6 Reasons Why You Should Travel as a Couple

While traveling solo is fun, the best things in life are meant to be experienced with your loved one. In just 18 months, my partner and I have traveled to 9 countries and 20 cities. Even though we were left with an empty bank account at the end of it all, doing all that traveling was one of the best decisions we have made in our lives.

Aside from having your expenses halved, there are in fact also many other reasons and benefits why you too should travel with your partner (especially before marriage).
 

1. You bond and become stronger as a couple

In our day to day lives, it is easy to get caught up in things such as work, school, friends, obligations etc, that you somehow just intentionally or unintentionally end up neglecting your partner. When you travel, you take away the familiar, the mobile phones, the friends and all other external distruptions, and it's just the two of you there in a foreign land.
 

2. It’s romantic

 
Sure, bringing your partner out for a suit up 6 course fine dining meal sounds fun. But if you want something non-mainstream and seriously romantic, surprise him/her out to a beach getaway. Take a weekend trip to Maldives, get lost in translation in Japan, get out of your comfort zone by taking a hike in Hong Kong etc. No matter where you go, nothing can be more romantic than just the two of you alone, getting out of your comfort zone and experiencing something for the first time together.
 

3.You get to understand each other better

 
When we stay in Singapore, we are comfortable. We get up every morning, go to work/school, meet our partner for a movie/dinner date and that's about it. It's through traveling together that you see sides of your partner that you don't usually get to. How is he/she when they miss their flight or when they get lost in a new place, do they panic or remain calm? How is he/she like towards the hotel staff or flight attendant?

And if you really look closely at him/her when you guys travel, you would most likely also get to see how much he/she really cares for you. Maybe you tend to be forgetful, and panic when you realize you forgot to buy travel insurance – Only to find out that he already bought it for you. Maybe he prioritises your needs over his and planned the itinerary on things that you want to do. Maybe he packed medication and amenities for you so you don't have to. It's through these little actions when you travel that you learn where you stand in his/her heart.
 

4.You start building memories together

It's one thing to start a travel blog to tell people about your trip, and a whole other thing to tell someone about something and have him/her totally understand because he/she was also there to experience the exact same thing. I could tell you about how sad and pitiful I was when we got stranded by the road in Jeju but you would never really understand how miserable it truly was unless you were there to experience it yourself.

A trip may just be for 3~4 days, but the memories that the both of you built while shivering in the cold Korea winter storm will last you for a lifetime. These memories that both of you shared and built traveling together would be the stories you rave about to your friends and family. It would be the kind of stories you keep and tell your kids when they grow up, about how you lost your luggage in a winter country and still survived. It would be the kind of memories you laugh about in the years to come.
 

5. You compromise to achieve common goals

 
Singapore is but a small red dot and the usual dinner and movie date would surely seem slightly mundane after awhile. When you plan for trips, it gives you a common goal to work towards to. It gives the relationship live and excitement as you eagerly plan and wait for your next trip out together. You work together to ask your respective friends for itinearies and compromise on what you guys can do when you are there.
 

6. Your relationship is tested

  
Ever had a friend that you could talk very comfortably with but could never get together to do a project, and you two will always just end up arguing? It's the same for marriage. Not everyone you can get along with is a suitable life partner that you can solve life issues with.

To travel as a couple, you would need to work together. You learn the previously unspoken roles each partner plays. You learn to divide responsibilities and entrust each other with your own life, security, money etc. Working together to make a couple trip possible, gives you a glimpse of what it is like being together with somebody for life.