There are few things more unstable than a backpacking friendship forged in the sweaty crucible of Southeast Asia, where the humidity is high, the food is cheap, and travel «groups» form and dissolve faster than street ice cream. Our traveler, a go-with-the-flow queen in a world of spreadsheet-worshipping, itinerary-fixated travel companions, found herself on a collision course with the organizational police after, drum roll… not treating hostel life like a corporate retreat. Yes, sometimes she’s five minutes late to dinner, but unless the Pad Thai is going to self-destruct at six sharp, what’s the rush?

Yet in this group, order must be maintained: the original type-A duo, ever the guardians of punctuality and «shared planning responsibilities,» decide it’s time for a performance review. Their verdict: they’d rather she wander off to find her own chill tribe and let them rule the group’s tedious whereabouts in peace. Never mind that four new recruits are actually vibing with her nonchalance. 

The solution? A group coup.

Unfazed, unbothered, our trekker simply shrugs and suggests the unhappy campers take their maps and neuroses elsewhere, since she’s not the one with a problem.