How to Survive Traveling With Your Partner Full-Time
Traveling with your significant other is one of the most rewarding and memorable experiences you can have. At least that’s how we feel.
To this day, nothing can compare to exploring this big natural world with each other. To see everything with fresh eyes for the first time together.
It’s a constant rush mixed with many other varying feelings. Feelings like happiness, excitement, joy, and fulfillment.
While there are loads of positive feelings there’s always a flip side involving stress, frustration, anger, and sadness.
It’s extremely easy to clash and bicker when you spend 24/7 with your partner during your travels. I can truthfully say that it’s inevitable that it won’t always be an easy ride.
However, there are many ways to better manage and prevent an arising altercation by practicing being a good travel partner.
With 6 years of constant travel, we’ve learned the best methods to keeping those negative emotions at bay and how to work together when traveling as a couple. Something that took years of trial and error to attain.
Still, it continues to be a work in progress till this day! You can never stop growing as a team.
Here are our 12 steps to staying sane while traveling with your partner:
1. Plan Ahead Together
Before you both embark on your adventures it is essential that you plan your trip together.
Even if one person is better at planning than the other, still, PLAN IT TOGETHER.
Doing so, keeps both parties in the know of what to expect on your trip and to avoid any unwanted surprises.
Discuss important topics like, choosing your ideal travel destination, when/how long each activity is, what you each want to see, personal desires/goals, things that may be more expensive, etc.
By talking about all the things on your travel itinerary beforehand, you save yourselves from miscommunication and a possible argument later on down the road.
If you want to change plans while you’re traveling, keep the other person in the loop. Agree to disagree on some things and roll with the punches.
In the end, you will both always be on the same page which is a win!
2. Learn to Compromise
Love is a compromise, right? When you take 2 people with similar, but also completely different personalities, it’s super common to disagree on a number of topics. This is only natural.
When traveling with your partner, I can guarantee you will come across numerous occasions where you won’t agree. Maybe he wants to hike to the top of the mountain? Maybe she wants to laze away the day by the river. (Totally accurate representations of Nathan and I)
Instead of arguing what you want to do or why your idea is better, learn to compromise.
Dedicate a day to doing what he wants to do and vice versa. Climb that mountain today and laze by the river tomorrow.
We love practicing fairness and equality, so if one does something for the other, then it’s good to return the favor. If anything, we still manage to have a great time in the end doing what the other wanted.
Ideally, seeing your partner smile and be happy is what’s most important.
3. Discuss Your Budget Beforehand
Along with discussing your travel plans, it’s extremely important to create a travel budget with your partner before you leave. This prevents any unfortunate surprises or any let downs you may feel when you can’t afford to do something.
Set a budget to stay within your means. Calculate normal expenditures like food, gas, lodging, etc and then start to add on the more premium activities. Go above and beyond and work on increasing your travel budget long before you leave for your trip.
What you should and shouldn’t spend your money on while you travel is a common argument to have if not previously planned. If you don’t want to be let down while you travel because of something your partner cannot afford, then agree on a set travel budget.
Do some research beforehand on how to best save money. If you’re planning a road trip, learn the top 35 ways to save money for a cheap road trip.
4. Don’t Blame Your Partner for Uncontrollable Situations
The blame game is a huge fight starter and unfortunately is done too frequently with couples.
When an unfortunate situation arises, it’s easy to instantly put the blame on someone else. Especially when it’s just you and your partner traveling.
Now obviously, avoid the blame game as much as possible. It doesn’t do anyone any good. What especially isn’t helpful is blaming your partner for situations that are completely out of their control.
When traveling with your partner, things like weather, car problems, unexpected closures, getting lost, not finding any food, etc are all very likely things to come across.
Instead of blaming your partner when you’re stressed, remember that this is both out of your control. Work together to come up with a solution and move forward. Expect that random issues occur while on the road and it’s neither of your fault.
And even if it is one persons fault it doesn’t help your problem to dwell on it. Move forward.
