5 Reasons Why It’s Better to Travel with the One You Love

My heart is broken because I feel like half of me is missing. Tim is serving his country in Afghanistan for the next six months, so expect a lot of solo travel over most of the remainder of this year. To be honest, solo travel isn’t my favorite way to travel. Sure, when I spot a store that I want to poke around in, I don’t have to listen to Tim groan about enduring some shopping. But there is nothing better than finding a compatible traveling companion. It’s all the moments – sharing jokes about funny things that inevitably happen, making those special memories we’ll talk about for a lifetime, even having the epic fights we’ll never remember what they were actually about – that make me want to only travel with my better half. Still not convinced? I could make a whole laundry list, but here are just a few reasons why it’s better to travel with the one you love:

Having fun and creating memories to last a lifetime.

We have indescribable amounts of fun together…like when we were snowmobiling in Swedish Lapland earlier this year, got our snowmobile stuck in the deep fresh powder and launched ourselves in to a snow bank. Or the time we followed the GPS’ shortcut in Jordan from the Dead Sea to Petra and ended up literally going over a mountain on a dirt road in the pitch dark in a car totally not meant for off roading. We have so many stories that we never tell here, but we spend lots of time laughing and reminiscing over those special memories together.

All smiles before clinging to the cliff

Bonding over new experiences.

Seeing and experiencing the world as a couple is the most amazing bonding experience. No matter whether the new experience is overcoming a language barrier together or scaling a cliff on a via ferrata, being out of your element and tackling things together really improves communication (even if that communication is me throwing every profanity in the book Tim’s way as I cling to aforementioned cliff-side) and compromise. Things are definitely never boring; travel has been a total bonding game-changer for us.

Sharing a plate of gnocchi in Italy

Sharing food.

I didn’t use to be a foodie, but there is just so much delicious food in the world. When you travel solo, you just can’t try as many dishes on the menu. Well, I suppose I could…but I’d look like a little piggy ordering both the cheesecake and the fudge covered brownie. We love ordering different dishes and desserts that we can share…you know, so we can taste more of the menu. Purely for research purposes, of course.

Keeping each other in check.

I pretty much want to smack iPads out of people’s hands when they take photos with them. Or grab the selfie stick touts are pedaling to whack them with it. Tim may just keep me out of mandated anger management classes. Having the same annoyances either makes us old curmudgeons or a very compatible couple. Either way, we do some much needed venting to each other at times that keeps others from feeling the wrath.

Wearing dry suits to snorkel in freezing water. Not in either of our comfort zones.

Stepping out of our comfort zones.

Racing a NASCAR at Daytona International Speedway wasn’t necessarily at the top of my bucket list, but Tim always encourages me to try new things and be more adventurous. Sometimes he even forces me to (remember hurling the profanities about the via ferrata?), but I end up loving the experience (totally want to do more via ferratas!). And vice versa. Five years ago, Tim totally grumbled about putting on a button down shirt and going to a nice restaurant. Drinking a fine wine? Forget it; he was a Bud Light kind of guy. These days, wine tastings and Michelin-starred restaurants are a way of our life.

Traveling together and sharing all of those amazing experiences with that special someone truly is the best feeling in the world. Tell us in the comments why YOU think it’s better to travel with the one you love!