Why traveling as a couple is good for your soul and your relationship.
By Eric Leech
If you like good sex and great relationships, surveys claim that traveling with your partner is one of the easiest ways to package these two benefits into one nice little bouquet of success. Daily life can create a wedge between you and your lover. You’ve both got work, chores, appointments, deadlines, expectations and business travel, leaving you with minimal time to make the magic happen. Every couple needs to practice team building, and that is exactly what traveling as a couple can do for you.
The guys and gals in lab coats have looked at the effects of travel, and what they’ve found is that we are closest to our partners when we are headed in the same direction, and they mean this quite literally. They’re referring to taking regular walks (side by side), taking vacations and adventures together and even traveling to and from work together, or at least driving in the same general direction. What this accomplishes is creating a visual representation of having a better connection, more common goals and shared ambition. And there’s more. Your happiest memories come from experiences, and a good portion of those are derived from travel. If you build up enough of these memories with your partner, when times get tough, it is these intimate connections that will offer more incentive to work things out. And for you guys in a relatively new relationship, a planned trip can reveal compatibility quicker than any Zodiac chart. There is no better way to get to know someone, considering that travel includes many of the essential relationship functions, such as budgeting, trust, romance, time management, problem solving and compromise.
They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but traveling together is the stuff that happily ever after is made of. And while it would be fantastic if buying the tickets were the most difficult part of the process, as it turns out, it also helps when couples are aware of these five important tips:
1. Plan Together
Some couples are laid-back and enjoy living the unplanned life. However, when you’re on vacation, time is essential. To prevent any hard feelings, leave with a plan and budget that has already been compromised and unanimously agreed upon. The same goes for wanting to surprise your partner with a pre-planned vacation. You’re going to need some feedback to make sure she has a good time.
2. You/Her Time
Not everybody is capable of spending an entire week without at least some time to themselves. Give yourself and your partner space during an extended trip. This can be as simple as taking a shower, heading out for a walk or even just putting on some headphones or picking up a good magazine and turning the other cheek.
3. Four’s a Crowd
Research suggests that hanging out with friends can improve your relationship, but when it comes to your vacations, the surveys say differently. Keeping a vacation between just the two of you has the effect of improving your level of romance and communication. You become a team of sorts (Team Us), and the best part is that it has the tendency to stay that way once you get back home. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make friends while you’re away; just reconsider bringing them along.
4. Be Interested
One red flag for anyone on a first- time trip with a lover is finding your lover has a lack of interest in your own interests and vice versa. You love your hobbies, and you probably enjoy some of them more when you have someone to share them with. The same goes for your partner. Show genuine interest in her activities during the trip, and you will not only learn something new and fascinating, but also gain huge points in your favor.
5. Team Attitude
Sometimes your team is winning, and occasionally it is losing. The important thing is that you continue to communicate and focus your frustrations in the right direction. It is easy to take your anger out on your partner, but it is more practical to channel that energy into figuring out how to solve problems together. Look at things on the bright side. Many of the world’s greatest travel stories have begun out of complete disaster.
It’s not the destination, but the process in getting there that matters. Make your relationship memorable and worthwhile by choosing to make every adventure a reservation for two.
