I love travelling as a couple. No heavy bags carrying, no dealing with rent-a-cars, no money handling. Those are definitely all perks for me (with a side of good company, of course). It is great and truly relaxing when somebody else takes care of this stuff – aka the boring stuff. And in our case, these things usually fall on Žiga. As well as handling documents and taking care so that they don’t get stolen. To be fair, I am the one who does things before we go anywhere – the tickets, the accommodation and the general idea for the trip. But when we arrive at the destination I get to pretty much relax, be irresponsible and take it at a much slower pace than I do at home. But this is not a post on which option is better (or sounds better), it’s a post on how different they really are. Obviously, they both have their ups and downs.

When I travelled alone last year, I got to venture out into the unknown literally and figuratively. I realised I am capable of much more than I thought I was before. And you can read all about it here.

Travelling alone is really an experience of going out of your comfort zone, especially if you are in a long term relationship and used to almost never being alone. We all know that relationships are about compromise, but when you travel alone it is just you. The only compromise is that you have to listen to yourself when it comes to your needs, your fitness level and your wishes on what to see. For me, it also means avoiding most of the adrenaline activities – I am never going to scuba dive alone probably. But I make that up in shopping which is mostly not on the agenda when we travel together – I’d definitely still be clueless about the amazingness of Korean cosmetics if we went to Korea together, and that would be a shame.

I think travelling alone challenges each person differently, depending on how big your comfort zone is at home and what defines it for you. It builds character as travelling alone means you are the only person responsible for your well-being, safety and your trip in general. So, no blaming the other person if (or when) everything goes to hell (aka you get lost in Tokyo for example). For me, it also meant having to take care of the money matters which successfully went wrong only once (self-high five). I also didn’t drive a car throughout my trip. I deliberately chose destinations that are safe, as I was not comfortable travelling to a destination where I’d have to worry about my safety. I also quickly decided that less is more and sent a lot of my stuff home, as I was not up for carrying everything around for weeks. For me eating alone was a big pain in the ass at first, but I had to overcome it. Those are only a few things you don’t have to deal with if you travel as a part of a couple.

So, I’d say travelling alone is in many ways a liberating and out of the box experience, which can show you new things about yourself. But it is also physically and mentally challenging, as all really great things usually are. Don’t expect to travel alone and arrive home the same as you were before.

But, while that is true, the ones of you who travelled alone before know, that it can also get lonely. Most of the days it is just you and your thoughts and you sometimes go days without speaking. You sometimes miss having people around you and someone to share the good and the bad stuff with. And while I think we (as in women) are very resilient and capable, it is nice having somebody to carry the heavy bags once in a while.

For me, the biggest perk of travelling as a couple is definitely eating together, as food is a big thing for me. What I also love is sharing the whole experience of a trip together – the great and the not so great moments that can happen.

In the early years of our relationship when we both worked a lot, I often thought to myself that the trips we took saved us from many arguments, disagreements, and general dissatisfaction because we got to get close when we were away from home. We don’t spend that much time together at home even now, so we try to make it up during our holidays.

Travelling together is a good test for a relationship (especially if it is a new one) and a good way to get to know the other person. How they react when they are stressed, in the middle of nowhere in a foreign country. You might be surprised at what that can reveal in a person. It is also a way to learn how to compromise (as sometimes the other person will get tired or sick while you are all up for exploring a new destination and full of energy), which literally comes in handy in all areas of life.

It’s a good way to learn how to communicate your needs and communicate with each other in general. It will teach you to be patient and many other things you can use at home.

The verdict? I guess what I am trying to say is, do both at least once a year and you won’t be sorry.