Free Advice Friday - Traveling with your Significant Other

Celebrating Valentine’s Day while traveling with your significant other reminds us how important it is to treat each other as loved ones and not just traveling buddies.  It’s not easy spending every living moment with each other and still remembering to be romantic occasionally.  Traveling as a couple will test the strength of your relationship, something I suggest doing before you venture out on a 3 or more month journey.

Having a significant other, or spouse and living at home can be a challenge in itself, but that doesn’t even begin to compare to traveling with someone.  For those that have not done long-term travel, it may seem like an extended vacation, but it’s not.  It’s a new lifestyle, that still requires some planning, effort and patience.  Articles often tout the many benefits of traveling solo, and there is good reason to do so.  You can go where you want, when you want, how you want.  Basically, the same benefits of being single.  However, you can’t easily share those experiences.  Photos can’t even begin to capture what we see with the naked eye, the goosebumps felt on our arms or the sound of wind or animals surrounding us.  I always think of the movie “Into the Wild” when I imagine traveling alone.  Everyone has their own preferences, but I confidently know, mine is to travel with Aracely.

1. Don’t Test a Relationship On the Road

This is not the place to test your compatibility. Be confident of your relationship, before planning your long-term travels with them.

2. Discuss Travel Preferences

If one of you enjoys traveling in local buses and broken down roads in order to have a local experience, make sure the other does too.  Are you an adventurer seeking high peak climbs or would you prefer to relax on a beach.  Can you tolerate a communal dorm room, or you do prefer your privacy?  Are you willing to experiment with food?  This is probably one of the most important topics to spend time discussing.  You may not have the same desires, but you have to come to a compromise before departing from home.

3. Budget & Spending Behaviors

Agree on what you each intend to spend and stick to it!  Even in your stable lives in suburbia, one of the top reasons for divorce is financial disagreements.  Understand how your desire to see certain places or do specific activities will impact your budget.  I like to spend money on beer, Aracely would rather enjoy a nice meal, but we both are okay with it.

4. Inviting Friends & Family

Often when traveling long-term a friend offers to join you, or maybe even a Mother-in-Law!  Expect to receive a few self-invites and know whether or not you have agreed to have company.  Granted, a Mother-in-Law may not have been discussed.  When traveling with friends or family the travel decisions, sleeping arrangements and transportation arrangements all become more difficult.

5. Dedicated Together Time

Your probably wondering, “Don’t we have together time all the time?”  My answer is, “Not the kind of together time I am referring to.”  Much of our time is spent planning, eating, traveling and unfortunately waking up early.  I know, I didn’t think I would have to wake up early either, but most buses and adventure activities start early in the morning.  As travel bloggers and on-line consultants, whenever we get free time, we do work.  In order to stay lovers and not just travel buddies, dedicate some personal time with each other, just as you might do at home.

As I mentioned in the opening of this article, it’s important to know when to be a travel buddy and when to be a lover.  It’s easy to forget the second role, always getting caught up in the busy planning and traveling chores.  It shouldn’t just be Valentine’s Day when we decide to enjoy a nice dinner and hit the sack early, but Valentine’s Day can be a reminder to do that.  It’s not only more difficult because we are often busy, but it’s a challenge because we are together constantly.  There isn’t much escaping for some personal time, especially in our case.  As we travel in Latin America, I am entirely dependent on Aracely’s Spanish speaking skills.  The only escape I can do is walk around the block.
You will be together constantly with your significant other while traveling, but not the kind of together that brought you together.