With holiday time and vacation time for children, most of us plan a trip out of town to escape the daily grind, to broaden our horizon, realise dreams of visiting an exotic place or simply, to share the unique experience of an outing with family or friends. Your chances of your trip being successful depends on how you well you plan your trip and how equipped you are to face problems that you may have no control over, such as delayed or cancelled flights. This is where minding your manners help. Here’s one of the common questions posed to me:
We have been planning on a trip with our family friends. How do we make sure there is no friction between all the members of the group?
Travelling with other people is a test of friendship and compatibility. It is human nature to experience some amount of friction when people are cooped up together in one place for too long. To avoid any friction, ensure you and your companions have at least two things in common or agree beforehand on basics such as accommodation, food and sightseeing.
If you prefer economy travel and your friend likes greater luxury, a common place to stay should be decided upon mutually. The same holds good for eating, shopping or sightseeing preferences.
Also, synchronise your body clocks. This is not an issue to be ignored, especially while travelling as it can lead to unpleasantness. For instance, if you like to be up and about by 8 am and your co-travellers prefer to sleep till afternoon as they are on a holiday, your plans cannot be synchronised. There’s no rule that all of you have to do everything together but accommodating others’ choices and being considerate will help in the bonding even after the trip ends.
Also bear in mind that sharing expenses and working out a common budget is beneficial for a tension free trip. If children are travelling with you, teach them the basic etiquette of travelling in a group, including tolerance, the need to share and of course, good behaviour.
With air travel becoming cheaper, more people are now opting to travel by air. However, many are not aware of basic air travel etiquette and this often inconveniences others. Could you highlight basic manners for air travel?
Today’s, air travellers have to face flight delays, cancellations, vigorous new security procedures — all of which they have no control over. But fellow passengers can be annoying either on the ground or mid-air. And this is where the real test of your civility begins.
(The author may be contacted at: kauser_khan
@hotmail.com)