"Fun" fact: your travel party can make or break your trip. You probably hadn't thought of it like this before. You've probably always just went on vacation with any random person, regardless of what they're like or what they like to do on holiday.
I learned this the hard way - the hard way meaning that for years, I thought that you're supposed to just endure traveling with your family, that if you don't like it, just suck it up and change yourself to fit the others' traveling style. I've traveled with my family members several times in my adulthood, even though I was of legal age and was perfectly allowed and capable to refuse.
One of those trips was to London in 2013. Now, I won't name names, but boy, did we have a dysfunctional crew. I hated the trip, the people, and the place within hours of landing. It was probably one of the longest three or four days of my life.
And, though London itself had done nothing to deserve it, I began to dislike the city.
Until this June, that is, when I revisited the place with a travel companion who actually makes travel fun instead of hell, and enjoyed myself enormously.
We walked around a lot, visited Harrods and ate red velvet cake and Eton mess from the food court, met some friends over drinks and dinner, played the Hard Rock Cafe game at the HRC at Picadilly Circus, checked out some bridges that I missed the last time, and visited the Harry Potter souvenir store at King's Cross station.
Just like that, I suddenly loved London.
And it was all because this time, I had a compatible travel party.
Do not overestimate the power of your travel party.
That's all; RK out.
P.S. I realize that I contributed to the dysfunctionality of the previous crew. Whether I was just as difficult with the new crew and they knew how to handle it, or if it was simply a better fit that made everyone more relaxed, I can't say for sure. It's perfectly possible that I'm the problem and that some people are just better at controlling me.
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