Tips for Traveling With a Partner For The First Time

PC: Pinterest

Traveling with your romantic partner for the first time can be exhilarating… and nerve wrecking. You want everything to go right and you’re frightened a huge fight will erupt, leading you to go home on separate flights. Those jitters can be a real scary thing, but truth be told, you have nothing to worry about. That is, if you’re aware of a few things first and go in with the right mindset.

Perhaps you’re twiddling your thumbs, worried that spending 24-7 together would bring out some ugly colors. Traveling with your partner can be a true test to the relationship—it will show you just how compatible you are and how you manage being in each other’s presence night and day. You may both have different sights you want to see, activities you want to partake in, and ways of recharging. But that’s all quite normal, the key is being able to respect these wants and needs and creating a vacation that you can both enjoy.

Being able to travel with your partner is vital if you see a future with them. It’s one of the most fun and romantic things you can do together. And in order for everything to go smoothly there’s a couple of steps you can take before (and during) to ensure a smooth, fight-free flight. Here is how you can travel with your partner for the first time so that you may come back feeling closer, with nothing but beautiful memories to look back on.

1. Set Expectations Before Take-Off

While you create your itinerary, don’t forget to set your expectations for the trip as well. Does one plan on waking up early to get a head start on all the adventure while the other hopes to finally get some uninterrupted sleep? How much of the trip is going to be sight seeing vs. laying by the beach? Do you have a set budget for dining out vs. eating in? These are just some of the questions you want to ask each other. If you want to spend a day shopping, make sure to communicate that as well.

2. Plan In Some Down Time

Everybody knows tired souls lead to irritated minds. If you want to avoid meaningless bickering, make sure to schedule in some rest in your journey. Skip the desert and go straight to the hotel bed for some Netflix and chill. Come home in the middle of the day to kick up your feet and catch up on your news feed. Walking around all day can be extremely tiring and you don’t want to take out that exhausted energy on each other. You both need time “away" from each other where your mind is focused on something other than your parnter or the sights.

3. Know Your Partner’s Quirks and Respect Each Other’s Needs

My partner doesn’t like spending the entire day outside. My partner needs all the counter space to look clean. My partner will get stressed if the nitty gritty details of the trip aren’t planned and organized. I’m kind of 🤷🏻‍♀️ about these matters, but in order for him to feel happy I support these needs and let him do his thing without any negative commentary from me. I can always go out to explore by myself if he is tired, and it takes little to no effort to keep things tidy around the cramped space. Vice versa, he’s patient with me when I want to enter yet another Maje store even though we went to the same one in another part of town just a day ago.

4. Work With Each Other’s Strengths

I hate setting up the insurance, calling the bank, and making sure the car is booked… but I love picking out restaurants, finding cute photo spots, and deciding which sights to see. Ask your partner what roles he/she wants to take in this trip and make sure you can lean on each other’s strengths. Maybe they’re not excellent drivers but you are. Maybe you’re bad at learning new languages but your partner can strike up conversations with the few words they learned on Duolingo. This helps set up expectations and gives each person a role to fulfill.

5. Should Things Go South…

Have an emergency plan ready. Try not to get in a heated argument in a cramped space. Know you can always go for a walk and take a time out. If calm communication didn’t work, it’s better to be silent rather than destructive. Take a moment to think whether your argument is based off of something truly problematic, or if you both just need some rest and time apart to recoup.

READ: Tips for Traveling With a Best Friend For The First Time