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Travelling with friends

Travelling with my friends

Four girls on the road
Sarah Finlayson writes...

"The thought of spending three months backpacking with my three best mates was what got me through my A-Levels - that and dreams of white sandy beaches, blue skies and amazing scenery...

Our route was to take us to Thailand, Australia and Fiji. I spent months working in various boring temping jobs to raise money for the trip, as did my travelling companions Marie, Becky and Emma. Once our backpacks were bought, there was no turning back.

Our trip started off slightly on the wrong foot, as Becky was no longer joining us for the Thailand leg, but would meet us in Australia. I know that it was very hard for her to watch us leave on our adventure without her and it was certainly not the way we had planned it. So Marie, Emma and I put the old saying ‘three’s a crowd’ to the test.

We arrived in Bangkok around lunchtime looking less than glamorous and realised that we were actually on our own in a huge, unknown city. Fighting the urge to get back on the plane and go to Ibiza instead, we hailed a cab, which took us to a hotel we had booked back in England for one night. Due to some serious jetlag we didn’t actually get out of bed till 4pm the next day! We soon discovered that Bangkok was cheap as chips and embarked on a girly shopping spree with a difference on the Koh San Road.

Thailand is a truly beautiful place - my favourite amongst the countries we visited; the people are friendly and it is so different from anywhere I have been before. The Full Moon Party was an awesome night. Buckets of alcohol prepared me for a night of dancing on the beach, getting UV tattoos and generally having a wicked night out with my friends.

Becky eventually joined us in Australia. It was very strange at first, when three became four, but Becky got stuck in and we were soon all chatting and swapping stories of the last month. In Australia we decided to do something that we would remember forever as being a ‘travelling thing’. Emma, Becky and I had always wanted a tattoo so we plucked up the courage and each got one. Marie didn’t really want one so instead got the top of her ear pierced, which actually seemed a lot more painful than our tattoos! Every time I look at my tattoo now, it’s a little reminder of the four of us travelling together (and of the painful bus journey we had to suffer the next day with our sore skin)!

Another memorable part of our trip, for me, was in Australia when the four of us decided to take a trip to Fitzroy Island just off Cairns. It was one of those times which you can look back on and laugh, but at the time we just wanted to escape! We arrived after a very bumpy boat journey to be greeted by a mass of people leaving the island, which didn’t inspire a lot of confidence for the impending trip. The receptionist informed us that we were four of only about nine guests on the island... which didn’t include the boatload of kids who had just arrived on a school trip! The island was very small and our room even smaller so instead of admitting defeat we headed down to the bar. As we were pretty much the only people there we decided to talk amongst ourselves, armed with several pitchers of beer that the barman had given to us for free because he felt sorry for us! We were highly entertained by the school disco that the kids were having in the next room which provoked some nostalgic talk about our own experiences of school discos!

The weekend was a little disappointing as we had come to Fitzroy Island out of season and the weather wasn’t very good, but we all got on really well and had a chance to stop, relax and take everything in. When you’re travelling everything seems to be go go go, so it was nice just to chill out and reflect on our crazy adventures.

Skydiving was certainly a highlight for me: it was such an amazing experience that we all shared and one that I hope we will never forget. For Becky, it was a huge accomplishment as she is, or rather was, afraid of heights and planes, yet she still managed to jump out of one at 12,000 feet! We bought videos of our bravery, which I strongly recommend as the whole thing goes so quickly.

There were a few arguments and certainly a lot of tensions within the group, but that’s to be expected. Never before had I spent 24/7 with these girls and at times I just wanted to scream at them! Trivial things like Emma’s constant sniffing or Becky’s continuous burping was enough to make my blood boil, and I’m sure I did things which had the same effect on them. My advice is to take a step back and have some alone time. We all did this now and again and it definitely helped ease the tension and prevent unnecessary arguments.

Meeting other people was a definite tension-easer, and we met loads over the course of our trip. It was refreshing to talk to new people and it made our group even bigger - often we weren’t really a four but a travelling posse! Conversation tends to dry up at the dinner table when you have been with the same people 24/7 so it was great when we could have a laugh with different people.

The four of us may not be as close as we were when we went travelling, but no one will be able to take those three amazing months away from us. Life takes you in very different directions, but at that time we were all in the same place sharing something which many people never get to experience, and I feel truly lucky to have done it."

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