One of the things I was surprised people asked a lot about our road trip was how my husband and I get along while traveling! I guess since we have been traveling together for almost a decade I never put much thought into it. But looking back, I realize we are MUCH better at traveling together now than when we first started! So I decided to talk about what it is like traveling with your life partner and how we make the most of it! Everyone is different so these tips may not work for every couple. You need to find a groove that works for you! But I do believe traveling together is so important and I hope we can help others to enjoy traveling together as much as we do!
Pick Activities for Both
Luckily for us we really have similar taste when it comes to activities we like! Both of us enjoy outdoorsy stuff like hiking and kayaking and we are a sucker for tourist traps. Do you know how many times we have paid to go to the top of tall buildings?! It is embarrassing. And yet it is something we both love so probably not stopping anytime soon!
That being said, we always check in with each other and do the things one of us wants to do! For example, Tyrell really wanted a couples massage in Cabo. I enjoy massages but it wasn’t top of my list. But we got a massage AND we swam with dolphins because both of us deserve to get what we want!
Go With the Flow
This is probably my number one tip for travel in general; with friends, family, or in a relationship! The worst thing you can do during travel is stress out about a plan not going perfectly. Yes, we always have a general plan because if not then you won’t see and do all the things you want! But if you have a strict itinerary and begin to stress out when you fall behind or miss something, you will end up hating your whole vacation.
My husband is truly much better at this than I am but he has taught me how to be more relaxed! No matter what, we always have a good time and make the best out of any situation. That has helped us so much.
Communicate!
I know this seems obvious but we have all done the thing where something is bothering us but we don’t say anything because we don’t want to ruin the vacation but by not saying anything we get more and more upset and ruin the vacation even more. Ya know? I have been guilty of this and so has my husband! When we decided to road trip for 6 months we really had to work on communication.
This was a situation where we could no longer hold things in until the end of vacay because vacation wasn’t ending any time soon. In general in our relationship we have really worked on communication over the years. And not just on the end of speaking your mind but on the other end of receiving and listening to your partner!
Accept Fights May Happen
Anyone who tells you they never ever fight with their partner is lying. You may not always have big knock down drag out fights but everyone bickers. We used to argue SO MUCH on road trips! Our first road trip to California years ago we fought the whole time. My best friend Nicole was in the car and she can tell you about it! At the end of the day, it is hard being in such a confined space with anyone for long amounts of time.
Also, when you’re passionate about something you can easily become too emotional about it. And when we take big trips that mean a lot to us we sometimes let our emotions get the best of us! We just have to accept those big feelings and be understanding with each other if we do get upset!
The best thing you can do if an argument or disagreement with your partner does occur is discuss the underlying cause and deal with it quickly! Do not let it build up and ruin the whole trip. If one hour is wasted on a big fight that is better than the while trip being clouded by hurt feelings.
