Things to Consider Before Planning a Couples Vacation
You’re about to go on an adventure with someone you’ve just recently begun dating. In this section, you’ll find advice on how to make it through your first trip or vacation as a couple.
Congratulations on making the decision to go on your first journey with your significant other.
Taking a trip together is something that most people regard to be a significant milestone in a relationship, and it’s when you discover whether or not you form a good team when you’re both out of your comfort zones.
As you may be aware, Dan and I were involved in a long-distance relationship throughout our first year of dating.
It went quite well on our first vacation together as a couple in 2016, despite the fact that we hadn’t seen each other for over four months. We will always remember it as one of our most memorable vacations.
We were enjoying one of our well-deserved visits to see each other, which is one of the most important pieces of advice for anybody in a long-distance relationship: make time for travels. Everything went swimmingly.
In most people’s minds, traveling together is a significant milestone in their relationship. When you are individually forced to go outside of your comfort zones, you will discover whether or not you form a solid group. Here are a few things we kept in mind before we embarked on our first vacation as a couple:
Talk about what you want to achieve on your journey.
Be willing to be adaptable and to make concessions when the situation demands it.
As a couple, discuss how much money you’ll need for your vacation.
Contributing recommendations for your spouse is a great way to demonstrate that you’ve participated in the preparation process!
Explain how you plan to share your vacation on social media in a clear and honest manner.
The journey from our first trip together to traveling long-term as a lifestyle choice, exploring the globe while working from home, has been a tremendous learning experience for both of us. Nonetheless, it all began with our first vacation together, during which we both doubted whether we’d make it through the trip.
On our initial journey and on our current travels, we took into consideration the following factors:
In Evora, Portugal, a man and a woman pose for a photograph. The pair of sunglasses are worn by an elderly couple on a beautiful day in Portugal following a hiking trip.
How did we know that we were ready to go on a journey together despite having never traveled together before?
No one could tell us whether or not we would like one other enough to want to spend any sort of extended period of time together away from our daily routines, but we were willing to give it a chance.
It wasn’t until after a few months of dating that we both realized that we would definitely get along well when we spent a whole day together walking miles and miles to have experiences in New York City.
Traveling together as a couple for the first time wouldn’t be a problem if we were able to make choices on the go and discover activities to keep us both interested.
That first big overseas trip didn’t really happen for another four months after that.
Dan traveled for a long-term work and travel program called Remote Year in mid-May of 2016, which meant he’d be out of the country for 12 months while still working remotely from his home.
For the reason that I had previously scheduled a summer vacation to South Africa with one of my friends, we didn’t have the opportunity to meet each other until September 2016.
The opportunity to travel together came about after four months of communicating through messaging apps such as WhatsApp and FaceTime as well as emailing, Facebook chatting and sending postcards to one another.
Was it anything like you’d expect?
In order to have the most stress-free and joyful travel experience possible as a couple on our first overseas vacation together, we worked as a team and were very honest about our travel goals and expectations.
Listed below are the most successful strategies.
On a lovely and clear day in Ireland, a couple sits against a wall. Girl and boy holding each other while hiking up Mt Rainier
Transparency is key when discussing expectations for the trip with your companion.
Everyone has their own definition of what travel is.
Both of us see travel as an opportunity to explore the globe, learn about different cultures, pick up a few words in another language, and experiment with delicacies we’ve never tried.
Some travelers choose to vacation by getting off the grid and disconnecting for a week, while others prefer to relax at a resort on the shore.
Anyone’s definition of travel might be quite different, so it’s important to first clarify what you both want from your vacation.
What if you could come back and claim you’d been exposed to a whole new way of life? You want to be able to look back on your vacation and be pleased that you spent time by the pool reading a book.
There isn’t a single correct response.
Take advantage of the most recent travel information.
In the future, you’ll get more articles similar to this in your mailbox!
Unfortunately, we learned that we had quite similar opinions on travel.
There should be a good balance of landscape and urban areas, as well as equal amounts of action and downtime.
Changing plans at the last minute if it means participating in something new and interesting is not a problem for us.
We’re also open to canceling anything we had planned if we’re tired or unwell (these things happen! ), or if the weather makes it necessary to adjust our schedule.
A café in Portugal with a camera strap and white coffee mugs. A sandy beach with rock formations in Portugal has turquoise and blue waves.
To meet the demands of both of you, you must be adaptable.
Remember that you and your partner are dealing with real-world logistics.
