Maybe you’re thinking about traveling overseas with your spouse. Just the two of you. Time to get away from the everyday grind, to rest and rekindle a bit. But you’ve read the articles that warn you to proceed with care: “How to Survive Traveling with Your Spouse,” “The Realities of Traveling as a Couple,” “The Pitfalls of Traveling with Your Partner.” Enough to give you pause, yes?
If so, you may want to consider traveling as a couple with a group. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but consider these perks:
Making new friends together. Sometimes it’s difficult to make friends as adults. Sure, you have work friends, common acquaintances, and stage-of-life friends, but friends BOTH spouses enjoy? Tricky. Group travel provides the opportunity to get to know other couples who have at least one thing in common: Wanderlust! Consider Terry and Colleen, who’ve traveled with As You Like It Tours on two excursions to Cornwall. Terry says, “The small group format significantly added to the experience; we started as 8-10 strangers and ended feeling we had added a new extended family. We shared a beautiful privately owned home/villa with our fellow travelers during both trips, adding to the family feel as we started our days sharing breakfast and ended our days sharing home-cooked dinners.”
Balancing time alone (individually and as a couple) and group time. While traveling with a group allows you to meet other couples, you have the freedom to carve out time for just the two of you. As Terry says, “AYLIT provided a well thought out mix of structured guided tours and events while leaving enough free time to do our own thing. Colleen and I used the free time to hike Cornwall’s coastline and visit what became our favorite pub to watch the World Cup games.” Other couples book dinner for two at Michelin-star restaurants, or even choose to spend the day at home while the group heads to its next adventure. As you like it!
And for the introvert in the relationship, you can find a cozy corner for rest and reflection while your extrovert spouse is energized by conversation, card games, or visiting a local pub for Trivia Night and a Pint.
Managing different travel styles. He wants to photograph choughs and bluebells along the coast; she’d rather meander through museums and charity shops. No worries! On a small-group trip, you can incorporate time to pursue your personal interests, knowing that you have fellow travelers who may share them. Case in point: in 2018 several of the guys in our group spent an afternoon golfing, while their spouses explored Porthleven Harbor Market, a weekly outdoor market featuring local vendors, arts, and food. Everybody wins!
Sharing experiences and making memories in a new place. While anticipating a journey occurs over months and enjoying the journey transpires over days, remembering the journey lasts a lifetime. Four years ago, Allen and Dawn travelled to Cornwall with AYLIT. Allen says, “Our trip to Cornwall in 2018 still provides pleasant memories for us. Being immersed in a totally different place was a grand adventure for us as a couple and a lot of fun.” Like Allen, Terry remembers that trip with fondness: “Some of our best memories can be attributed to simple experiences like feeding apples to the neighboring farmer’s draft horses each morning, snacking on wild blackberries on every hike made along the coast, listening to the seals serenading us off the coast during a hike and touring the many beautiful gardens and landmarks scheduled by our dedicated guide.”
Gaining a new (or deeper) appreciation for your spouse thanks to your shared travel experience. Perhaps you’ve heard the saying, “A change of place plus a change of pace equals a change of perspective.” For couples, travel offers a way to see each other with new eyes, to get away from the familiar, to slow down and notice the qualities that drew you to her/him in the first place. Not only do you share the beauty of a new place and pace, but you also get a break from the mundane: work, kids, dogs, laundry, lawn, everyday drama… And that frees up space to get reacquainted with your partner in crime, I mean, life.
