Sharing a Room? My advice to future Flashpackers

Jenni Shaw, a first time Flashpacker shares her experience of sharing a room on her group adventure in Vietnam and Cambodia…

As a single traveller, I spent a lot of time on Google looking for the perfect company to go on an adventure with.  Someone who would embrace the 30 something solo traveller and would not enforce a single supplement fee!  I was therefore super excited to discover Flash Pack as they were offering exactly the type of adventure I was looking for; fast paced, like minded people, luxurious accommodation and most importantly, no single supplement…what more could I ask for?!  I was so excited to get out there and start discovering the fascinating countries of Vietnam and Cambodia and was feeling pretty confident except for one teeny niggle…sharing a room!

As a 30 year old, it was a fairly long time since sharing a room with anyone other than a family member had been something I had done.  I couldn’t really put my finger on why this was something that was worrying me but nevertheless it was!  I therefore did what any sensible 30 something would do and wrote a list of my concerns 😉

1. What if my roommate was some sort of crazy party animal who was going to want to stagger in to bed in a drunken state at 4am every night?!
2. What if I just didn’t get on with the person I was sharing a room with?
3. What if the rooms were small and uncomfortable and not suitable for 2 people to share?

Having written the above down, I felt slightly better and asked myself ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’, always a good way of allaying any fears!

Related: What the hell is a single supplement?

The new year rolled around and I packed my bags and set off on my trip, fears still at the back of my mind but ready to embrace the experience!  Within the first 24 hours, all of my worries seemed soooo silly and insignificant and let me tell you why…

1. Everyone in the group was LOVELY, we all had similar interests, were at similar life stages and similar aims and agendas for the trip. This meant that no one was in the business of spending the whole two weeks with a stinking hangover which would prevent them from enjoying the experience to the absolute max. The group stayed together and were all on the same schedule so fear number one was quickly quashed!
2. As mentioned in the above point, we all had so many things in common and were on this incredible adventure so we got on super well…fear two quashed!
3. From the first to the last hotel, all of the rooms were comfortable, spacious and offered all the modern luxuries you would expect for 4 and 5 star properties. Many of them had 2 x double beds meaning that we had one each and there was loads of space for luggage and getting ready without getting under each others feet.

In addition to the above reasons that there is absolutely nothing to worry about sharing a room, there were also a million and one benefits to doing so…

1. Flash Pack adventures are so jam packed full of super exciting and ‘first time’ experiences that sharing a room means that you have someone who has shared in these experiences with you to chatter away with before dozing off to sleep at night!
2. It’s really nice to have companionship when getting ready for the day or for a dinner out – getting ready is part of the fun after all and not so enjoyable if you are doing it alone!
3. Its great to be able to pack your bags for the day together to make sure you have all the right stuff and don’t forget anything.
4. Everyone else on the trip was sharing a room so I think I would have felt sad if I was going back to a room alone at the end of each day!

And don’t just take it from me, these two Flashpackers can also vouch that sharing a room is an epic part of the experience:

Related: Being single makes you a brilliant traveller

On our trip we actually had an odd number of girls therefore, at every different location, we took it in turns to have our own room for a night or two.  This was nice on the odd occasion as it mixed it up a bit and meant that in some places I had a MASSIVE room all to myself, often with two double beds in it!  Something to bear in mind as a distinct possibility on any trip.

In short, my main message on the whole room sharing debate is DO IT DO IT DO IT!  Some of my most memorable moments of the trip and best forged friendships came from time spent in the many lovely hotel rooms with my lovely roomie!

Ready to make some memories of your own? Click here to see our Flash Pack group adventures!

Images: Jenni Shaw