Suppose you each have an ATM card that reimburses fees, but only one of you has one. Has anybody brought along a credit card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee to use while on vacation? Take a look at some of the questions we were asked about traveling with foreign currencies and how we addressed them.
Ensure that you are prepared to make last-minute adjustments.
It is not always the case that excursions proceed exactly as planned.
Anyone who has gone away with pals during college or on a family vacation since they were children will understand what I’m talking about!
Perhaps you had transportation scheduled that was canceled, or a day excursion that was canceled due to inclement weather was canceled. Together, choose the best way for the two of you to cope with changes in your plans.
Dealing with the unexpected can also assist you in surviving all of the bumps in the road that will inevitably occur throughout the early stages of your new relationship. It’s a really useful ability to possess.
We were invited to go trekking with another couple in Cascais, barely a day earlier, on our first vacation together in Portugal. We accepted the invitation. After discussing the possibility of changing our plans, we agreed that since we still had our rental vehicle, we should consider it. We ended up seeing the castles in Sintra instead.
The modification in strategy was seen favourably in retrospect, according to us. Despite the fact that we did not get to see the Sintra castle scenery, we did enjoy a crazy day of trekking that we will never forget.
For us, it’s important to reduce our scheduled activities to a bare minimum so that when the unexpected occurs, we’re prepared to make a rapid choice rather than going “plan shopping”.
Display your diligence by demonstrating that you have done your homework.
Following our first trip, I began researching about Portugal as soon as I was able, as soon as I had booked our tickets to see Dan.
It became clear to us that I like planning while Dan prefers to let things flow naturally when traveling.
Through trial and error, we’ve found out who is responsible for what, and we’re both willing to put in the time.
The one thing that is certain is that traveling together requires some planning, whether it is for money or phone plans, and this is something that should be done as a group using a checklist or having an in-depth conversation about.
When it comes to planning our excursions, we aren’t very organized, but we do have a broad notion of what we’ll need.
It is critical for travel companions to go through some procedures jointly in order to ensure that they are both prepared before departing from their home country.
Make time for rest and relaxation!
Although it is necessary to explore with a companion, see the sites, sample the delicacies, and maybe exhaust your to-do list, it is also important to relax when traveling with another person.
Because we spent some time in rural communities with little nightlife on our first vacation, we were forced to take it easy and relax.
This provided us with the opportunity to replenish our batteries (both metaphorically and practically) and to plan our plans for the following day.
Dan’s step-by-step instruction to recharging all of your batteries can be found here on YouTube.
Surprise your lover by doing something unexpected for him or her.
Surprises are something that everyone enjoys, don’t you think?
Some individuals like modest surprises, such as an unexpected present, while others enjoy the suspense of being whisked away by their lover to an unknown destination.
Food and drink surprises are common for us while traveling since we try to carry as little as possible and purchase as little as possible when on the road.
Keep in mind that, although preparation is important, surprises may be much more enjoyable! Making a tiny surprise on the go might help you convey your enthusiasm about your first trip (or any other journey) to your friends and family.
As a method to visit a new city or town when we first arrive, I use my love for organizing to surprise Dan with handmade city tours that he doesn’t expect.
For an afternoon, if we both go our own ways to do our own thing, we may as well surprise each other with some local foods that we believe the other would appreciate.
Allow for the possibility of making concessions with your spouse.
The ability to travel well with your partner is among the many skills that may be learned on a first trip together. Everyone has a distinct travel style, and one of the things you will learn is how to travel well with them.
For me, traveling with Dan meant learning to sit down and take it all in after previously experiencing fast-paced excursions that crammed in as many things as possible. Dan’s role in this was to assist me in accepting the fact that taking some time to rest was vital.
We made a few concessions in order to reach an agreement. We decided that we would occasionally make hotel arrangements for our Portugal road trip with just a few days’ notice in order to save money.
Other times, we booked accommodations by making a decision among Airbnbs, hostels, and hotels just a few hours before arriving in our locations few nights before booking.
Dan reassured me that everything would work out since we had a vehicle and were able to be flexible in our plans.
All of a sudden, I had faith and confidence in him, and everything came out AMAZING!
One thing we didn’t have to compromise on was being smart about when we went to a spot for shooting. We could go at any time of day or night and get great shots.
We spoke about our ideas for our trip and came to a consensus on the general direction we should take it.
Take into consideration both of your finances.
Budgeting is very important for your first vacation as a newlywed couple.
