Travel Adventure & Relationship

Does traveling define you? or Do your relationships define you? Is it possible to begin your journey as a solo traveler and end up as a pair of travelers? Did you choose to stop or start your travels because of a relationship? How does traveling as a family affect the family?

I reached out to fellow bloggers and posed these questions. Here are their views on how travel has affected their relationships.

Betsi (Betsi’s World): Traveling and Sailing – Togetherness and Team Work!

“Traveling and sailing has definitely brought Jim and I closer together. We have been forced to work together as a team; so as a team we will either succeed or fail.” Because sailing is our slow mode of travel, we don’t have the luxury to escape to another place when our feelings are hurt. We must work out our issues within the confines of our 47’ sailing catamaran. We are utterly dependent upon each other out on the ocean. This has created an inter-twining of our own wants, desires and needs, and we are together for the long haul.

Mary & Victor: Bonded Together for Life

Travel has bonded us together for life. Surely we would have settled down and created a nice space for ourselves and secured a comfortable life together, but we didn’t and still don’t want that. Travel is our shared passion that is ever-present in our hearts. Our shared experiences through traveling have taught us about each other and act as unforgettable memories that we turn to when life gets hard. Two wandering souls need travel in the foundation of their relationship or they will always feel restless, and we have found our peace together in traveling. Now that we’ve seen and experienced all that we have together traveling, there’s no going back–we’re in it for life!
Mary and Victor met in Buenos Aires and instantly fell in love. When they’re not traveling they like to write for their blog, Inner Compass Travel (http://www.innercompasstravel.com). They are currently in the process of saving up money and selling all their stuff in order to elope to Switzerland next summer and begin traveling full time.
Sheri: Family Travel

Traveling with our kids has proven to be more fun than I could have ever dreamt. The benefits from spending extended periods of time together, without the distractions of daily life at home, have deepened our relationships tenfold. Not only have they learned that their parents are actually fun, but the gift of uninterrupted time together has shown us new sides to their personalities as well. It was during our first international trip with our 2 year old daughter that we discovered her love of making up songs — something she did non-stop during our travels still does almost daily at 7 years old. And while our son basically lived off of mac-n-cheese for the first 5 years of his life, we learned that his sense of adventure and willingness to try new foods is heightened when we travel. As they say, “a family that plays together, stays together!”

Sheri Graciano and her family caught the travel bug only 5 years ago after enjoying a four week sabbatical in Italy. During their family travels, Sheri kept her family and friends abreast of their escapades via a personal blog and — after encouragement from those family and friends — is in the process of developing her own travel blog,Pack the Passports (http://packthepassports.com). You can also find her on Instagram @packthepassports.
Eride & Odoardo: “Together” is the word

Travel and Relation, two hard-matching words for people like us sometimes used to a work-related long-distance affair. Once he is in Italy and she lives in Spain, next time he moves to Israel and few months later we stay in our lovely room in London, such an unstable — but interesting — situation! But it happened exactly during those periods that travel helped our relation: our short visits to each other, our holidays together in a third location made us remember how good it is to live together and how much effort we should put in resisting until our next adventure together.
Our plans for the future? Travel and Relation, increasing the first and fostering the second, because none of them can stand without the other. And don’t forget the magic word to achieve that: “together”!

We are Eride and Odoardo, two Italian “professional expats” or slow travelers. Currently in Europe, our near future is in Asia where we plan to satisfy our huge weakness for street food. Their blog is Quei Due Malta.

Toni Frazer: Solo Travel

I’ve seen many amazing things as a solo traveler over the past 7 years; which have been life changing. Solo travel has allowed me to make friends all over the world, and experience things that I have always dreamed of.

But, as much as these experiences have taught me about independence and courage in far away lands; you do realize how much your home life means to you. I travel often, and recently lived in London. When you’re alone for prolonged amounts of time, you really do see which people make the effort to maintain contact.

I always keep involved in people’s lives; but distance truly shows you that sometimes friendships aren’t lifelong, or as important as you think. But that’s ok; because we all evolve and grow. And ultimately; those who mean enough will always remain.