5. Work Together as a Team
When traveling with your partner, it’s healthy to go into the trip working together as a team from start to finish.
Plan as a team. Pack as a team. Help each other with directions. Take turns driving or getting gas. Cook meals together. Basically just be useful to each other and provide help and support in all situations.
Don’t depend too much on one person to take care of everything. Even if you’re “not good” at something, it doesn’t mean you should sit back and watch your partner do all the work.
You’re in this together and the more you work as a team, the easier (and more efficient) everything will be.
6. Divide Responsibilities When Needed & Own Your Skills
Now on the other hand, it may be appropriate to divvy up some of the tasks in certain situations. Working as a team is super beneficial, but sometimes it might be even more beneficial to split up a task based on your skills.
For example, Nathan is king when it comes to prepping our travel backpacks and gear. On the other hand, I absolutely love planning our travel itinerary from start to finish.
Yes, we still help each other in these areas too, but we let the other one have more control of the situation. By creating a master packing list together beforehand, it makes the task for Nathan that much easier when he’s working on his own.
Soon enough, Nathan has all our gear packed and ready to go and I have our route all planned out.
We saved half the time by each focusing on our own skills and working simultaneously.
Another example is when we cook dinner. Nathan cuts all the meats & veggies, and I do all the cooking on the stove. It makes for a super efficient cooking process that we both equally enjoy.
By knowing what each your skills are can make certain tasks much easier to accomplish when you divide things appropriately.
7. Don’t Be Afraid to Allow Each Other Space
As much as we love each other and work well as a team, sometimes we just need some space. Especially for those times we want to explore different personal interests.
If your partner needs a little time away to recharge or to indulge in a hobby maybe you don’t enjoy, let them do it.
When you’re traveling with your partner 24/7, that extra space can be really healthy in the long run. Best part is coming back to each other feeling refreshed and excited to continue spending time together.
Sometimes Nathan wants to go off and shoot some landscape photography while I just want to sit at camp and chill. He runs off for 30-45 minutes while I get to enjoy some me-time.
Giving your partner the freedom to do what they want is something very important to achieve in a relationship. It’s good to remember that you’re each individuals with varying interests and unique personalities.
8. Expect the Frequent “Non-Romantic” Situations
Traveling with your partner isn’t as pretty as some may assume it to be.
Majority of your time will probably be spent on figuring out your daily plans and how to most effectively get from point A to B. All while trying to have fun in between. This is especially common if you’re living the van-life which has its own daily pros and cons to conquer.
It can be hard to keep the romance alive when traveling as there are so many other things going on at all times of the day. Even when you’re checked in for the night, you may just want to lay in bed, watch TV, and eat some food before passing out.
This is normal and it’s good to be aware of before you create any unrealistic expectations.
You’re both human and just because you’re traveling with your partner doesn’t mean everything has to be super romantic at all times.
9. Plan for Those Romantic Times or Date-Nights
As I just stated, it’s normal to not frequently find cutesy romantic moments when traveling with your partner. In turn, make sure you dedicate some days or nights to spending some quality time together.
When you’re traveling together for so long, it’s easy to forget those special, more intimate feelings you’re used to experiencing.
Plan a date night and go out to dinner. Or have a romantic lunchtime picnic. Maybe go on a secluded hike together with the goal to disconnect from the world and connect with each other.
Whatever you choose, it should be time focused on each other to rebuild all that pent up love that may have been put away due to other distractions.
If we spent a long busy day traveling solely focusing on our destinations, then we like to try and dedicate our nights to one another. It’s a good refresher to be mindful of and practice when you’re both too busy.
If traveling on a budget, you can still enjoy date night for cheap! Learn how to save money on food while traveling to still have an epic date night without breaking your travel budget.
10. Pick Each Other Up When The Other Is Down
Funks happen. Bad moods happen. Especially when on the road!
If a stressful situation occurs or your partner is feeling overwhelmed, make sure you’re there for them when moments are tense.
