Traveling affects relationships. Sometimes it can bring couples closer together, and sometimes it can put a strain on the relationship. There is a saying “couples who travel together, stay together”.. ok, I made that up. I don't think it is an actual saying. I wanted to dig into the topic of how traveling affects relationships. As a lot of you may know, my husband Les and I enjoy traveling. We wanted to share some of our experiences and tips we have gathered over the years to make it less stressful and a more enjoyable time. Here are some things that you may need to talk about and might have an impact on why traveling affects relationships * Preparation * Talk about how you're going to travel. Example, how much luggage you will be bringing, and the type of clothes you will be packing. Create a packing list or use the checklist I provided below at the end of the show notes. * Timeframes * Discuss how many days, weeks or months are you going to stay there? * How much money you are going to spend * One example is buying a plane ticket. Should you go for a business class or economy? It sometimes depends on the number of flying hours like when Les and I had a 13-hour flight. The price for a business class is times 4 the price of economy. Les isn't a fan of paying that much for airplane tickets but I Like the extra space and comfort. So on long flights, Les agrees comfort is important. * Planning Details together * Who's going to take care of your house while you're gone? Are you going to pay for it or have a neighbor do it? Les and I are considering house sitting now. * Decide who is carrying what in their suitcases * I like to bring a nutri-blender with me because sometimes when we go out of the country. I have a special drink I like for dinner but the blender weighs 8-9 pounds! So even though Les would have carried my suitcase for me, the blender takes up a lot pf precious room. So, I typically leave this at home. Sometimes there can be stressful situations that will test your relationship. * Discuss what you both want to do on the vacation * Discuss what you both want to do. I like to go to warm climates and lay on the beach and Les wants to go to cooler climates and do activities. He isn't one to lay around on a beach all day. What we do is we compromise. We go to warm places sometimes and we go to cooler climates sometimes. I think compromise is key in traveling and in any relationship. * Decide if you want to spend the entire time together or are you going to have “break-out” sessions and do something on your own * Sometimes, you and who you're with don't like to do the same things or activities. When my sister and I went on a vacation together, she wanted to hang out by the pool and I wanted to go and visit museums. As a couple, you need to decide if it is okay to do things on your own sometimes. * Plan on what to do if you accidentally get separated * What if you get separated from each other? On our trip to Asia, we got separated from each other. We were in a shopping area and I was looking at cute little things while Les is looking at the backpacks. We made arrangements that if we get separated, to meet each other in a certain area. There is no question that traveling affects relationships. Patience, planning, preparation, are just a few things to have a successful vacation with your significant other. Do you have any stories on how traveling affects relationships? Have you had a good experience where it brought you closer together? Or have you had a bad experience?