Traveling Well with a Friend – What Teens Should Know.

Traveling is an art, and teens especially need to know this particular art. Travel is not just an up and go thing, it's an up and know thing. Be in the know on how to "travel well". This Hub will share tips and laughs that you'll want to put into play - so get your read on and please share this advice, and please comment and give your own traveling advice. Thank you!

Strongly scented lotions, balms, ointments, perfumes, and soaps should be avoided. People can be allergic to certain smells and could break out with rashes, hives, bumps, and pimples. Allergic reactions may occur, i.e., swelling of skin, eyes, tongue, and mouth. It’s a shame that individuals think it’s ok to put on a stinky balm when rooming with a friend without first asking that friend to smell it making sure he or she will not be bothered by it.

Only use one towel when in the bathroom. Speaking from experience there was a friend I roomed with on a vacation and she used up most of the towels in the hotel bathroom and left me one towel; not cool at all! After using your towel hang it up on the bathroom towel rack or better yet hang it on a hanger in the closet for use at a later date.

Don’t spread all your toiletries out in the bathroom; please leave space for your friend. Place your toiletries back in your travel bag, and put your travel bag back in your suitcase.

If the hotel has left two bottles of water in your room refrigerator leave one bottle for your friend. Speaking from experience there were two bottles of water in the hotel room refrigerator and my friend drank half of one bottle and left it in the refrigerator, then later on that same day took the unopened bottle of water and drank that, leaving me that half bottle of water - how unthinking was that!

Get separate checks when dining and don’t offer to pay the bill for convenience sake; people forget to pay you. It's ok, and preferred, to say how you want the bill before you order your food.

Get your own hotel room, if possible. Paying a little more for peace of mind is a wonderful thing. Pay for a separate room especially on long excursions, i.e., a group trip to Europe. Individual accommodations are offered so take advantage of them when you can. You can make plenty of friends away from the hotel room. For teens, room with someone you are very familiar with. To get used to rooming with someone, as a teen, have sleep overs. Having sleep overs is a great way to get a snippet of "living" with someone.

If you don’t have a lock for your luggage get some colorful wire ties and a pair of child’s scissors to cut them; these are affordable. I know, I know, but you’re traveling with a friend, but friends may have their friends in your hotel room when you’re not around, so keep your belongings from prying eyes.

Get earplugs because one of you will snore at some point. Earplugs can be obtained from a drug store or can be ordered in bulk online. My suggestion is to get earplugs without the strings attached. These work wonders to block out the snores of a roommate.

Make sure you have a large piece of luggage because one of you WILL overspend and need the room to bring back the stuff you purchased. Also, there are tiny bags to include - see below.

Bring four bars of soap just in case your friend forgets theirs and/or you forget your soap when leaving your hotel room. Make sure your soap in unscented and has very few ingredients which makes for a purer soap.

Travel with a very small blanket like the ones you get on Delta Airlines. I’m not suggesting that you swipe one of those blankets, but for those of you who have flown Delta you know what I mean.

Make sure each person has a key to the hotel room. It sucks having to wait for someone to get back from wherever to get into your hotel room. Also, some hotel room keys are plugged into a slot in the wall to regulate the lights, so get two hotel keys. You know I have a story behind this. When my travel buddy and I walked into our fabulous hotel room, we had to insert a key into a wall slot to turn on the lights; we left the key in the slot. My travel buddy decided to take a bath, and I decided to go explore the hotel gardens. I said where I was going, snatched the hotel key out of the wall slot, left the hotel room, shutting the hotel door behind me. Unbeknownst to me, my travel buddy who was taking a bath was yelling because the lights went out. She had to jump out of the tub, find the other hotel key, and insert it into the wall slot. LOL!

Don’t laugh but bring some matches because the sulfur from the match gets rid of bad odors, i.e., after a bowel movement. Try it if you don’t believe me. If you know your bowel movement smell is quite foul the sulfur from a lit match will help keep a friendship.

Bring a night light to use for reading if one of you wants to go to bed early and leaving a light on won’t disturb the other. There are night lights that will clip onto a book or to an iPad or to a Kindle Reader/Nook.

Don’t share deodorant. This is where an extra tube or spay can of deodorant comes in handy, and don't forget to ditch the scent.