It’s almost natural as a couple, but whenever Nathan becomes frustrated I tend to just naturally take over and try to do whatever I can to help defuse the situation.
When one falls, the other picks them up. If you both fall, well then you’re both in a predicament.
Same goes for Nathan, whenever I become angry or overly stressed, he takes the floor and tries to solve the situation. Or even just by talking to me and reminding me of positive thoughts.
When we were hiking Windy Gap Trail, I was having a super rough time climbing up the mountain. Instead of giving me grief, he sweetly kept offered me water, suggested taking breaks, and so much verbal support that it got me to the top.
These downer situations arise from common scenarios like getting lost, to missing out on something you really wanted to do, or even just feeling hangry and tired.
Being there for each other when these difficult times arise is extremely important to working as a team.
11. Learn to Manage & Diffuse Your Fights Quickly
As much as you use these tips to stay sane while traveling with your partner, you will still most likely end up in a fight or two. It’s hard not to when you’re both adjusting to new terrain or environments each and every day. Especially if you’re cramming a lot into one trip, traveling with a full time job.
So when a fight does happen, you should know how to best manage it so it doesn’t get worse.
First and foremost, don’t raise your voice. This is the easiest way to trigger anger in each other, leading to a screaming battle solely based on emotions and no logic. If you can avoid raising your voice, you’re already in a much better position to solving the conflict.
Second, listen to each other. Whoever has the problem should speak their mind, but in a calm and rational tone. As the partner, listen to what’s bothering them and try to understand as best you can.
Don’t become defensive and let your ego get in the way. Obviously you will probably will have some retaliation, but express it in the same calm and understanding way.
Fights escalate when neither party is willing to listen or understand the other person’s side. The quicker you can do this, the sooner you can diffuse an argument.
Lastly, come to a conclusion together. Either a compromise or even a change you should make based on your partners feelings or needs.
Drop the ego, listen, understand, and make up. No need to ride out the storm for half your day or longer.
12. Always Communicate – The Key to Successful Travel with Your Boo
Last but not least, communication is everything to ensuring a successful trip traveling with your partner.
Hiding your feelings or frustrations while traveling can quickly lead to inner grudges, hostility, and passive aggressiveness. Which in turn leads to exploding arguments.
Communicating how you feel keeps you both aware of each others feelings. Use this information to support each other.
If your partner wants to go on a long strenuous hike but you don’t want to, be honest. The last thing you want to do is go on the hike without saying anything and be in a bad mood the whole time. Eventually ruining the day for both of you.
Express how you feel and either let him go alone, or compromise and agree to do something you want to do a different day.
Same goes if you’re tired, stressed, or just generally not feeling good, let your partner know. Maybe you both can work together to resolve those unwanted feelings instead of dwelling in a sour mood.
Also, don’t express judgement or frustration when your partner opens up to you! If you’re constantly putting your partner on blast every time they share their feelings, they will honestly just stop opening up to you. Which is never good in a relationship.
Remember you’re a team and communication is the best method to working together.
Traveling With Your Partner – Why The Stress Is Worth the Reward
Many people always ask us, how do you guys manage to spend 24/7 together on the road without strangling one another? Well, it’s not always easy but with the proper mindset and teamwork it’s not that hard!
Over 6 years of being together and continuously traveling, we’ve learned the best methods to working as a team while we’re on the go. (or at home)
Know your partner, listen to your partner, communicate with each other, and keep your emotions in check. If you can apply these tips to the next time you’re traveling with your partner, it may surprise you how easy it can be!
The fulfillment of traveling together, not only your partner, but your best friend is unlike any other I’ve experienced. Sharing that freedom and passion with each other is way worth the possible added stress while on the road.
With some practice, you’ll learn to love traveling with your partner so much you’ll never want solo travel again.
Have you traveled long term with your significant other? What are some of your best stories or useful tips? Share with us below in a comment!
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