~ Carmen

Can you picture it?  You and your loved one traveling to new and exciting places, hand in hand, with romance in the air.  The travel ads make it look all so easy.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love traveling with Joe.  We’re documenting our adventurers on this website, right?  But, no matter how much I plan, something always goes wrong.  It could have discouraged us years ago from ever leaving the house.  Or worse yet, split us up before saying the “I dos” if it weren’t for these five key travel mantras.

5 Ways to Avoid Killing Your Spouse While Traveling

1.  Don’t expect perfection.

You will get lost while running out of gas.  Someone will get sick after a romantic dinner on the beach.  A traffic pile up will delay you from the start of prepaid tour.  All of these scenarios have happened to Joe and me (plus plenty more).  The key is to concentrate on making the most of the good parts of the trip.  And keep in mind that the hiccups make for the best stories!

2.  Plan for rest days.  

Traveling is exhausting.  Sleeping in a tent, navigating new cities, and doing all of those activities that aren’t part of your normal 9-5 job make for tired, irritable loved ones.  As you’re making your travel plans, leave time for breaks, naps, and people watching.  Your body and mental stability will thank you.

We rode one too many ferries!

3.  Indulge each other’s interests.  

I must admit that I am a history buff and shopaholic.  Joe likes the odd and unusual.  So yes, we stopped and hiked to see every “tallest ______ tree” while driving through Washington.  That made for a happy Joe.  On that same trip, he didn’t utter a complaint when I wanted to stop at every roadside souvenir shop that caught my eye.  Compromise is everything!

So glad we hiked two miles to see another tall tree.

4.  Plan the “must sees”.  

Want to really stay at that historic inn?  Driving out of the way to go to the eclectic restaurant?  Joe is all about going with the flow, and I tend to over plan every minute of our trip (leaving us too exhausted to enjoy anything).  To keep us from missing “bucket list” items, we book those have-to-see stops into our travel agenda.  I type up the confirmation numbers, hours of operation, and directions.  The other stops are left up to time constraints, energy, and how we feel that day.

5.  Make some travel nights date night.

Yes, I know every moment on a vacation should be romantic and magical.  Truth is, some nights you just need to crawl into bed and snooze.  When Joe and I are camping, we can start looking (and smelling) a bit rough.  We purposefully designate some nights of our trips as date nights.  On those nights, we know we’re going to dress a little sexier, go to more romantic restaurants, and give each other extra TLC.

Today is our five year wedding anniversary!  We have been a couple for a total of nine years.  After numerous camping, boating, flying, and driving adventures, we’re still logging the miles together.  So what do you think of my list?  Have any tips of your own?  Please leave a comment below.  We’d love to hear them along with “bumps” that you can laugh about now.  Want to keep updated on our tips and adventures?  Sign up for our newsletter and/or follow us on social media!

~Carmen

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