Sharing Rooms on Tour

Deb Lloyd is based in Canada and runs tours for women – Todays Woman Traveller.  In most tours for women you can pay an extra ‘single supplement’ to have your own room, or you can share with another woman.  Here Deb writes about how to be a good travel room mate.

You’ve worked through the travel options, you’ve signed up for your trip-of-a-lifetime with a tour group and you’ve decided to travel solo with this small group. To help save money, you’ll be sharing a room with another traveller.

By sharing twin accommodation, you’ll save costs but that’s not the only advantage. Over the years we’ve seen many women gain a new friend and even a long-time ‘travel companion’. Like any shared experience, compromise is essential to the success of the roommate experience.

Here are a few top tips we’ve learned for successfully sharing a room while on tour.

• Bring and wear earplugs. Buy a few types and try them out before your trip. Some are more comfortable than others.
• Keep your belongings contained to your side of the room
• Bring a mini reading light or glasses with built in lights…The Dollar stores now sell them.

Before your first night, talk with your roommate asking each other’s preferences:

• Are you a ‘night person’, or ‘morning person’?
• Do you have to have a window open at night?
• Do you prefer to sleep beside the window or near the door?
• Do you snore, have nightmares, sleepwalk?
• Do you enjoy reading before bed, and for how long every night before turning out the light?
• Do you use a nightlight in the bathroom, the bedroom?
• Are you allergic to air-conditioning? Do you dislike air conditioning?

Consider setting parameters like:

• You shower first one day, then I’ll shower first the next
• Let’s agree to lights out at 11:00
• I’ll sleep closest to the washroom since I’m up a few times during the night
• Agree to be honest with each other about pet peeves
• Offer each other time alone in the room

Remember, just because you are sharing accommodation doesn’t automatically mean that you will do things together. It is quite usual for the person who gets the shower first to go ahead to breakfast while the other is getting ready for the day’s activities. It is quite usual for one of the two sharing to spend their daytime, mealtime, and or free-time with other passengers or even on their own.

The bottom line is that it comes down to consideration!
Now go off and enjoy your trip. You deserve it!

Upcoming Tours with Todays Woman Traveller HERE

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More links for women travellers…

• Tours for Women around the World
• Tour Companies run by Women around the World
• Accommodation for Women around the World
• Women who are Local Tour Guides
• Retreat Places for Women Around the World
• Tours which include Retreat Themes

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