When we starting fulltime traveling in September 1999 we thought we would always travel alone or occasionally travel with another couple. Our second year on the road we kept meeting Jim and Patty Hammond, traveling with them a few days or months, going it alone and then meeting them again. At the end of that year we had traveled with them 164 days and enjoyed being with them every day.

Last winter my sister and her husband, Gloria and Don Martin, joined us for a trip to Florida and by the time we parted ways we had camped together 79 days. We enjoyed traveling with them so much we are planning a three month trip together next summer following the Lewis and Clark Trail from Kentucky to the Pacific Ocean.

This past summer we traveled with fulltiming friends Rich and Diane Emond to Maine, then two months in the Canadian Maritimes, a week back in Maine and a few days in New York. We traveled with them 72 consecutive days and during the last twelve months we spent 130 days together. They made the Maritimes much more enjoyable than traveling alone. We went deep sea fishing, took an inflatable boat seven miles to sea to watch whales, put our motorhomes on ferries together, became Honorary Vikings, got Screeched-In together and enjoyed walks and talks together.

As with others, we were very compatible with the Emonds. Both couples liked to sleep late and leave campgrounds at 10:00 - 11:00 a.m., often traveling without plans. Some days Rich led and other days Norm led and we liked to drive the same speed. We all liked to eat out often and try new foods such as moose, caribou, Jiggs Dinner, Brewis, poutine and capelin - foods of Newfoundland. At night Rich and I worked with our computers and Diane and Linda played hundreds of games of Boggle. A few times Rich and I played golf while Diane and Linda went shopping. While we did most things together we also did our own things. The Emonds are movie buffs and while they watched flicks we took scooter rides.

It is much more fun seeing the sights and sounds with friends than being alone and it saves money by taking one car and leaving the other behind. Before making plans to travel with another couple make sure you are compatible. We met two couples traveling together and they were ready to have a face-off. One couple wanted to leave campgrounds late and travel slow while the other couple was up at sunrise and ready to hit the road for a long day's journey. We have also met traveling couples where one couple wants to eat every meal in restaurants while the other couple wants to never eat out. It causes trouble if one couple wants a full hookup campground every night while the other couple wants to boondock.

We met several caravans in the Maritimes and even had friends on one of them, but I don't consider traveling with friends and caravanning the same. The people on caravans were worn out and snipping at each other half way through their travels.

If you plan to travel with another couple make sure you are compatible before your trip or have a way out. You can always pull out at midnight and leave a note on the other couple's RV that you had an emergency and had to leave. Of course the emergency is to get rid of them.