If you really want to get to know someone, travel with them. The following are some suggestions given by some people who have successfully traveled with friends.

Talk money ahead of time.

When you’re traveling with friends, the topic of money will certainly come up. 【小题1】 Talking about expenses early on will help your friends understand what can be done and what can’t be done.

Create a group itinerary (行程表).

When traveling in a group, a lot of time can be wasted trying to figure out what to do once you get there—if this hasn’t been discussed ahead of time. Have everyone write down what they’d like to accomplish on the trip before departure. 【小题2】

Choose a trip leader.

If you’ll be traveling in a group with many friends, it can be hard to keep everyone motivated. 【小题3】 He or she can set departure times and let everyone know the basic plan.

【小题4】

Once you’ve nominated (任命) a leader, using a travel folder to collect all tickets, maps and other important documents can help streamline the process of group travel, as well.

Power down.

Nothing is more likely to cause unhappiness than when one person is trying to have a conversation with someone who’s busy showing off the trip on social media. 【小题5】 If you spend the time with your face buried in your phone, your companions will rightly think your phone is more interesting than their company.

How to Teach Your Child to Be a Good Friend

Your child who struggles with making friends and maintaining friendships may exhibit some behavioral issues. Physical aggression and name-calling often arise. A quiet character and social anxiety can also lead to difficulty making friends【小题1】

Instill self-esteem(灌输自尊思想). The first step in teaching your child to be a good friend is to teach them to take pride in themselves.【小题2】Additionally, a child with a strong sense of self will build healthier friendships down the road.

Teach social skills.【小题3】Role-play with your child to teach them how to have polite conversations with others. Practise taking turns, sharing, respecting other people’s boundaries, and showing care for their feelings. Your child also needs to know how to apologize, argue with a friend respectfully and listen to others.

【小题4】From Frog and Toad to Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin, children’s literature is filled with strong friendships. Use books as an opportunity to talk about what makes those friendships work, and what qualities the characters displayed to develop their friendships.

Find teachable moments. As a parent, you may run into situations where your child doesn’t act like the best friend they could be. Your child may have moments of conflict, drama and fights with their friends. Try to turn these moments into teachable moments.【小题5】Eventually, they’ll get the hang of it. With your guidance and a little practice, your child will turn into a caring, kind and trustworthy friend.

We are all born social and company to live happy and fruitful life. Healthy and supportive mutual relationships help reduce stress and promote the, physical, mental and emotional well-being by building skills like time management, assertiveness( 坚定自信), sociability and empathy.

Making friends has made me feel secure. However, I have to be cautious to pick up friends sharing similar tastes and values. In addition, having added to one’s circle of friends helps one feel supported.

It is true that finding time to cultivate relationships is all about effective time management. My busy uncle finds time to catch up with family and friends during his tea and lunch breaks. Similarly my friend Somya uses her time on her way back home from work in her chauffeur-driven car to catch up with people. The modern inventions of SMS and e-mail help send wishes for birthdays and anniversaries to show your love and care.

Assertiveness is as much applicable to relationships. My friend Mohana emphasizes that neither being a passive observer nor being aggressive helps relationships. It is assertiveness in our relationships that opens the lines of effective communication. It emphasizes helping friends in need and also strengthens mutually supportive relationships.

It is also true that assertiveness by intuition promotes discretion(自行决定权) of friends and helps Lalitha distinguish positive people from drains of energy. She can easily figure this out by the flow of the conversation, the way each feels understood, accepted and supported, and by how I feel, happy, bored or energized in the relationship. It also helps to know whether all benefit from each other’s positive aspects.

Handling stress in life is all about cultivating mutually supportive relationships and working on them. Manisha always says she feels great when sharing her feelings after a hard day with people who share similar ideas. Actually we all need someone who would not just hear us, but listen to us, and we need to cultivate the art of listening and understanding people.