So recently my husband and I took a surprise trip to Las Vegas. Along the way, we bickered a little bit and it reminded me that trips are a the ultimate test of a relationship. While trips are fun and a great way to get away together and reconnect, they're also stressful. You're away from home, usually at some point hungry and hungover, yelling at the guy who cut you off while you fight over whether to stop at McDonalds or Subway for lunch. It can get rough. However, trips are also a good way to get away from all the crap life throws at you. Instead of worrying about paying the mortgage or deciding whether to have kids or arguing about who does the dishes, you get to have 3-hour lunches and laugh over martinis at dinner. Vacations rock- obviously. But here are some tips to survive get-aways so you end up coming home with a IPHONE full of great pictures instead of memories about how you cried in front of the blackjack dealer cause you wanted to go to bed and he insisted on gambling for 2 more hours.
Tips For Traveling With Your Honey Without Wanting to Kill Them:
- Don't spend 100% of your time together while on the trip- take little breaks so you don't get sick of each other
- Don't stress about where you eat. Being picky is just annoying and arguing when you're hungry is the worst.
- Quiet time in the car or on the plane is okay. Filling the silence with questions about his favorite childhood cereal is cute when you're first dating but grating when you've been married for a few years.
- Spend at least one day-night saying yes to everything. Yes I'll have another drink, yes let's go to that strip club, yes let's make out in public, yes let's split dessert! You're on vacation- it's okay to ignore your routine-focused self and break out a little.
- Bring things to do. That's just a good rule in general for traveling. Nothing but the SkyMall catalogue to read leads to boredom which can lead to bickering. Or great conversation. Bring Cosmo just in case he doesn't feel like talking.
- Don't spend 2 hours getting ready to go out. Instead of flat-ironing your hair, why not have a pre-dinner quickie which will put you in a good mood all night. Throw out the schedule!
- Snacks are your friend. Lack of sleep is not. Taking naps together is a great way to keep from getting cranky, as is eating every 2 hours or so.
Finally, the only thing you really need to remember when you travel with a love (or anyone else besides solo, for that matter), is to RELAX. You're on vacation! "Go with the flow, take a chill pill, simma down now, chillax"- whatever lame quote you can think of to leave anxiety at home and enjoy not working, not taking care of the kids, not walking the dog. Have a blast seeing the world with the person you love more than anything. :-)
