As we’ve mentioned before, travelling as a couple can be hard. But it can also be one of the best experiences ever. To quote from our best couples travel quotes to live by, “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” We caught up with 8 travel couples on Instagram to bring you their best and worst parts about travelling as a couple. This series will be split over two posts. We hope you enjoy!

1.Robnmayla

 

 

A post shared by RobnMayLA (@robnmayla) on

How did you meet?

We are actually high school sweethearts who met in our senior year of high school and went to prom together.  We had such a strong connection right from the beginning. Years later we got married and have been travelling the world together ever since.

What’s the best part about travelling as a couple?

We pretty much both want to see the same things. We know each other’s likes and dislikes or what annoys us. So we have a good rhythm when it comes to packing together, heading to the airport and planning each day we’re visiting a new location. We’re a pretty good team. If you’re travelling with friends or other people you aren’t as close to, it can get a little more difficult. You may not be on the same page or you’re worried about stepping on someone’s toes. When we travel together we are a cohesive unit. 

What’s the worst part about travelling as a couple?

Since we’re together all the time at home, and then together all day long when we travel, you kind of don’t get that alone time a person may need. After a long day of sightseeing and experiencing new things you come back to the room exhausted! You may not have the energy or patience to deal with people in general, even if it is your partner. That may lead to your partner feeling a little neglected. Yet like I said, we’re a great team when we travel and we usually know when to give each other space.

Do you have a memorable travel story?

When we landed in Tokyo we both experienced a bit of culture shock. Usually when we travel, there’s always English speakers about or at least English writing and signs. We couldn’t understand the signs on the train, the people barely spoke English and our Japanese was terrible. We hopped on the metro hoping we were going in the right direction. At that moment we were thinking to ourselves, “Oh my God why did we come here? Should we go back to the airport? What are we doing here?” However those feelings were brief. We were able to pull ourselves together, we mastered the metro system and it ended up being one of our most favourite travel destinations! We talk about it all the time and we both agree that it’s one of the few places where we could live there. Tokyo was amazing and the people were great as well.

2. Andtheytravel

 

 How did you meet?


David and I met in college over 9 years ago at The University of Miami. We were both studying film production and met on the set of a movie. We were each at crazy points in our lives. David was a month from graduation and about to move to LA to begin his film career. While I was a free-spirited sorority girl, not at all interested in a relationship. We tried many times to stay away from each other and go our separate ways, but there was something magnetic between us. We’ve been together ever since.

What’s the best part about travelling as a couple?


We’re best friends. Being able to share these experiences has strengthened our bond in ways we never anticipated. We climb mountains together, get lost down endless dirt roads, and sleep on the cold ground as freezing rain pours down on our tent as we watch The Office. Even if we didn’t take a single photo, we share these memories forever.

What’s the worst part about travelling as a couple?

This is a tough question for us. We’ve been living and working together for almost a decade and travel is just another element of our relationship. Since we sold our house, we’ve lived in RVs, AirBnBs, tents, cars, and hotels. We’ve stopped distinguishing travel from our daily life. Is there a ‘skip question’ button?

Do you have a memorable travel story?

A near death experience in Thailand is certainly memorable. We got engaged over a year ago in Bali but we decided we weren’t ready to let anyone into our romantic little bubble, not even our family! So we kept it a secret for three months!

Fast forward a few months later, we’re now in Koh Tao, Thailand. We decided to hire a long boat to take us around the island and go snorkelling. We were on the far end of the island when suddenly, this insane storm hit out of nowhere! The perfect blue sky turned black and the sea became angry. We were out in the open ocean with waves as tall as buildings crashing around us. Even our macho Thai boat driver was laughing with anxiety as he tried to manoeuvre the boat against the waves. We pulled out our GoPro, and half laughing/half crying, started to make a Last Will and Testament. We apologized to our family for not telling them about our engagement, but added how we didn’t regret the adventure we were living together.

