Travelling as a couple can be a real challenge. We’ve both travelled alone in the past, and we’ve travelled with our families too. But now we’ve worked out how to do it, Mrs Romance and I have become each other’s favourite travelling companions. Here are our 10 tips on how we do it.
We’ve been travelling together for a long time. It’s not always been easy and of course we’ve had arguments – huge rows, in fact. But we’re still together and still love travelling together more and more every time we go away.
I suppose you could say we’re experts at travelling as a couple – that doesn’t mean we’re not still learning, mind you. And we still get cranky with each other when we’re travelling – I blame Mrs R, of course! 😉
But here are our top 10 tips for travelling with your other half:
1. Know your own travel style
Do you go for museums over pubs? Shopping over hiking? Poolside or cultural exploration? It’s important you know what you like to do. That way you can start making your travel plans with your partner.
2. Learn how your partner likes to travel
If you’re not sure of how your mista or missus likes to travel – especially if you’re in a new relationship – ask them about their favourite holiday and what they liked about it. Apply what you’ve learnt to understand what’s going to be popular with him or her.
3. Work out a compromise
If by some freakish coincidence you both like the same things travel-wise, great. Otherwise share out your travel time. Perhaps make one day all about your travel plans and then next based around what they want to do.
4. Spend time apart
It can be intense to spend 24/7 together, and it’s okay to spend some time apart to recharge. Go and do your own thing for a morning or afternoon. Best of all when you meet back up, you’ll have something to talk about as well.
5. Pack an outfit in each other’s bag
Just in case your luggage goes missing, having at least one change of clothes takes the stress out of that initial flight. Stressing out waiting for the airline to find your bag can ruin the start of your holiday, something no one wants.
6. Don’t fear the silence
Just because you’ve got nothing to say doesn’t mean you’re not happy. Sometimes spending time silently together on holiday can strengthen the bond between you. Don’t feel like you have to fill every moment with words. Just be together and enjoy the company.
7. Don’t forget to ask strangers to take a photo of you together
…or get really good at selfies!
8. Don’t feel like you have to isolate yourselves as a couple
Eat in communal areas like at the bar instead of a table for two. Go on group activities and tours, talk to locals, ask waiters and hotel staff for their own recommendations… you’ll have such a different experience.
9. Create your own games and travel hobbies
A while ago, Mrs Romance started taking photos of doors while we were travelling. It’s now a thing we look for whenever we’re away. We also play this weird guessing game to pass the time when we’re bored! Mrs R comes out with the funniest answers.
10. Most importantly, make sure you laugh
Laugh at each other, laugh at yourself; laugh as much as you can when you’re travelling. It makes your time away so much more enjoyable and valuable.
How well do you and your partner travel together? What do you do to make the most of travel with your other half? Do you play any travel games when you’re out and about? Tell us in the comments!
Nick Deane
These are fantastic tips for traveling with your other half. My biggest lesson was #2 because I thought that my partner wanted to do the same things I did. I was very wrong! Great to see you guys together and having a good laugh after all this time.
Mr Romance
Thanks, Nick! Yes, it’s an easy trap to fall into, isn’t it? Mind you, I think you can be over-cautious too, and spend your whole time worrying if your partner’s having a good time. Doesn’t work either. Hard to find that balance, I reckon.
Cheers
Jim
Daisy
Great tips you guys! I always find number 7 a struggle – getting decent photos of the two of you together. We’re becoming good at selfies, but sometimes a selfie doesn’t really capture the ambience/atmosphere of your location. I need to be more brave in asking strangers to snap a quick pic!
Daisy xo
Mr Romance
I know exactly what you mean, Daisy. Actually, there aren’t many photos of my mum from when I was a kid – it was always her behind the camera.
The funny thing is one of our favourite photos we asked someone else to take is really blurry. We thought we’d picked the perfect person to take it too – this guy was carrying about three expensive cameras and he took quite a few shots, but when we got the photos back from the developers (yes, it was a while ago!), all of them were out of focus or blurry. Most of them we couldn’t even recognise it was us!
