Sunday, September 15, 2013

Lessons Learned From Traveling With Your Man

"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
Thankfully through traveling to three continents and eleven different countries together, my husband and I have fallen more in love with each other (and traveling) than the dreaded latter of the quote above. But through our world galavanting, we've not only learned more about ourselves, but we've also learned some priceless lessons about each other. So I've compiled a list of five things that you can expect to learn when traveling with your man.

1. Bathroom language just can't be avoided. Especially when you spend every day for two weeks chowing down on some Thai green curry and a bathroom break is required within 10 minutes of finishing. Check out this post to see what are must haves in your medicine kit

2. Hanger is real...and ugly. I truly believe that all things said out of hunger should immediately be forgiven and forgotten. End of story. Oh and always carry snacks with you when traveling...always. 

3. Your fights while traveling will most likely become hilarious stories...later on. Keep that in mind while traveling. My favorite happened while on our honeymoon in Fiji. We decided to take a hobie cat and sail to a nearby island about a mile away. I had warned my new husband that it may be the wrong time to do this since the wind was dying down; but we went anyway and made it there in no time. Well when we were heading back, the wind died. I'm not just saying, it died down, I mean, there was zip zero zilch wind coming our way. We were stuck about half a mile from either island, in the blazing heat of the sun and for some reason we made the wise decision not to put on sunscreen that day. Being stuck, with no sun screen, and no way back does not make for a fun day of sailing. Of course at the time it wasn't funny but it didn't take long for us to laugh about it later. 


4. Their true side will be shown quicker while traveling than in day to day life. Combine unfamiliar territory, different languages and cultures and you've got yourself a mix dangerous enough to send the most calm and collected guy into a panic. And rightfully so. Thankfully, I've found a guy that stays cool even in the midst of canceled flights, being lost in an unfamiliar city or worst of all, trying to find the nearest bathroom after the aforementioned green curry outings. Because let's be honest, those are the times that I panic the most.

5. One will always be more adventurous than the other. I'd like to think of myself as a fairly adventurous person but that doesn't even come close to what my husband likes to do. This inevitably means that we make compromises when we travel. My husband's life long dream is the go cage diving with great white sharks in Cape Town, South Africa. This is a perfect example of when I'm definitely not as adventurous as he is. Cuddling up with tigers? Yes. Zip lining in the jungle? Why not? Swimming with whale sharks? Do you even have to ask? But Great White Sharks? I'll be in the boat documenting it all, thank you very much. Fair compromise right?

Needless to say; everyday is a new challenge, a new adventure, and a new story to be told. And we can't wait to see what happens next! If you liked this piece, check out my post about How to Travel Without Killing Each Other.

*this post was originally used as a guest post on The Nectar Collective