3 Things You’ll Learn When You Travel with Intention

Travel is a beautiful thing. Some of us are domestic travelers, opting for staycations at home to explore our cities. Some of us enjoy further-reaching continental travel, venturing a little further out to explore the interesting things that the country has to offer us. The most adventurous of us will cross the oceans and seas, venturing to places where language is spoken in the beauty around us because we may or may not be able to speak the language in our destination. Fun and exoticism aside, traveling together is a wonderful opportunity to get to know your partner a little more intimately.

I know from personal experience that traveling with my hubby (and when he was my boyfriend) definitely strengthened our relationship. Early in our friendship, I remember that he asked me if I liked to travel. Of course I did! I grew up as a military brat and had to move about every 3 years. I’d grown up into a woman who would get antsy if she didn’t get to go somewhere every few months. Finding someone who was interested in traveling as much as I was certainly peaked my interest and made me want to get to know him a little more. As much as we’d talked over the length of our friendship, we still had only scratched the surface of who we truly were.

Travel as an Intentional Dating Tool

When people are put into certain situations, they can’t help but to let their true colors shine through. Sometimes, we see that after the vows. Those of us who intentionally use every opportunity we are given to investigate into our relationship are able to find out much more before the point of no return.

When my hubby asked me if I liked to travel, I know that he didn’t fully believe me. I’m certain that’s part of the reason why we ended up in the Bahamas for 2 weeks so early into our relationship. We’d only been dating for 5 months but he knew that this was important to him. If I wasn’t being honest, he wasn’t going to waste his time. Looking back on it, I can absolutely applaud his practicality in the matter.

Couples Who Travel Together

Couples who can successfully travel together have very strong foundations for their relationship. I absolutely agree with this article that talks about 12 reasons why this is so.

As a Christian woman, the dating scene can already be a little sketchy. Under the guise of Jesus, our intended partners can hide their true colors when the occasion calls for it. Being stuck in close proximity with someone can shatter that façade pretty quickly. Traveling together can also be the grandest of your adventures as a couple, if you’re intentional about it. Here are 3 things you’ll learn when you take a trip with your significant other.

 

3 Important Things You’ll Learn When You Travel with Intention

1. You’ll learn how to rely on each other. We’ve traveled internationally to places where English isn’t even close to the primary language spoken. We learned how to look out for each other and be protective of each other at all times. Even in countries where English was spoken, we still had to navigate and respect the customs and cultures around us. {Matthew 7:12}
2. You’ll learn how you {and your partner} handle high-stress situations. When traveling, someone is always guaranteed to lose something, break something, run out of money, or encounter someone who isn’t quite pleasant. Being taken out of one’s element forces them to adjust how they react in the moment. Marriage is almost guaranteed to bring about high-stress situations; sick children/family members, loss of income and material possessions will test your marriage. Find out early on if your partner can handle and adjust in these situations.
3. You’ll learn how your partner interacts with others. On our first vacation together, we went to an island where the men and women around us were physically attractive. But our eyes never looked at a person of the opposite sex in a lustful way. We were truly there with each other and for each other. The insecurities and jealousy that we both may have felt were quelled. Why is this a big deal? If your partner has a wandering eye in your relationship, especially early on when love is still rainbows and butterflies, you {un}intentionally convey that this behavior is acceptable. The last thing that either of us wanted to find out after years into the relationship was that the other person had a tendency toward unfaithfulness.

Here’s what we learned on our first vacation together as a couple!

Do you travel with your significant other? If not, what’s holding you back? Let me know in the comments below!