Friday, April 4, 2014

travel tips: traveling as a couple

traveling together 
is one of our favorite things,
and it's something that strengthens our 
relationship. sharing adventures and seeing 
new things together bonds us and makes us
our happiest selves. but, it's not always easy. 
like any travel companion, your spouse or
significant other can sometimes have 
different opinions, needs, wants, etc. while 
on a trip. after being together 24 hours a
day in a new place with different languages 
and lack of sleep, it can get tricky.
before we got married, chase definitely knew
that travel was my favorite thing and he promised
we would always travel together. we went on
lots of trips together while we were dating,
so i already knew we were a good fit :)
luckily we have lots in common and have 
similar interests and tastes, so we do pretty
well on trips...but there are definitely some
rough moments! it is worth figuring out, 
because you get memories and experiences
that will last forever. here are some tips for:
1. make sure you both look over the plan before the trip.
if one of you feels like you've planned it all and something
goes wrong, there will be tension-- trust me. the person
who didn't plan will feel like the planner made a mistake,
and the planner will resent the other person for not
helping and looking it over...haha. have equal investment!
2. know your strengths and weaknesses. it's good to be
aware of what you are each good at & not so good at,
so that you can fill in your strengths where the other 
person is weak, etc. for example, i really love doing
the research for trips and knowing where we want to go, 
but i love to have chase do the actual navigating to the
places once we are there. this happy balance works for us!
3. figure out early on what kind of traveler 
you both are. for example, i like to have a plan, 
and chase likes to discover things as we go. so, 
we compromise and make a plan together before 
trips, but leave room for flexibility so we can
go off of the itinerary and explore new things..

4. bring food. hanger (hungry anger) is real,
especially when traveling. i am insane when
i pack food for a flight ---- my whole purse is
full of trader joe's treats, pb&honeys, chocolate,
fruit, almonds, etc. this helps when you're tired,
hungry, and stuck without food or on a plane
where food is $$$ and not too good. this
has saved us (mostly me) many times!

5. have a sense of humor...whether a flight
gets delayed, luggage gets lost, the hotel is bad,
or someone is rude, you are bound to have some
unpleasant experiences. being able to laugh
is key, because lots of times there's nothing
else you can do. chase is so good at this and
has saved us in many situations by making 
me laugh and easing the situation. for example,
when our bags got lost in lisbon and we sat
in the baggage office with the grumpy employee
who was not being helpful, chase spoke a fake 
language to me really loudly with an italian
accent for 30 straight minutes. literally didn't 
stop.  the guy was so confused and i was bent
over laughing until our luggage appeared.

6. have solo time. if one of you is tired or
wants to see something different, don't be
afraid to split up for an hour or two...just
make sure to have an exact meeting point if
you're in a foreign country with no cell phones!

7. plan to splurge. even though we're young
and follow lots of budget travel tips, we
like to splurge once in a while on trips.
plan on spoiling your significant other.
i always have something in mind i
want to get for chase on a trip..
whether it's a clothing item, an
experience, or a nice dinner you've
heard about, plan to surprise your
love with something fun on the trip.

8. mix up your trips. don't plan
lots of sightseeing trips all in a
row-- you'll get so tired of the
busy, stressful planned out trips.
schedule a relaxing beach getaway
or cruise one year, and then a big
backpacking adventure the next
year. this way you'll keep things fresh!

9. document. take pictures, take videos,
capture the moment! this sounds obvious, but
when it's just the two of you, remember
to ask people take pictures for you, film
things, and capture the memories 
that are so fun later.

10. live in the moment. despite 
my love to document trips and 
see all that i can, it's so important
to live in the moment and just
hold hands with your loved one
at an amazing place and take it
in. really share it together. talk 
about what you love about places 
you've been, where you are, and 
where you want to go. bond through 
a place. create memories and fall
more in love. that's what it's all about!