Somehow, we made it back to the beach of our hotel! All three of us jumped off the boat and kissed the sand. David emptied all the Thai baht he had in his pocket into the driver’s hands for getting us back alive. We’ve yet to watch that GoPro footage.

3. Wherenextmylove

 

How did you meet?

We met in school for massage therapy in 2015 and have been working and traveling together ever since.

What’s the best part about travelling as a couple?

Listening to the same music for so long that we change all the words to fit certain themes. For example, breakfast lyrics, or comfortable-night-of-sleep lyrics.

What’s the worst part about travelling as a couple?

The worst part about travelling as a couple is having to navigate different sleep schedules. At home, one of us can be a night owl while the other can be an early bird. We don’t really have that luxury when we’re in a new place trying to maximize daylight hours spent exploring hand-in-hand.

Do you have a memorable travel story?

We travelled to Florida a couple winters ago to visit our friends from massage school that had moved there after graduating. We stayed with him and his wife in St. Petersburg. They took us to their favourite nearby beach. Unbeknown to us they had arranged a surprise visit from yet another friend from school who had relocated to nearby Tampa. We spent the rest of the day and night together catching up over drinks. It was lovely and unexpected. Our friend and his wife had a baby and recently came back to Asheville with their little girl. The initial reunion would have been memorable enough, but now there’s another little buddy included in our meet-ups!

4. Thatblankstory

 

 

A post shared by Darrick Law (@thatblankstory) on

How did you meet? 

Nick and I met through mutual friends at our church. We had both been going there since we were little kids, but somehow never met. I asked him to my senior prom as a friend and within a month we were dating and have been together for over 11 years now!

What’s the best part about travelling as a couple? 

This will sound dorky but somehow we seem to fill in the gaps for each other when travelling. Whenever I can’t figure out the directions or understand what a person is trying to say, he somehow can, and vice versa. It’s odd actually but somehow works! I also love that we have the memories together and will be able to look back on them forever. 

What’s the worst part about travelling as a couple? 

We’ve currently been on the road together for seven months. As you can imagine, some bad traits are going to show when you’re together 24/7 with anyone for that long. Unfortunately, when one of us gets cranky it affects the other one. We’ve had to try and learn when we need to be apart for a while, even if the only option is to sit silently in the car with headphones on. That for us is the worst part about travelling as a couple.

Do you have a memorable travel story?

One of our most memorable stories that will be hard to ever beat was when we went to Yosemite a couple years ago. My husband and I had an exchange student living from Bolivia with us at the time and we wanted to take her to see another part of the country. My brother and his girlfriend had never been to California so they asked if they could tag along as well.

During the trip I had planned a four-hour hike. It started off amazing; we had great weather, the views were beautiful and the trail, while tough, was very manageable for everyone. After we reached the viewpoint, it was time to head back to the car. I hadn’t brought the map with, but the trail was very well marked, so it hadn’t been an issue. My brother took the lead and we started back for what we thought would be the last hour of the walk. After an hour and a half with no road in sight, we started to wonder if the map was necessary after all. We figured we’d keep going because we had to be close.

Downhill?

The exchange student and I were lagging behind the others a bit when suddenly they motioned us to stop. I realised there was a bear! It was a bit off the trail so the two of us ran to catch up to the others. Since we were in a group I wasn’t too worried. My brother though was terrified and picked up a ten-foot branch to use as protection if necessary. We slowly backed away and made sure we weren’t being followed. Soon after, we ran into a group of campers who let us see their map. We were so far off track.  We had chosen the wrong trail completely and were over seven miles from where we started! Not wanting to turn back because of time and the bear, we had no option but to keep going this way. Luckily, it was right as the sun started to sink into the horizon and the night sky took over, that we found the road and someone to hitch-hike us back to our car.

What made it so memorable was that we had an exchange student with us and my brother who carried a giant branch for over 2 hours because he was scared of a bear! It’s a priceless memory that Nick and I will forever look back on and laugh at.

the truth about travelling as a couple opposite tourists travel couples travelling couples pros and cons