Travel is the best way to understand the world, learn new things, and meet new people. It helps you grow and evolve as a human being. When done right, travel changes your perspective about the world. Usually, for the better.
Since travel has such a life-altering experience it is important to go on this adventure with people you share your life with, especially your life partner. I say this because I have undertaken many travels – for work and for leisure with my Swati, my life partner. The benefits of traveling with your better half are numerous.
Here are some of the benefits that I feel we have gained by traveling together:
In-sync growth
People grow. They change. Their needs change. More often than not, this growth and change are responsible for creating a distance in relationships. When people travel, experience the world, and learn new things together, they inevitably grow together. Growing together makes it easier to stay together.
Traveling with your partner also teaches you the art of compromise, which is also essential to build a strong and beautiful relationship. It helps you learn how to place equally yours and your partner’s needs and wishes. For example, a holiday at the beachside – because the lady of the house likes it. Then a visit to a snowy hill station because that’s what makes me happy. Dubai is great for shopping, the wife loves shopping. I go along even though I am the online shopping kind. Business in the USA – she accompanies me even if she’d rather go to Thailand again. See the pattern here – we are open to experiencing and exploring what the other person likes. This way, we’re both learning new things and are evolving as human beings. We’re both growing together. That’s not a compromise now, is it?
Discover each other’s true personalities
But, for me, from most of these travels, the key takeaway was an awareness of a new aspect or hitherto unknown personality trait of my partner which surfaced during the travels. I am sure, she has also learned new things about me.
A lot of the things that I have learned about my better half during my travels are not what I see in our day-to-day life. The missus is great at executing plans. In addition to that, she is a pro at packing for trips. Understanding the requirements of the journey and ensuring that everything that will be needed during the trip is arranged for and packed is a skill that I am learning from her.
These travels also made me aware of what her limits as a person are and how she deals with the unknown. While this side of her personality is not new, it was never noticed or rather never had the need to surface in the safe confines of our regular life.
Builds Trust
Strong marriages are built on trust. It is the very foundation of a relationship. There’s no other experience like travel to build trust in a relationship, especially during the initial days of the marriage. Maybe that is why newlyweds are encouraged to go for that “honeymoon”. Away from family and friends and their comfort zone, apart from spending time together, it helps them to get to know each other and learn to trust and depend on the person they’ve chosen to spend their life with. Travel during the early days of marriage helps a couple become friends. It teaches them to have each other’s back when the need arises, just as friends do!
Learn to work as a team
Like trust, teamwork is also important for a marriage to work. A couple is a team. Traveling together helps a couple learn to work in sync and consult each other before making decisions. This trait can go a long way in helping them build a strong and beautiful relationship.
You start thinking as a team when you are trying to navigate the murky waters of new countries, unfamiliar cities, and situations
Improves intimacy
This is perhaps the one reason why most people travel – to get couple time. Time away from work and extended family gives you the opportunity to pay attention to your better half – talk to them without distraction or simply sit in silence and enjoy each other’s presence, and it goes without saying, indulge in romance. For romance, the place doesn’t matter, it’s the company that matters! So go anywhere you want to in the world and stamp that place with your language of love!
Helps keep the spark alive
Spark is the presence of a natural intimacy and comfort in a relationship. It is the chemistry which makes people say “this couple is made for each other”. Spark is what keeps your relationship alive – and traveling together, building shared memories, and cultivating intimacy in your relationship is one way of keeping the spark alive.
Couples can use the vacation as a way of creating positive memories and meaning in their relationships.
Creates a repository of shared experiences
What do we have when we grow old and our bones are too weary to travel? We have, the shared memories gathered over time. While we can all talk about children and grandchildren, talking about that evening spent at Eiffel Tower in Paris or the day spent lazing on the beach in Bali, or how work engagements made us hop cities in the US from east to west and back while also trying to fit in sightseeing, or how covering our native place on a road trip helped us learn about our roots and our culture or how we lost track of time while exploring the scenic Lakes district would bring sweeter smiles to our age-weathered faces. Don’t you think so? Additionally, these shared memories also make for great stories for the younger generation.
This is why travel, travel, and travel – with your life partner. It will help you build a happier, more content, and active relationship with your better half when you’re living the day-to-day routine. It works for us. I am sure, it would work for you too. Try it and see. I am leaving you with this quote to encourage you to hold your partner’s hand and set off on an amazing journey –
“Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.” – Lewis Carroll
Images courtesy: Pexels.com
Share your learnings in the comments below, let’s make travel an intrinsic part of our lives.
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