3 Essential Tips For Traveling with Your Partner
ever wonder how people survive traveling with her/his partner for so long? my husband and i have been traveling together now for over 2 weeks all through china. we’ve climbed the great wall (and slid down it) in beijing, i’ve worried about him almost getting eaten by dolphin/whales in qingdao and we felt like a power couple in the amazing city of shanghai! we have spent every waking hour and ever asleep hour together except when we are in the bathroom (one time on the 100th floor in shanghai).
it’s been amazing and i feel so thankful that we get to experience traveling through china together! that being said, being with anyone 24/7 can be a bit draining, especially since i’m more introverted than my husband is and i need time to myself to recharge. we’ve been talking about what helps us when we travel together and here are the top 3 we’ve come up with now:
3 essential tips for traveling with your partner/spouse:
1) compromise
it’s vitally important that you both compromise even more when you’re traveling because you don’t have the luxury of comforts of home. one way my husband has compromised is sleep with the blinds closed! at home, we usually switch off sleeping with the blinds in our bedroom open half the time for my husband and closed half the time for me. since we’ve been traveling, i’ve been having a harder time sleeping so he’s compromised and we’ve closed the blinds in our various hotel rooms so i can sleep better.
i’ve compromised by taking the middle seat more often on planes, ferries and taxi rides (and then leaning over him to take photos out the window).
2) have perspective
you can pretty much bet on things not always going according to plan when you travel. for instance, we were told to go to the wrong airport to catch a flight from shanghai to shenzhen. at first i started panicking (because that’s what i do best) and thankfully my husband is able to keep calm, cool and collected much better than i am. he helped to remind me that “hey, we are in china! we are safe, we will get our our next destination so have a cookie and chill out!”
remember to keep things in perspective and travel usually means adventure so soak it up and remember it will make a good story!
3) take alone time
this can be tricky to find time apart but we’ve found it’s essential for our travels, our marriage and our sanity. even if it’s only 30 minutes apart with one of you in the lobby and one in the room, figure out how to do this. if the area you’re staying in is safe and you can navigate it, take separate walks or go workout. after i’ve taken alone time, i find i’m much more even tempered and it’s given me enough of a break to not nit-pick on the little things that my husband does (like taking my pens) and same for him (like me eating the majority of snacks).
questions:
1) what other tips would add to the list for when you travel with your spouse?
2) would you consider yourself introverted or extroverted? what about your partner?
3) any fun upcoming trips you have planned?
Rachel G
November 10, 2014 at 7:22 pm
I always eat the majority of the snacks. Weirdly, Angel just sees it as cute. I would say alternating between being nervous/upset about travel problems is a good strategy. Only have one person freak out at a time, the other must remain calm. 😛
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chelsea
November 12, 2014 at 5:00 pm
haha so glad angel sees your indulgence of the majority of snacks as cute! ravery doesn’t usually get too upset more so disappointed and we all know that sad look people get when they don’t have enough food 🙂 and SO true…there is only room for one person to freak out at a time so it’s important to find that balance 🙂
Lindsay @ The Newlywed Notebook
November 11, 2014 at 1:05 pm
Such a great perspective on traveling with a spouse! It was one of those things I didn’t think of, until Eric and I spent an entire week smushed together in a little car or little hotel rooms. These are three things we learned are absolutely CRUCIAL when traveling for an extended period with your spouse. Hope you and enjoying the last leg of your trip!
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chelsea
November 12, 2014 at 5:03 pm
thanks lindsay! it’s definitely something to keep in mind because traveling with your spouse is very different than living a typical day-to-day life at home! the last leg of our trip was fantastic and i’m working on more posts in between bouts of jet-lag delirium 🙂
Ashley @ Saving Money in your Twenties
November 12, 2014 at 9:00 am
Aww I love these tips! They’re also good for learning to live together in general 😉
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chelsea
November 12, 2014 at 5:04 pm
ah yes they also work for living together in general too, ashley! now to combat jet lag together and we shall be good 🙂
Martin
November 16, 2014 at 3:12 pm
Great tips Chelsea! I also recommend making a list of things you want to see/do/experience on the trip. If each person has a few things he/she specifically wants to do, and articulates ahead of time, it makes traveling and compromise much easier! For longer trips, Eddie and I talk about our daily goals at the beginning of each day.
chelsea
November 17, 2014 at 10:19 am
ohhh that’s a GREAT one, martin! super important to know what matters most to one another to get the most out of the trip. love that!!