Anyway, definitely get someone to take a couple of shots of you next time you’re away. Most people won’t mind – just don’t ask someone who looks like a camera thief! 😉
Jxx
Erin | No Ordinary Nomad
Great tips! My husband and I have developed our travel style over time. I think the most important thing is to know each other’s boundaries, and when you can compromise and go along with what the other person wants to do or when you need to go off and do it by yourself. For example, I know that my husband really doesn’t like the idea of doing a cooking class overseas – it’s too much like a chore while he’s on holiday! So if I wanted to do a cooking class, I’d go off and do that by myself.
Mr Romance
Hi Erin. You’re absolutely right. Knowing what will really cheese your partner off is really important so you know what to avoid trying to do as a couple. Great example by the way. I think my example would be if Mrs R wanted to go dancing – especially sober. I wouldn’t be into that at all. On the other hand if there was a camping trip or something like that, Mrs R would be the last person I’d ask!
Cheers
Jxx
Clare
Great tips guys! My Mr struggles with the “having to do stuff together” bit – just because I don’t want to go fishing for the 75th day in a row doesn’t mean I don’t love him, it just means I’d really rather head down the road with a book and a cuppa. And no squid bits.
Happy travels!
Mr Romance
It’s tough, isn’t it, Clare? You feel like – while you’re both on holiday together – you should spend every minute together. But it’s just not natural! You don’t do that normally, so it’s just going to end in war! Your Mr sounds a bit like my dad and my brother-in-law (2 different people, don’t worry!). They love fishing and would go every single day if they could, but sometimes they just have to tow the line – no pun intended – and reel it in a bit. Ok, I meant that one!
Good luck and enjoy that cuppa and your read. Sounds much better to me than 75 days of fishing! Or squid bits!
Jxx
Maxabella
#2 and #4 went hand in hand for us on our big adventures. We came together and then apart like a wonderful dance – doing things together, things apart and back together. Wherever the road took us. x
Mr Romance
It’s a beautiful thing when it works well, isn’t it, Bron? I think as long as there’s that ‘come back together’ part at least once each day, that’s healthy! It gives you both a totally different perspective of a place through someone else’s eyes. It also gives you a new impression of what your partner is likely to enjoy doing, so you can take them somewhere they’d like next time you’re on the move together!
Nice one!
Jxx
Ashlea @ Glamour Coastal Living
LOVE number #5, such a great idea!!
Mr Romance
Ha ha! Yes, it’s a good one, isn’t it, Ashlea?! This one came from when I lost all my luggage coming from a Sydney winter to a Roman summer and I was sweltering! I had nothing but the clothes I flew in to wear for the two days (TWO DAYS!) while the flight company recovered my bags. Of course, it was a good excuse to go shopping, but still…
The only risk with this tip is if your partner’s bags get searched. Might have to field the question: “Are these your clothes, sir?” Heh heh!
Jxx
Katie
Number 5 is a goooood idea! Always pack something in my BF’s luggage just in case (though I don’t often have room for something of his in mine!) We travel pretty well together. I think probably because after 4 months of dating we quit our jobs and left on a 3 month backpacking trip through Central America! It worked, and now we are making our way through Asia!
Mr Romance
Wow! that’s amazing, Katie. They say that if you can travel with someone for any length of time and you both come back alive and still liking each other, you’ve got something special! Looks like you’ve both got what it takes!
Enjoy Asia!
Jxx
Talia
Snap! I like taking photos of door too! 🙂
These are great tips. I particularly like the tip to spend some time apart. When we travel sometimes it’s just going to do different shops or something.
This week I’ll be putting the call out on my blog to see if people want to be involved in a #wanderlust team. Let me know if you’re keen. I think you’d be a good fit!
Mr Romance
Hey Talia. The funny thing is, I’m quite into it too now – though I’m just a door spotter. Mrs R does the snapping! As for spending time apart on holiday, it really does work, doesn’t it? Just gets you out of each other’s hair.
The #wanderlust sounds great! Thanks! I’ll email you in a minute.
