Melanie Lim
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Anyone contemplating marriage wants to make sure that the person they are committing to is the right one.
One of the many ways to test the waters is to travel with your partner. Couple travel allows for experimentation, growth and the enrichment of one’s horizons. In addition, you get to do things the both of you love and make lifelong memories with each other.
The saying “You’ll learn more about a person travelling with him for five days than you might typically do so in five months” has its merits after all.
Listed below are some of my reasons as to why couples should travel together before getting hitched.
You keep the spark alive
Everyday life gets boring from time to time. For couples who have been together for years but have yet to get married, travelling together offers new insights into the relationship and can help prevent things from getting stale.
You get to focus solely on each other
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If you’re looking to spend a lifetime together with your spouse-to-be, travel is a splendid way to create enduring memories in a brand new place. You have all the time in the world for each other without having to worry about work, friends, family or other possible commitments. In addition, it’s a great opportunity to take stunning photographs for keepsakes or for a possible wedding video montage.
You get to test each other’s patience and threshold for compromise
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When you vacation with a partner, things won’t always go your way. You’ll inevitably be accosted by a host of problems or complications.
Missing a flight, losing your passport or having your Uber break down in the middle of nowhere are all incredibly stressful situations which could strike anyone without warning.
You’ll also experience some of his or her most annoying traits and idiosyncrasies for days and even weeks on end.
If you’re travelling with a partner who has a low threshold for patience and plays the blame game when under pressure, it’s a good time to re-evaluate if this is something you can put up with for the rest of your life.
The decisions both of you make while travelling will depend on how much each of you are willing to compromise and the ability – or inability – to deal with each other’s incompatibilities will either make or break your relationship.
You get your first taste of what it’s like living together
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Cohabitation is never easy. In marriage, you’re essentially making a choice to live together with someone day in, day out, for the rest of your life.
Travelling together with your partner will let you experience how it’s like to wake up next to him or her in the morning; how each other’s lifestyle habits are like; and more importantly how the two of you enjoy each other’s company in a shared space.
You get to experience the world with fewer responsibilities
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Life after marriage is a miscellany of housework, adult obligations and a possible scarcity of time. For couples intending to have children, your travel life is likely to change for the next few years.
In addition to having more bills to pay, travelling with babies or toddlers can be a headache. Between mealtimes, naps and nappy changes, young children require some form of routine and consistent attention.
Having to straddle these responsibilities when travelling may be a challenge for first-time parents, even while visiting family-friendly locations.
Travelling together with your partner before marriage gives you the opportunity to put yourselves first without having to worry about all this and more.
Where you go, I will go
“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” – Mark Twain
Your partner is not just your lover and confidante. If you’re looking towards marriage, your partner will eventually be your travel buddy for life. If you and your partner can work as a team to deal with both the highs and lows of travelling together and living together, that’s one good indicator of how the both of you will deal with the much bumpier journey of marital life down the road.
