration line. I have often warned my husband to go to the bathroom and be ready to get off fast in those situations.
If not one of those scenarios, she seems like a stressful person to travel with!
4 Likes
I meant the good stuff, not additional bad things. 
4 Likes
To be serious, then, we do have a second home. It’s a property that’s been in the family since it was built close to a century ago. The upside is that it has been a constant for my whole life and I have lifelong friends there. Going there really feels like going home. There is a peace in that like no other.
The downside of maintaining a second home, especially an older one, is that many of my visits include some kind of home owner’s chores. There is trouble, worry, inconvenience, and expense involved in that. And yes, while we love the location - more than anywhere else, it does make it harder for us to justify travel to other places that likewise are best visited in the summer months. That’s a tough trade as I’m someone who is energized by novelty.
The upside, because we don’t rent it (although we could), is that we can come and go whenever it suits us. If we want to change dates for any reason, not a problem! We leave our things there. We know exactly what to expect. We know where to go for everything, whether it’s food, emergency medical care, propane for the grill, or entertainment. We have library cards. When friends see a car at the house, they stop by and/or invite us to goings-on. We can have friends to stay with us, knowing exactly what we’re offering, and without them feeling like they need to cover any costs.. The familiarity makes it very plug’n play.
It simplifies life and it complicates it, all in one.
9 Likes
My husband and I do travel, and it usually goes ok, with a few hiccups, but after 40-odd years, hiccups are to be expected.
I did a Christmas markets trip with my sisters in 2024. One of the things that made it go well was allowing me to get a single room a couple of times. I love them dearly, but I am sensitive to noise and chaos and during our times together there can be a lot of both.
We’ve gone on a couple of trips with one sister and her husband, but again, we all know that I need my time away
I don’t know if I’d be able to travel solo, but I do know that if I went with one person not my husband, I’d have to get my own room.
7 Likes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2026/07/05/42-definitive-rules-group-vacation-rental/
“The 42 definitive rules for a group vacation rental A handbook for staying friends by the end of the trip, from planning to checking out.”
1 Like
Apparently you have to create an account even to read this for free.
My hat is off to all of you who own/maintain a second home. We many years ago thought about getting a place near a ski resort, but it would mean going to the same slopes every year, having to worry about maintenance from thousands of miles away, and we just aren’t real estate people. And it has left us with the flexibility to meet the kids, who would now find it challenging to get to that location, especially with the little ones.
6 Likes
As we get older, sorry, but even maintaining our main home seems to get more challenging, with having to do repairs & maintenance. I give folks credit who can handle it. It’s beyond our scope. I like renting a hotel or some other property and going where we need or want to go instead — makes life easier for us.
5 Likes
I travel with a college friend all the time. She’d drive me crazy if I let her but I don’t let that happen. I usually do a lot of things by myself if possible.
We went on a cruise together and that worked out well as we could each do what we like when the ship was moving (night, sea days). She likes to sleep late and take a book to a lounge with either a coffee or a glass of wine. I like to get going earlier and do the exercise classes, walk the decks, be outside. We always eat dinner together and do the port stuff together.
When we went to Spain for my daughter’s wedding, there were a few times when I did get upset, but she speaks Spanish so I had to forgive her.
In Aug I’m going to my hs reunion and traveling with a friend who does live in Denver. We are sharing a hotel room but only for 2 days so it should be fine. We are being picked up by another friend in another town and all traveling to our hs town together (really expensive to fly into our high school home town). It is the wedding anniversary of the friend who is picking us up, and we (plus another friend who is meeting us) were her bridesmaids.
5 Likes
We have a second home as well. It’s an hour drive after the ferry, so not too far from our main home. It is extra work. My husband is very well versed in home repair, landscaping, maintenance of all kinds; he handles it all. At some point, I think we’ll downsize our main home to something without a yard, but he (and our kids) definitely want to keep this place.
We also have a 5th wheel, which we don’t use as much as we should. The retirement advantage here is that we can go someplace on a Sunday or reserve for a Sunday, and have a reasonable chance of getting a site. Bonus - fewer feral children. We’d like to do a longer trip down the coast in September for two or three weeks. We’ll see if that comes to fruition. The RV is plenty big enough for the two of us, and we equip it with all of the comforts of home. The hard part is that the best camping times are at the same time as the best weather at our second home. First world problems.
6 Likes
I think you have to get a single room. Personally, I feel like I’m way too old to get a room with someone other than my husband. I think I’ve been too old since I was around 30!
9 Likes
Where is your second home, if you don’t mind me asking? I’m always curious and interested, though we back off before actually doing anything!
A friend just went on a 5 day scrapbooking retreat and shared a room with someone who insisted on keeping the room super freezing cold. My friend was bundled up in her light jacket that she brought and one from the 7-11 across the street that she bought. She piled on a blanket but was still freezing. Meantime roommate was comfortable. Seems unfair.
5 Likes
I’m the one who likes a cold room but I would talk about that before planning to room with someone.
4 Likes
I frequently travel with a friend who likes to sleep with the window open - in cold places. Fine by me if she gives me her blankets! We usually find a happy solution on this front.
The roomate I don’t like is the one who keeps very different hours or who needs to get up and noisily make their way to the bathroom several times during the night.
For roommate situations, I keep a booklight, earplugs, an eye mask, and a flashlight in my bag. For whichever one of us needs them.
3 Likes
Another nod to getting separate rooms!
If I had to share with a friend I’d prefer an AIRBNB situation where there are separate bedrooms or living space. To be honest, even with my husband staying in a one-room hotel room can drive me a little wild - I need space! And having the hotel room TV with constant sports or news…..
8 Likes
So interesting re: the friend travel.
I think if my neighbor friend and I had gotten separate rooms it would have given us enough space that the little irritations (for me) through the days would have been more manageable.
E.g., she would try to rush me out of stores she wasn’t interested in and said I should hurry up and “don’t take up the time” of our Uber driver when he and I were chatting a few seconds after our car stopped, etc.
(writing this out is making me think perhaps it could be this one friend and not all friends that could be challenging…! It’s making me aggravated just revisiting these instances lol).
6 Likes