Travelling brings a new adventure and thrill into our lives, and the same amplifies when we travel with someone we love. When we think of taking a trip with our significant other, it is easy to get dreamy-eyed. We tend to conjure up visions of romance on the road or stealing a kiss on a beach under the pastel sky with romantic Dinners.
Travel can be rewarding but, things may quickly spiral out of control if you are not prepared. Long Travel days, packing away each night to move to the next destination and sticking to the budget can be cumbersome if you are not on the same page. However, the joy of travel and the delight of companionship will outweigh any minor drawbacks and make way for beautiful memories that last a lifetime.
Whether you are in a new relationship, getting married, or have been married for years, these 12 essential travel tips can help you and your loved one enjoy that romantic getaway. After all, couples who travel together stay together.
Decide on a destination together
Deciding where to travel can be daunting at first, as there is an endless array of alluring destinations around the world. The key is to break down the planning process and figuring out what kind of travel experience would you like to have, like travel to beaches or mountains.
You both probably have a wish list of countries you would like to visit, and if you don’t, grab a pen and paper to jot it down. Start by making a list of the top 10 destinations together and read it aloud. There is a reasonable chance that you have similar responses. If there are no matches, start over with a new list.
When preparing the list, consider the timeframe of your trip. Knowing how much time you have will help you narrow your options and come up with a plan.
Set a travel budget with some wiggle room
Once you have figured out where to go, the next important part of your planning process is the budget. A vital life skill in which you learn to stretch your money and avoid making those embarrassing calls home to friends or parents for extra cash.
Start with your two biggest expenses, flights and accommodation. Depending on how long you will be away, you can work out the daily expense of the stay and meals. Add a few more dollars for activities and entrance fees to various places, as well as the all-important airport transfer charges.
There may be a few pre-trip costs as well, like visas, travel insurance and immunisations. Depending on where you are going, outfits and gear that include the backpack and power adapters are another pre-departure purchase.
Once you arrive at your destination, make the best use of public transit as it is inexpensive and gives you a chance to travel like a local. Use one of the numerous apps available in your mobile store to track your expenses. This way, you will be conscious and stay on top of your bills.
However, a good travel budget should be flexible. Don’t be afraid to blow your travel budget on those once-in-a-lifetime experiences like sky diving and scuba diving or even taking that hot air balloon flight. You can always compensate for your splurge by going under budget for a few days.
Share the travel responsibilities
Travelling as a couple is all about working as a team and doing things together. Splitting up responsibilities while travelling can save a lot of time, conflict and stress. Before you can start planning all of the fun things you will do once on the road, you will need to do several jobs in parallel. For example, you must consider where you will stay, what visas you will require, the currencies that will be accepted, and who will book your tickets.
These things can be pretty hard to figure out when doing it all alone. Dividing these responsibilities between yourself and your partner makes everything a lot simpler. You need not have exceptional skills to plan a trip. Since we all have access to the internet, all it needs is patience and time.
It is important to know what your travel partner excels at when deciding who will take on what responsibilities. Allow them to perform something that they are truly skilled at. However, there is one task that you and your partner should do always do together: making decisions. Don’t delegate all of the decision making to a single individual. Instead, work as a team.
Pack smart and pack light
Packing the right things for travel can be challenging, but once you teach yourself to pack smarter and lighter, your life on the road becomes that much easier.
It helps if you have planned the details of your travel like when would you be travelling, the weather conditions, the accommodation and cities you would be covering. Plan your outfits that match your activities and the type of holiday you want to take, like going to the beach or attending an event for which you need fancy attire. Choose neutral-toned clothes that match the style and colour. Pack what you need and avoid carrying too many clothes.
It is also crucial to pack your luggage light as you will be lugging it with you throughout your journey. When packing, roll your clothes to save space and minimise the size of your bag. You can even tuck your underpants inside your shoes. If you are sharing a suitcase, use packing cells and arrange your clothes by type and season.
Store all your electronics in a pouch separate from the rest of your belongings for easy access. Wear your heaviest clothes on the plane, one of the oldest tricks in the book, to avoid paying for extra weight on your luggage when travelling by air.
Choose to travel slowly rather than rushing through it
Have you ever come back home from travelling and felt like you immediately need a vacation? As ironic as it may sound, the whole idea behind travel is to revitalise our spirits from the grind of everyday life. Yet, we do the exact opposite by cramming multiple itineraries of various places into our schedule.
The next time you plan for a trip, take things slow and fight the urge to go everywhere and do everything. It is a perfect recipe for burnout and a blowout of your budget too. Instead of opting for a whirlwind tour of tearing through 5 countries in 10 days, stay and get to know just one region. By spending more time in fewer places, you get to connect with the destination and its lifestyle.
By travelling slowly, you can also avoid the stress of constantly moving between destinations, currency exchange, dealing with jet lag and the time spent to pack and unpack ever so often.
Learn the key phrases of the Local Language
Travelling overseas is an exciting and memorable experience, whether it’s your first or a hundredth international trip. Visiting a non-English speaking country can seem daunting if you don’t speak the basic native phrases.
Learning the local language is a great way to enhance your travel experience and also show cultural respect. It helps break down the barrier allowing for a much warmer reception from the locals. You don’t have to be fluent; simply making an effort to learn a few simple words may affect how people treat you. Even taxi drivers are less likely to rip you off.
There are numerous mobile apps where you can start to learn a new language. Most of them are free and sufficient to get by for your travel needs. Learning something new is an investment. It adds so much depth and nuance to your travels while opening doors to new experiences and opportunities.
