Travelling is an activity that can be done completely alone, in a large group, with a family, or as many pairs do, with your partner. Josh and I talked about travel on our first date, he had an upcoming trip to Japan, and I had just moved to England to begin my Masters. We talked for hours about our favourite ways to travel (road trips all the way!), places we wanted to go, and interesting people we had met along the way. Both of us were looking for a partner that we could travel with, but was also good with the other doing solo trips, trips with friends, and so on.
After many day trips around the South of England (which is amazing by the way!) our first trip together ended up being a weekend away to Bruges, Belgium. We planned this trip quickly, as our original plan was Venice (read about that story in our Bruges blog!) We ended up talking a lot on the phone that week, quickly putting together an itinerary and hoping for the best.
Well that trip was amazing, and a good sign for us that we could travel together. What we ended up working out was that Josh could plan transit, I could plan accommodation, and we both put together lists of what we wanted to see in each of the locations. We do this by having a shared Google Map, where we mark locations that interest us. Since we’re millennials and pretty much always have our phones on us, it’s easy to mark locations quickly if we’ve heard of a place on tv, or through a friend!
Now you may be wondering: What about the practical side of things? Time alone? How do you survive in a car with someone for so long? Well, let’s look at that:
Practicalities: We generally split the cost of travel and accommodation. We’re both very happy staying in hostels and saving money on transportation, so when that’s an option, we take it. As long as everyone involved is happy and comfortable with the budget, there shouldn’t be a problem. As for dinners and lunches, we’ll sometimes split it, sometimes treat the other (if it’s someone’s birthday, they get treated haha!)
Time Alone: Sometimes you’ll need a little bit of time alone. That’s okay. When we were in Bruges one night, Josh wanted to go out and take more pictures, and I had sore feet and needed some time to relax before exploring the next morning. As Bruges is quite a safe city, we both did what we needed to do. I relaxed that night and the next morning was ready to go again! Josh went out and got some great shots! He was also able to stay somewhere and take the perfect picture without worrying about someone else’s schedule. It all comes down to listening to yourself and your partner. Talk about your expectations and needs for that moment, and try to compromise. We had to learn how to do this, but now it’s very valuable to us.
Snacks!: I am one of the people in the world that get hangry, so when we travel together we make sure to bring snacks that won’t ruin our next cool meal, but will allow us to get to that restaurant without running out of energy. Snacks can include fruit, granola bars, anything to keep you going!
Travelling with your partner is a great way to get to know each other better, and to make life long memories. As long as both of you are on the same page you’ll have the trip of a lifetime! We have found travel partners in each other, and are so happy to be sharing our travels with you now, as well!
Next Up: Comparing solo and couple travel! Which one do we prefer…hmmmm!
Changing Paths 
Great read. I agree with your philosophy.
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