7 Essential Tips for Stress-Free Travel with a Partner

Though we’ve never been big on Valentine’s Day, the holiday gets us thinking about our relationship. This year, it made us reflect on how awesome (and challenging) it can be to travel with a partner – regardless of whether it’s a significant other or a friend.

Since we’ve had quite a bit of experience over our last year as digital nomads, traveling, working, and living together, we figured we’d share some of the lessons we’ve learned along the way.

Hope they’re helpful and if you have any other tips and tricks on how to survive travel with a partner, please pass them along!

Don’t Forget About the Meals

Some of you may have a similar problem, but most of our fights start because one of us is “hangry.” In an effort to avoid these, we’ve made a huge effort to do 3 things: 

• Pack snacks for any and all trips; they truly make a huge difference in any road trip or flight.
• Look up general restaurant policies in advance, like hours of operation or the need for reservations. We have missed lunch in countries like Italy and France too many times!
• Schedule meals into the daily plan and make reservations for your favorite restaurants in advance, even if you don’t think they’ll be needed. Unlike the US, many European restaurants will only accommodate the tables they have reserved. We aren’t sure if it’s for labor or food reasons, but we’ve shown up at restaurants that have multiple open tables, which are reserved an hour or two later, but still won’t be seated.

Prioritize the Journey, Not the Destination

In the past, our main road trip concern was getting somewhere – sometimes so much that we would overlook the journey. Now that we have our dog Piper, we are forced to make stops along the way. Unexpectedly, this has been completely life-changing. Now, before embarking on a trip, we find the best spots for a visit like a lake, a trail, or a park. This keeps our pup happy, but it’s also helped us find some little hidden gems, given us a different perspective on a place, and helped us stay energized during the trip.

Play to Each Other’s Strengths

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and understanding those before a trip is key to successful travel with a partner. In our case, Cristina is the planner. She loves searching through blogs, seeking recommendations, and planning road trips. However, she stays away from anything that involves the car, from renting it to driving and unpacking, and Mike gladly handles all of that. Determining how to split chores is often more helpful than tag-teaming each chore together.

Define the Goal of Your Trip

During our first trip to Europe back in 2015, we went to London, Scotland, and Spain in less than 10 days. It was a wonderful trip and we got to see so many sights, but we were exhausted by the end, and a part of us felt like there were so many of these places we still didn’t see since we were only there for 2-3 days. Now, we lean more towards choosing one place and getting to know it inside and out. Though it ultimately means exploring fewer countries, it matches our styles better. Regardless of what works best for you, we recommend determining what your goal is for the trip and using that to plan your adventures as it will make travel with a partner a lot easier!

Plan Logistics in Advance

While we are all for “going with the flow”, there is something to be said for booking certain things in advance. This doesn’t mean everything, but things like hotels, train tickets, and car rentals are much easier to do from the comfort of your own home than on the road. The same goes for restaurant reservations. If there are a couple of places you absolutely want to try (particularly in larger cities during the busy travel season), make sure to make those reservations in advance. It’ll help prevent disagreements and give you more time to relax and explore while traveling. Plus, when traveling with a partner, it’s particularly nice to never have to worry about food!

Alternate Travel Planning

As we mentioned, Cristina is the planner in this relationship. It doesn’t mean Mike doesn’t like to plan, but that I usually just beat him to it. So, one thing we’ve started doing is alternating who plans when. This means that, for instance, Mike will be solely in charge of planning one or two days of the trip. Cristina will do the same, and the rest we’ll plan together. This adds the element of surprise and ensures each person contributes. Otherwise, if one person is always in charge of the plan, that’s a good recipe for an argument.  

Meet Others Along the Way

We love getting to meet other people during our travels. Having a dog is particularly helpful, and bars are of course great too. But, we have also come to love organized activities like Get your Guide or Airbnb Experiences. They are an easy way to explore places you may have otherwise overlooked and a perfect way to meet new people.

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