Get out of your comfort zone and talk to the locals
When travelling as a couple, we tend to stick to our bubble, not interacting with anyone except our partners. But by doing this, we only visit a destination and do not understand it. Travel is all about learning and, to get the most out of your travel experience, talk to the locals.
The locals tend to have the best travel advice compared to a guidebook or even the internet. No expert or travel blogger would know the place better than them. Seeing the world from their perspective helps you travel deeper and understand the distinct cultures.
We get that walking up to a stranger is not everyone’s cup of tea and, this is where your mobile comes in handy with apps like Meetup and Showaround. These apps help you connect with individuals who share your interests. You can also swap the hotel booking to stay with locals through apps such as Couchsurfing and Airbnb. Choose a private room instead of renting the entire property to yourself to create that opportunity to connect with your host.
Do not limit yourself and interact with new people. You will be amazed by what you learn by striking up a casual conversation.
Take lots of pictures but don’t obsess over getting the perfect shot
The best way to document your memories when you take that dream vacation halfway around the world or even visiting a beach over a weekend is photography. You may click pictures to share with friends and family on social media or may want to keep them for yourself. Either way, it helps you look back at your trips together and the joyful times clicking those cute pictures.
Photography doesn’t have to be about owning a big expensive camera; you can get by with a smartphone. Clicking pictures makes you aware of your surroundings and, you tend to look for that unique perspective that nobody has captured before. In the process, you tend to explore more than the other travellers.
More than often, we end up clicking pictures of each other and then realise later that we didn’t get a good couple snap. You can always ask strangers to click your pictures or even click a cute selfie together. We recommend investing in a good tripod and a remote shutter so you can pose and click together at your own pace and find those best angles.
Now the downside of staging for such pictures to get that perfect shot is time-consuming and stressful. All the images that you see on Instagram take hours of planning, placement and shooting. These images undergo a lot of editing. Only take those pictures that you will enjoy and spend more time together rather than focusing on your photos.
Get up early and make the most out of your day
The last thing you probably would do when you are on vacation is to wake up at the crack of dawn. One of the best reasons to set your alarm clock early is to capture the most coveted travel picture of the sunrise and a promise of a well-brewed coffee afterwards. You also get to enjoy the most neglected meal of the day. Nothing beats a good start to your day than a good breakfast.
You get more time for yourself in a day and a chance to fully appreciate and enjoy the destination in every way if you wake up early. If you plan to visit any of the world heritage sites or museums, the best time to do so is at daybreak when they open. You also get to avoid the tourist crowd, who usually start arriving by mid-morning.
When we travel, we do so on a limited time and budget, so we need to make it all count and experience as much as possible. A task that is hard to accomplish if you sleep in late every day.
Tick off a few checkboxes in your bucket list adventures
We all have at some point spent hours daydreaming in the office about those endless open roads and boundless adventure, building our list of things to do and experience. There is something special about embarking on a journey that pushes both physical and mental boundaries.
It doesn’t always have to be over the top activities like skydive or mountain climbing. It can be as simple as cycling on country roads or eating street food in a foreign country. These trips for intrepid travellers that include a mix of trekking over the mountains and sea kayaking with dolphins provide a unique way to experience some of the world’s most spectacular settings.
Adventure allows you to connect with your inner-self. One of the most significant benefits of venturing into the unknown and taking risks is enhanced self-awareness, which demands our heightened attention. Spending time outdoors can be beneficial to both your physical and emotional well-being. Including a little adventure in your vacation will provide you with an adrenaline rush and a challenge you didn’t believe was possible while also allowing you to see new landscapes and cultures.
Find free activities to do while travelling
There is a widespread misconception that travel is expensive and money is an obstacle in experiencing the world. A simple internet search should help you find affordable and even free options for all travel activities.
There are heaps of free activities to do while travelling and they hold good for almost any country in the world. Look for walking tours; virtually all the major cities have them for free or have tip based freelance tour guides. It is a great way to explore new locations and see the city’s most popular tourist attractions. You can also visit the local markets, which we believe is the best place, to understand the country and its culture. Almost all national museums are free or charge a very nominal amount.
We all enjoy going to the beach when we visit a coastal city or hiking if there are mountains, and none of these activities cost a dime. A visit to any religious sites in a city, which are must-see attractions and typically free, has the same effect. Some government institutions, including the national library, art galleries, and public squares, offer free entrance in many cities. Do make some time to wander the city during golden hour for some spectacular cityscapes.
Always travel with an insurance cover
Travel insurance is as vital as a passport because not everything goes to plan, and it also mitigates the financial risk to a great extent. While travel insurance is not obligatory, we highly recommend it as a precaution that can save you from unexpected expenses while you are overseas. It certainly takes away that added stress when things go south.
Each travel insurance can be tailored to fit your specific travel needs. Loss of baggage and personal belongings, trip cancellation, medical care, and any grave injury are all covered to some extent by most plans. If you can afford to travel, you certainly can afford insurance cover as they are reasonably priced. It may even be discounted if purchased early and online.
Some quick tips before buying a policy. Read the document thoroughly and make sure you know what you are covered for. Cheaper plans usually have lower premiums, but make sure you examine your excess and what isn’t covered. Finally, compare policies and get the one that most suits your travel style.
In conclusion, these tips are general guidelines that you don’t have to religiously follow and try to use them all. They certainly help you have fun, cherish each other and make memories while travelling. What suggestions would you add to this list? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
👋 If you liked this article, don’t forget to share it with your friends & family.