A guide to managing friendships for frequent travellers
Jealousy is a fact of life. That green eyed monster rears its ugly head increasingly often these days, as opportunities grow. Basically, its that person’s lack of get up and go which leads to sarcastic comments and rumours, and the important thing to remember is that it’s their downfall, not yours.
Unfortunately, the sarcastic remarks from friends and office colleagues tend to be the ones that stick with us longer, and for those of us who travel regularly, jealousy amongst our nearest and dearest is a common thing. But how do you deal with it?
Your jet-setting lifestyle might leave your friends and colleagues feeling like they’re being left behind, and maybe it highlights in their own life what’s missing, yet they haven’t got the balls to go and get it, like you have. It’s not you fault, remember! Basically the key is to avoid biting back with an equally sarcastic, yet a little more well-travelled, remark and to not take it too personally. If you stick to the following advice, you should make it through unscathed.
Plan ahead
If you know you’re going away for x amount of months, sit down and think of who’s birthday you’ll be missing, who’s anniversary you won’t be around for, and any other special events going on in that time, such as weddings etc. Plan ahead and buy cards, give them to someone to pass on, and for ultra-special occasions, arrange for flowers to be delivered on the day. This shows you haven’t moved on and forgotten your roots, and you’re still thinking of your friends even though you’re not there in person.
Don’t be ‘that’ person
You know the person I’m talking about, the one who makes everyone sit through their endless holiday snaps, when really they’re just several of the same thing but from a slightly different angle. If your audience are yawning, looking at the wall, staring at their phones, or rolling their eyes – take the hint! Your travels are the biggest thing in your life, and rightly so, but they’re not the biggest thing in theirs.
Ask questions
It’s too easy to launch straight into tales of what you go up to that night on the harbour, or when you went on that boat trip and saw that big fish, or when such and such said this, and then fell over after drinking too much wine, but life back home hasn’t stood still, and your friends and colleagues have had events and stories going on in their lives too. When you get back home, ask questions about what’s been going on, look interested even if you’re not – this will all earn you brownie points.
Develop a thick skin
Like we said before, those sarcastic comments are a little cutting at times, and if you’re feeling sensitive anyway, you might take them far too personally than they’re meant. I guess the best advice is to take them as a compliment, I know I do. I travel to Turkey a lot, and I get a lot of sarcastic comments about why I go, because for some reason everyone thinks I travel to find a man! Ridiculous considering there are men the world over, and even on my own street, but no, everyone thinks they’re right. Well, I simply shrug it off and put it down to a little jealousy. At the end of the day, you’re the one seeing these wonderful sights and having your travel experiences, not them.
Realising your travel dreams, and juggling a normal balanced home life can be difficult, and jealousy does unfortunately play a huge part, but if you can shrug your shoulders, hold your head up high, and not take it personally, then you can juggle the two successfully, and over time you’ll come to see that true friendships will always last the test of time, and the ones that fell beside the wayside weren’t worth the effort anyway.
Post written by our travel blogger colleague Nicky.
