What to Know About Going Home With Your Roommate for Break

By Kaitlin Hurtado

Each college student’s roommate experience is going to be different. Some students merely view their roommates as someone cohabiting the same living space with them. Other students live with their close friends or become close friends with their roommates as time goes on. If you fit in the latter category, you may find yourself planning to spend time with your roommate outside of the apartment, including going back home together during break.

Whether your roommate is taking you back to their home, or you are taking them to yours, traveling to one’s home is an entirely new experience you may feel unprepared for. Keep reading for what to know about going home with your roommate during break.

Prepare to be a tour guide, or to be guided around
Whether you are taking your roommate back home, or you are going to your roommate’s home, one person is going to experience a new area for the first time. Even if they have visited the area previously for whatever reason, they likely do not have a local’s view and experience of the area.

Whatever your role is in the scenario, be prepared to embrace being a temporary tour guide, or accept whatever plans your roommate has for you in their hometown. Getting to experience one’s home and town through a local’s point of view is a unique experience, and it’s one that you and your roommate should definitely take advantage of.

Of course, you can communicate what type of activities you are interested in doing, but you shouldn’t be shooting down your roommate’s ideas just because they don’t sound like something you would enjoy.

Have a clear idea of your living situation during the break
Before embarking on your travels, make sure you and your roommate understand the plans for how you are enjoying your break. This does not mean you have to have your daily itinerary planned down to the hour, but you should have a general idea of what your plans will entail while away.

First and foremost, your housing accommodations should be established. Are you staying in the roommate’s family home – staying in the guest bedroom or sharing their personal room? Are you staying with their friends or extended family, or sharing a hotel or Airbnb together?

Make sure to discuss this beforehand so no one gets a surprise when you arrive to the destination together. Everyone has their own travel preferences. For example, if one roommate prefers to have their own living space, bedroom and bed included, but the roommate’s family home doesn’t have the space for those accommodations, the roommate may consider looking for their own housing during their stay to enjoy the entire experience more.

Similarly, discuss how you are handling your stay together. Are you expecting to spend all your time together during your stay? Or are you planning to spend some time together and then time apart? For whoever is the one going back home, they may want to spend some extra time with their own family and friends, and you should discuss if it’s something you are expected to do together or time spent on your own so everyone can plan accordingly.

Prepare your living space before leaving
Unless you and your roommate have other roommates who are staying back at your apartment together, you may be leaving your apartment unoccupied for a certain period of time. If it’s only for a weekend or week, this may seem like a non-issue, but if you plan on leaving for months at a time during a longer summer break, there are certain things to keep in mind to prepare your space for being unoccupied.

Make sure you tidy up your space prior to leaving. This means taking out the trash, wiping down surfaces, and cleaning out your fridge and pantry of any perishables. With you and your roommate away, you will not be able to tell when a pest problem first pops up so do your best to keep your living space clean and pest-free while you are away.

Turn off any electronics or unplug devices that will not be of any use while you are away. Double-check that points of entry, from doors and windows, are locked properly. If your windows do not have them already, consider installing window locks that prevent the window from opening past a certain point (intruders won’t be able to fit through a limited space).

Visiting home with your roommate for break is definitely a unique experience, and will bring you closer together. With this information in mind, you can help yourself make the most of the experience – good luck!