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Recent world events have made it really hard to find ways to spend time with friends. Working from home, homeschooling children, and just getting through the day has taken a lot of energy in recent months. If you’re missing your buddies, they’re probably missing you, so why not plan a guy’s trip?
Go Fishing
A fishing trip can be as simple as meeting at one house and getting out on their boat. If you have a buddy with a fishing boat and he has room for guests, pool together some cash and send his wife away for a nice weekend. Load up the bait, sunscreen, and make sure your mercury outboard parts are up to par before you go out on the water.
To keep things simple and relaxing,
- Leave the phones at the house
- Pack in easy to prepare foods
- Hire a housekeeper to tidy the place at the end of the fishing trip
This could save a lot of driving and be a really budget-friendly trip for any of the guys who have taken a financial hit during the pandemic.
Go To a Concert
Hire a driver to safely get you to and from the venue and go a little crazy. Rent a house in the city and plan to buy too much swag. Get a box of cigars and make sure your rental house has a patio or a deck where you can sit out and have a stogie.
One of the joys of checking out your first favorite band in concert as an adult is you can now afford a great ticket, get more than just a tee shirt, and buy beer. Why not? Recapture a some of your youth at a fun concert with your buddies.
Go To a Game
If you collected baseball cards, get together with other collectors and go to a ballgame. It doesn’t have to be a big league game unless that’s in your budget and on your bucket list. Go check out a farm team game, or follow your favorite team to a new town and support the visitors.
Maybe baseball isn’t your thing. If you love college football, head to your favorite team’s season opener and do some tailgating. It could be an excuse to buy some new grilling gear! Go to the local stock car races, or go check out the local BMX track.
Go Camping
If you’re thinking about camping as a family, call up your buddies and go test drive your gear. Find out what screens are ripped, what zippers have failed, and which air mattress is done for.
Pack to be able to stretch out and sleep in the car just in case something serious fails. If you’ve got a buddy who’s crazy about camping and you need to learn, take notes. Take pictures of his gear and figure out what you need to buy so you can camp with your wife and kids without fumbling around. Learning to camp is an investment to get the right gear, but saving on hotel rooms for the rest of your life is completely worth it!
Go Hunting
If you have lost contact with some of the older guys in your life, or if you’re an older guy who’s lost touch with nephews and even your grown sons, a hunting trip can be a great choice. Guns have become politicized enough that learning to hunt is one of the only PC way to talk about guns, learn to shoot, and build target shooting skills.
If there’s a member of your party who is somewhat interested but not ready to fully commit, this is also a terrific chance to share gear across the generations. If you’re one of the clan elders and have some room in your budget, this may also be a great chance to not have to worry about what to give for Christmas or an upcoming birthday.
Guy trips are a wonderful way to reconnect with old friends, make new connections across the generations, and check back in with the friends you haven’t seen since February 2020. You can build up camping gear and skills to benefit your family for years to come. Finally, you can feel as though you’re moving into a new normal, which we all need.