Acknowledging this is the true silver lining in understanding your true friendships…no matter the distance.

Toni is a solo traveling Aussie girl, who loves exploring the US & Canada more than anything. I also make it a point to visit filming locations wherever I am in the world. I recently lived in London; and I am moving to Vancouver in 2016 to continue the adventures! Come visit http://www.enchantedserendipity.com to see where in the world I am!

Tip & Tarah: Keeping it healthy!

“A healthy relationship is made up of these components: trust, compromise, and fun! Anyone who has traveled with their significant other can attest to that. When you are in a foreign place, you have to be able to compromise on the things that you want to do, because there are so many things to do and let’s face it, some things are more interesting to you than it would be to your partner. Then, there are the times when you don’t know where you are at, and the other person has a good idea, you must trust that they will lead you to where you need to be. And you must always have fun with whatever you are doing together. All of our travels together have been amazing, mostly because of our trust, compromise, and having fun together. Now, this is the base of our healthy marriage, whether at home or on the road.”

Tip & Tarah are newlyweds who share a passion for travel and fitness. We both work in the fitness industry as Personal Trainers. When we are not helping our clients reach their goals, we are out exploring everything that our world has to offer. We have a puppy that keeps us coming back “home”. Follow us at http://fittwotravel.com

Wendy Awai-Dakroub: How RV’ing Brought Our Family Closer

When we first began our RV family adventure in June 2014, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. My husband had never even seen an RV in his life before (except in pictures prior to us purchasing one) and had never even driven a car in Europe. With nowhere to go in the RV but outside, we eventually sought refuge in nature. Taking the kids on long walks in forests, biking near beautiful castles, and accidentally strolling through small villages was where we eventually found our peace and balance. Today’s fast-paced life often leaves busy parents searching for opportunities to spend quality time together as a family. RV’ing allows parents to re-establish relationships with not only their children, but themselves. It removes life’s daily routines and distractions, forcing everyone to enjoy “doing nothing, together.” Something, we rarely often do!

Pint Size Gourmets is a kid-friendly food and travel blog inspired by two kid-foodie children, LouLou and her brother Jaf. They began their first culinary world-schooling adventure on July 1, 2014. The kids learn about world cuisines by living, breathing & eating food, visiting restaurants, and collecting local recipes. Stop by http://www.pintsizegourmets.com and see what’s new.

Asia: Traveling and in love

Read about Asia and traveling in love at www.Naviable World. She is a 24 year old South Florida native, and proud FAU alumni. I recently resigned from my job in healthcare administration to do the one thing I’ve always dreamed of: Going to Australia. On November 30th, I’ll get on a flight to Sydney with the love of my life for a month-long trip. I’ve created “Navigable World” as a way of sharing my adventures. Simply put, there’s nothing I enjoy more than what I like to call, “traveler’s rush”.

Jack: It Stinks to not be Able to Share Travel with the One You Love

For three years I was planning my big working holiday, moving from Sydney, Australia to London, United Kingdom. It was going to be amazing! My girlfriend and I would live together and experience the world together. I was so excited. But it all took an unexpected turn when she couldn’t financially make it over. Friends and family started pressuring me to break up. “It’s not going to work long distance” they kept telling me. Constantly at the back of my mind. Maybe it was for the best that I let her go, I had no idea how long I would be travelling for. So I decided to break up with her.

Now after 3 months of travelling and living in London we have started talking again. The sparks took quickly and the fire burns warm bring with it a security I missed when I started travelling. I hope we can meet up later down the track and still see the world together. It’s stopping me from seeking new relationships but I don’t regret it.

Bio:

After five years of working behind a desk, I started to get that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach, you know, the kind you get when you know you’re not supposed to be where you are and I wondered to myself, “Is this what I’m going to do for the rest of my life?” So I quit my job and decided to travel to somewhere new and learn to be a world traveller. This is my story. To catch up with Jack, follow him at the global aussie.