////

so those are my ten tips.
but most of all.....
^^ on plane rides, train rides, boat rides,
on the couch at home, in the car, in
church, out to dinner, in movies...
 the biggest tip of all is to find someone you 
want to sit next to for the rest of your life.
if you can find someone who you can travel
on a trip with, it means you can definitely
travel through life with them...the most
important thing of all! :)

xo

22 comments:

  1. The quote at the end is the best! You won't spend anymore time with anyone else in the world, so you've got to like them as much as you love them. :D

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  2. I love this post! I know my boyfriend is a great travel partner as he stayed fun and happy in the crazy heat of Dubai during Ramadan when we couldn't eat ANYWHERE in public in daylight hours! Now that's a challenge! I especially love tip number 10...i always have to remind myself to put my camera down for a while and just experience things :) All of these photos are beautiful too xx

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  3. These are perfect tips and so true!! You guys should try out for the amazing race - You would totally win the whole thing!! I love travelling with my husband - the excitement of sitting on the plane together and taking off somewhere new is so exciting!!

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  4. LOVE! thanks for sharing :) I am the same way, I LOAD up on trader joes before we leave :)

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  5. This is all SO true. It can be stressful, even if you both love traveling! The hardest most stressful part of all of our travels - we flew standby for everything. EVERY SINGLE TRIP! Actually there was one that we finally had to buy tickets cuz we couldn't get home. But anyway flying standby is tricky tricky and involves lots of planning ahead and being extremely flexible! Some trips were easier than others but it's a dang good thing we travel together well and didn't end up hating each other by the end of some of those trips :)

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  6. Such lovely pictures and great tips! We love traveling too!

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  7. Totally brilliant! Took us a few years longer to add some of these to our list, but our list is nearly the same now. We also love combining beach with sightseeing like last year we visited Paris and then stayed on the beach in Cannes, which was awesome!

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  8. These are awesome tips! You guys have been lots of places together. I love that. And that quote is so true. My hubby is my best friend and I could spend all my time with him just sitting. But preferably sitting in a new city. :)

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  9. Thank you for these AMAZING tips! My boyfriend and I have started to travel together, but it's been a bit confusing how to handle travel together. So thank you so much again!

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  10. you two are so cute. we also enjoy traveling together and these tips are some that i needed a little reminder of. thanks for the post!

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  11. Good tips, thanks. I want to add something that was a life saver on my last trip to Rome. I lost my passport during the day and had no idea it was missing. Fortunately, I had a tracer tag on it. A waiter where I ate lunch found it and entered my tracker number on the website. I was automatically sent a text message (and an email) with a pickup location before I ever even knew my passport was missing. Lucky for me, I was leaving in the morning for Germany and getting a new passport would have been impossible. Tags are available through mystufflostandfound.com That tag saved my trip from total disaster and I put them on my phone, laptop and almost everything that travels with me now.

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  12. Ok, I know you! I saw this thing on Pinterest for a Bay Area bucket list and I was like, "Hey, I live in the Bay Area, I should look at that." So I did and then I clicked on the "Foster City canals" link cause I live by Foster City and I scrolled down and saw the picture of you at Eliza Monson's shower and I was like, "What?? Wait a minute! I was at that shower!" And I realized that I sat by you while we ate! It really made me laugh so I just had to comment and tell you.

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    Replies
    1. haha! i love this...such a small world! hope we bump into each other again! Xo

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  13. what a beautiful post! Yes all of your tips are so true! I hope to marry someone who loves to travel and go on adventures! :)

    http://abeautifulheart07.blogspot.com/

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  14. Nice tips! 4-5-6 are so me :)
    Great post.
    Love

    www.agirlinafrica.com

    Diana

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  16. This totally gave me inspiration to book our first big trip as a couple to Israel! Thanks!

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    1. wow! israel, amazing! so excited for you! Xo

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  17. Love this post and your photos, great tips! :-) Especially #2 is exactly the same for my boyfriend and I - I research and plan everything in advance while he doesn´t engage in that at all, but once we are there he is the one knowing where the way, etc. haha

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  18. Hit it right on the head!! so true about all of it! and GREAT advice! I miss you and your D A R L I N G face! xoxo Kat

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