AWAY WITH A STRANGER
You think holidays with friends are tough…try going Away With A Stranger.
A 52.00’ Location Based Reality Format
When you’re sharing a bottle of Chenin Blanc with your pals on a lazy Sunday
afternoon, it seems like such a good idea. You’re the best of friends, you get
on well, what could be better than going on holiday together?
Well, before you get carried away and log on to TripAdvisor , word of advice.
Don’t! Put down that chilled glass of wine and step away from those holiday
brochures right now.
Because, unless you and your friends have the tolerance of Mother Teresa
on Valium, holidays together are never a good idea. No matter how well you
think you know your besties, you know nothing until you’ve lived with them
for a week. That’s roughly how long it takes to discover that your caring friend
is really a hypochondriac control freak, that her husband’s chatty charm is
actually the result of some seriously out-of-control drinking, and that their
children are the Spawn of Satan.
So if holidays with friends can go horribly wrong what would happen if we took
four total strangers and sent them on a four day all expenses paid holiday to
The Cost Del Sunshine? Sound like trouble?
Well how about booking them into the same four bed apartment so they’re
stuck with each other morning, noon and night, 24/7?
Enough potential for conflict?
Probably, but just to be doubly sure why not let each of our 4 holiday makers
take it in turn to plan 24 hours of the vacation, every second, minute and hour
exactly how they see fit. An itinerary that everyone must stick to whether they
Yes for a whole day one person dictates everything, and we mean
EVERYTHING that their fellow travellers do.
From what time to get up, where and what they eat to
what activities they do, where they do it or in fact if they do anything at all!
One of the biggest problems with going on holiday with friends, never mind
complete strangers, is the difference in expectations.
You’re looking forward to relaxing on the beach with Joanna Trollope’s latest
must-read, while they’ve organized for the group to visit every ancient ruin
within a 100 mile radius.
And of course the itineraries are decided well before our holidaymakers ever
meet so there’s no room for tweaking the schedule in an attempt to curry
favour. So you didn’t think one of our holidaymakers would be over eighty?
Tough! It’s too late to regret scheduling a bungee jump and a trip to a nudist
Want to sit at the pool drinking cocktails for the day?
Well think again ‘cause you’re off for a mountain trek and a goat-milking
lesson. Fancy a quite meal and a bottle of wine? Unlucky, because you’re
booked-in for a bar crawl and a shish kebab.
At the end of each day the three holiday-hijackees rate their experience out
of ten. And at the end of the trip the person with the highest score takes the
prize. Simples!
Four people, four nights, one destination and infinite possibilities for conflict.
So you think holidays with friends can go pear shaped?
You ain’t see nothing until you’ve been AWAY WITH A STRANGER!
