Here are a few for me/us/the travel gang:

On multi-friend trips, one room and one bathroom per participant. There's nothing cute or novel about guys all jammed in, stinking up a shared crapper, snoring. One dedicated sleeping area and one dedicated bathroom per participant. (That's why we all have jobs. It ain't college these days.)

With the golf gang we often rent privately through vrbo or another service. When Terri and I travel we usually will mix it up between a resort and private.

Eat as local as possible. If it is something I can have anywhere in White Bread Middle Class America, I don't eat it at home so why would I do it on vacation?

Food need not simply be expensive. Inexpensive is not necessarily "cheap" or "frugal." Good is the concept, or notable, local.

No Budweiser, PBR, etc.

Hire caddies when available, get out of the fucking cart, if allowed. This is golf-specific, obviously.

Try something new or outside the usual regimen.

A casino is not remotely a travel must-have.

 

Seems like Ken has some smelly buddies, or has been married too long.

I suggest you take a week long fishing trip to Canada and be in a cabin with 4-8 other smelly fisherman. The out house is rough.

You will simply conclude being in a hotel room with one buddy, and 1 crapper, is the bomb.

If you are on a golf trip, road trip for a game, or Vegas trip. A shared toilet with another party is fine.

as a veteran of many road trips with a buddy or two. We are pretty skilled at doing our duty outside of the hotel room.

Agree completely with dining at a good local place.

 

If you like buffets, eat at buffets.

IOW, travel as YOU want to travel.

 

I also agree with get your own room. I shared rooms with friends when on a budget and it was never fun.

I even go so far as these days when I bring a couple of friends to Vegas, the second BR in my suite always has 2 beds, but I never put them in the same room like that. I'll tell one they're either sleeping on the couch or usually I'll get him his own room. if the two of them want to work out to share the room with 2 beds, great, but I'm never gonna be the one to assume that.

 

Agreed on the separate room thing. I like my own quiet space and hate sharing a room nowadays. In my partying days I didn't care. Now? Get your own spot.

Eating locally is something I try to abide to as well. If I'm on vacation I'll do my best to avoid any chain places. I guess Grand Lux is considered s chain but I like that place too much to not go there in Vegas. I don't ever go to the one in Houston though

 

Don't forget the separate room for the hooker, they need their own space too!

 

I say never stay somewhere that's crappier than home. Unless I'm somewhere really remote, I'm not staying at a dive hotel to save a couple bucks

 

Yep, we don't "make do" at home so why oh why do that on vacation? Unless as you wrote you're purposely doing something rustic or remote, and in that regard it's not a function of being Flamingo-shitty.

 

I've struggled with traveling for a long time because we have our house setup just the way we like it. we don't go overboard with ridiculously priced furnishings and stuff like that, but we designed every space based on our needs and wants and are really comfortable.

so going to a hotel is pretty much always a step down from our house even if it's the Ritz or Four Seasons or wherever. there's very few places that we go and actually don't want to leave to come home to our own bed, our own kitchen, our own sofa, etc.

so really for us and travel, the two things we don't get at home - the service or the location (vibe, scenery, people, etc) - has to be worth it for us to really enjoy ourselves.

 

That's the way we feel, as well.

We love to go places, do the different things and experience the surroundings but nothing beats home!!!!