Friend recalled home counties trip (5)
I believe the answer is:
lapse
'trip' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'friend recalled home counties' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'recalled' is a reversal indicator (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'home counties' becomes 'SE' (Home Counties in the South East of England).
'pal' backwards is 'lap'.
'lap'+'se'='LAPSE'
(Other definitions for lapse that I've seen before include "Untypical mistake" , "Regress" , "Moral fall" , "Fall from grace" , "Inadvertent error" .)