Hey! My partner and I have travelled together for 2 years. We spent 7 months Backpacking in South East Asian before doing Vanlife in New Zealand.
Here's a few of our quick tips for travelling as a couple long-term that might work for your own trip!
Communication
The only thing that really matters is communication. You need to consider and reconsider what each of you enjoy, what you dislike and discuss these thoughts with each other.
There was some moments on our itinerary that we look back on and laugh because we ended up there thinking the other person wanted to go there but it turned out to be miscommunication between us.
Like the Full Moon Party in Koh Samui. Before we left home everyone was talking about how it's a must do so it went on our itinerary. However, after travelling around for a while we lost interest in party culture but, as it was on our itinerary and neither of us backed out from the idea, we ended up going to a lot of stress and effort to make it to Koh Samui for that specific date. Only afterwards to realize after that we stressed ourselves out for no reason and we would have been ok skipping the party!
Test it out
Start small, maybe a weekend visit to a national park near you, or a nearby city or even go out hiking or camping together first.
We all have different likes and dislikes that may not be apparent when you are living at home together in comfort and not sharing a routine.
We started with weekend trips in Ireland together, before a trip to Edinburgh and 2 weeks flashpacking in Thailand before deciding on a long term travel plan together.
Something small to consider is maybe one of you brushes your teeth before cereal, and the other afterwards. Maybe you find when you're travelling that it's best to brush your teeth first thing in the morning as you will need to leave and go find food and won't be coming back to your accommodation.
Talk about what you enjoyed and didn't enjoy
Money
Again, at home you might have separate money where what you spend doesn't affect your partner. Travelling together can be a bit different.
Chat about how you plan to spend your money. For us, we set a daily budget for each country/region and then discussed where we expected our money to be spent. For example in Vietnam, we had a total budget of 60 euro per day for the country with an expected 5 to 10 euro per night on accommodation, 5 to 10 euro on food and 5 euro on local transport per day. The remainder of the budget was for tours, activities and long travel days.
My partner preferred to spend money on food and visiting scenic locations and I preferred activities. I had some more money saved and so we agreed to set a mini budget for myself for these other activities.
Bucket / Priority List
Make sure to discuss what your priorities are for travel to ensure you get a positive outcome from this time and effort. Create a loose roadmap of your planned journey and mark the key items each of you want to achieve. For example my partner wanted to relax and explore Halong Bay in Vietnam slowly and I was able to go rock climbing on her relaxation day in the same area!
We used a spreadsheet and my.maps.google.com to help with this but a paper map or google maps pins or another app can work!
Food
Try taking turns picking restaurants/cuisines, or go to a street food/food truck venue to enjoy eating something different together! Some of our favorite memories are going around street food markets getting 3/4 items each and then sitting and eating/sharing our food together.
If one partner eats more maybe factor that into the budget or agree that it's ok to get cheap street food/fast food/eat cereal bars after your meals to satiate them.
Alcohol / Partying
Don't forget that you're travelling as a couple. Some couples love to party together, other's don't. There is a range of attitudes towards partying so make sure you and your partner are on the same page, and those beers you are having for the Xth time at dinner before going out with your newest buddies from the hostel is still ok with your partner.
Hey! If you made it this far and have any more questions why don't you reach out to me at allard.gregory@gmail.com or message me here on Thatch and we can organize a chat!
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