It is possible that the sort of budget necessary for travel is different from the type of budget required at home.
If you spent a lot of money on flights or transportation to (or within) your location, it’s important to discuss how much more money should be allocated to accommodations, daily expenses, and budgeting.
Discuss if it makes more sense to eat all of your meals out or to prepare them yourself, as well as whether going out for drinks is something you want to spend money on or not.
Taking cabs is vital, but would you rather spend time together learning how to navigate the bus and subway systems? What are your plans for purchasing tour packages, and how much will they cost you?
In Portugal, one may buy fresh apples in a market. In Portugal, a cup of black coffee is served in a white coffee cup. Cucumbers and tomatoes at a Portuguese farmer’s market
A few things were agreed upon on our first trip: cooking whenever feasible, making our own picnics from grocery store products wherever practical, limiting the amount of alcohol we consumed in bars, and being frugal with our rental car’s fuel use. All of these fell under what we have come to refer to as our “means to save money when traveling as a couple.”
When it comes to travel, we seldom differ on money, and we want to maintain it that way for as long as we possibly can!
Given that having a rental vehicle increased our daily expenditures, as did the rising cost of fuel, we decided to make up for it in other ways. We booked lodgings that were within our budgets and slept in hostels that we located on Hostelworld if the locations were appropriate for our needs at the time.
Decide how much information you’ll be sharing on social media.
There are a plethora of factors to consider while using social networking applications.
Everyone has a distinct point of view on what information should be given and what information should be kept confidential.
Some individuals don’t mind being photographed at the beach, while others are not so keen on the idea.
Some individuals choose to restrict their holiday images to a bare minimum in order to maintain a sense of privacy between work and home life, while others do not mind being transparent about their locations.
If you and your spouse are both comfortable with the subject, speak about what you would want to post on social media and what you would want to post that includes your relationship in some way.
Here are a few things to think about, since these are all legitimate issues that have arisen.
Is it allowed to post images that include alcoholic beverages?
How much information should you provide in the picture captions?
Is there anybody in your family who could have reservations about where you’re going or the fact that you’ll be traveling a long distance from home?
In part because we spend so much time on social media in our personal lives, we have developed a healthy practice of showing each other various images or videos that we have of each other before publishing them.
In Portugal, a young woman swims in turquoise and blue waves off a sandy beach with rock formations. A woman uses her mobile phone to capture a shot of the sunset on a rocky beach in the Bahamas.
Our first vacation to Portugal resulted in multiple images of the two of us taken at various locations, including the Praia de Benagil cliffs, the Lisbon cable car, and our trek in Cascais.
Because we had been apart for so long, our friends were delighted that we had finally been reunited.
Nowadays, we follow a set of primarily unwritten standards when it comes to what we post on our personal social media profiles. In order to ensure that we both approve of a picture that includes the other person, we gently consult with each other before posting it.
Exchange emergency contact information with the families of each other’s relatives.
From the beginning of our first trip, we made a point of exchanging at least one of our parents’ phone numbers, just in case the worst case scenario occurred.
While we spoke with our parents through WhatsApp on a regular basis while in Portugal, it made sense to have our parents’ phone numbers stored on each other’s phones in case of an emergency or other tragic circumstance.
This worked out well since Dan was using Google Fi at the time, and my phone was set to airplane mode for the duration of the eight-day vacation.
If we needed to ask my parents a question or give them an update while we were driving in our vehicle, we could text them from Dan’s phone, which was equipped with Google Fi.
Because I didn’t need service, we were able to share our mobile data. I was grateful.
Occasionally, Dan even linked mobile data to my phone, which allowed me to transmit an update to family members who weren’t in the room with me. Our family now relies on GoogleFi while traveling outside of the nation, which works out well since we each have our own accounts under one single “families plan.”
Always remember to have a good time.
Take a minute to remind yourself that your travel companion is the person you adore!
Despite the fact that there are several unique things you can do at home, travel is one of those activities that enables you to discover more about one another: what surprises you, what shocks you, what makes you joyful, and what gives you a feeling of adventure.
Enjoy the moments, build memories, snap photographs of what you ate, and return with a wealth of tales to tell!
When we go on vacations with our friends, these are practically all of our objectives.
Above all, continue to learn about the locations where your travels lead you, and always remember to have a good time.
You and your new boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or life partner will have no trouble surviving your first journey together as a pair. It all depends on how you approach it and what kind of mindset you bring with you!
