Your First Couple Holidays – The Do’s, The Dont’s And What To Expect

Hola! Selamat Datang, Willkommen! Sorry for the radio silence.

For anyone following me on social media, you will know I have reluctantly returned from an almost 3 week vacation with my other half. It was his first visit to southeast Asia and the first time I’ve ever brought a guy back to meet my family in Singapore. So quite a big deal for both of us.

We have been on short weekends away but this is something else. When you’re back home everyone has their own friends they meet up with and work they go to, so travelling together for a long period is a completely different dynamic because you are with each other 24/7.

Safe to say, we survived it and came home even stronger with some amazing memories but I thought sharing a few expectations and tips from my own experiences could help anyone preparing for their first couple’s trip.

Expect Arguments: And they will be about the silliest things but bickering is normal with anyone you spend a lot of time with. The important thing is to realise that it is inevitable and try and be conscious of the other person’s feeling.

Expect lots of laughs: While I started this article of with arguments, majority of your holiday should be filled with a lot of adventures and laughs, maybe a couple mosquito bites. But I always knew that my “the one” had to be someone I could travel to and liked doing the same things I did abroad ( a lot of adventures!).

And in many instances, a long holiday with your significant other can make or break the relationship the same way moving in with someone does.

In my opinion, these are signs that your partner is not a great travel partner and that always raises warning signals for me:

• If you want to do completely separate things on holiday and can’t agree on activities.
• If you cannot compromise on the little things
• If there is no communication to get to the bottom of any arguments and you would rather not talk about it
• If your other half enjoys spending more time with other people on holiday than spending one on one time with you
• If they get jealous when other men/women are around

So how can you make sure your trip has the strongest chance of being great? Plan the holiday together so everyone has a say on what they want to do and a rough itinerary is agreed on, at the same time try and be relaxed so that not every minute of the day is planned – that is an argument waiting to happen.

Take turns with responsibilities, don’t be the person that always is in charge of the map or blamed for getting lost.

Finally, take the pressure off yourselves. You guys will be tired at the end of a long day, the romance is in spending time together and having a laugh but also do not think that some time by yourself ( a stroll on the beach is perfect!) means you’re not meant to be together.