Jxx
Jean | Holy Smithereens
Fantastic tips! I travel with my husband most of the time but also do the occasional solo trips. The tip on packing a clothing item of yours in your partner’s bag is really smart. Compromise is also very important. And arguing while travelling is great – you have to make up eventually 🙂
Mr Romance
Hey Jean! Glad you like our tips. Totally agree with arguing whilst travelling. It makes for a much more interesting trip when there’s conflict! 😉
Cheers
Jxx
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
We’re usually joined together when we travel except when it comes to cycling and jogging which the husband loves to do and I don’t. But it is good to have a little break!
Mr Romance
Ha ha! That still counts, Lorraine! Yes, it’s good to spend a little while out of each other’s pocket, even if it’s a quick 30-minute ‘you do what you want, I’ll do what I want’ jaunt. Otherwise, Mrs R and I are usually at the hip too. 🙂
Jxx
Carolyn
Love these tips! After years and years of travelling with our sons, hubby and I now travel as a couple. After all those years of constant chatter, I totally get #6 – silence is golden, and for us it’s definitely a companionable silence, so all the better.
Mr Romance
Hi Carolyn. So glad you like our tips. It’s great being able to travel with your other half, isn’t it? For some reason, we travel so well together. Like you say, it’s probably the compatible silence that makes all the difference.
Jxx
Toni
I really like the idea of packing one outfit in each others bags, even a short delay while your bag goes sightseeing without you can be a real pain. Also the photo’s with both of you in, we are starting to get a little better at it after all this time but for years you’d swear we never travelled together, not only were there no photos together, there was barely a photo with either of us in it.
Mr Romance
That’s so true, Toni. It’s so easy to forget to take photos of each other, isn’t it? So easy just to focus on taking pictures of where you are, the fact that you are there rarely seems important. In reality, that’s the most important thing of all. I’m still never going to invest in a selfie stick though. Can’t bring myself to do that!
Jxx
Bec
Some amazing tips and 100% correct – my man and I did 6 months in Europe and every single tip above is on point. Thanks for sharing x
Mr Romance
Hi Bec. Thanks for the feedback. Really glad you liked our tips. Travelling with your other half can really be a challenge regardless of how well you get on. A 6-month trip would certainly have tested that! Sounds amazing.
Cheers
Jxx
steph
Great tips. My husband and i are planning 6 weeks to europe and im a bit worried about the fights we are going to get into when we get lost somewhere crazy lol. No 6 is a good reminder for me, sometimes i worry that we have ‘run out of things to talk about’ but silence can be good too, something for this chatterbox to remember!
Mr Romance
Sometimes it’s those silent moments that make a relationship really strong. Funny, isn’t it, Steph. And that’s not just for partnership relationships either. One of my best mates and I can spend a whole afternoon together and not say much.
Getting lost can be the best part of a trip – providing you’re not in danger or on a schedule. Wondering around a place can help you find some real treasures. Enjoy Europe – you’re going to have a blast, I’m positive!
Jxx
How do you travel – should couples take trips separately? - Mr and Mrs RomanceMr and Mrs Romance
[…] Even when you’re travelling together – especially if it’s a long trip – having a day where you’re not in each other’s pockets for the duration is essential. […]
Travelletto
Great tips! I like the idea of packing an outfit in each other’s bags in case luggage goes missing.
We love to travel together and share a love of food, of getting away from other tourists and seeking out ‘local’ experiences. Time apart is important too. Good post!
Mr Romance
Hi Dianne. So glad you enjoyed the post. Sounds like we share the same values when we travel! 🙂
Jxx
JB & Renee
Great list! I especially like #9. I recently suggested to my wife that we should devote one day to exploring the “last stop” on each of our travels. By “last stop”, I mean picking the farthest point on the subway and spending the day there. No research will be done beforehand, just pick a stop and go! We tend to plan things so much now that it’s nice to do something completely spontaneous once in a while. 🙂
Mr Romance
Hey JB! That’s an awesome idea! I think that would make for a really interesting write-up too. There are so many unexplored places on our doorsteps, it’s nice to know you can find surprises so close to home!
Cheers
Jim
Kate
I love the idea of keeping an outfit in each other’s luggage especially if it gets lost. Never ever thought about it before, thanks for the tip!
Mr Romance
Glad we could help, Kate! It’s a good idea, isn’t it? Mrs Romance swears by it. 🙂
Jxx