We laughed as we stopped and took our hundredth picture of a blue painted door as we walked along the streets of Paris. We hunted for the perfect shades of blue — ones which never photograph well — and I thought it was so fun eating a box of chocolates as we walked to our favorite museum. This trip was such a gift to share with my friend who equally loves color and art. 
Making time for friends is a must.
Over the years, I have learned that if I do not purposely plan these times, they will not happen because our lives are filled with busy days of family, activities and work . The gift of time with friends is so good for the soul; a refreshment for the busyness of life.
Creating time for friends doesn’t have to involve a big trip or even a whole day. It can be a coffee date or a walk at the park. Making a purposeful plan to see a dear friend is self-care. When we take time for ourselves, we are able to take care of others and there is nothing better than the gift of time with friends!
Here are a few of my favorite tips for planning a memorable trip with a friend:
- Make a schedule of things you both want to do and places where you may want to eat.
- Purchase any tickets you can ahead of time.
- Drink all the coffee and eat desserts all day.
- Be intentional with taking pictures together and of each other. We don’t have that many pictures of ourselves since we are always the ones taking the pictures.
- Have free time to just talk and wander around. We waited two hours to get into a museum and passed the time pretty quickly just talking!
- Find something fun with which to remember your trip together. We picked up some cute Eiffel Tower ornaments that we can hang on our trees!
- Keep a journal of the things you did because everyone asks and you will forget!
