Why You Should Travel Together Before Marriage

I 100% believe that travel before marriage is one of the best ways of testing out a relationship before the BIG commitment.

Harry just turned 29 (Happy Birthday Harry) and I’m 31. Instead of being married with kids in Australia a long time ago like I thought I would be, I met Harry almost 3 years ago and now we’re living and working in London and travelling the world on our days off.

So why do I believe you should travel together before marriage? And what’s considered ‘travel’? Are we talking a weekend trip away or a week-long adventure?

Well, I’d recommend:

• somewhere off the beaten track with no plugs for your hair straightener or phone
• somewhere that requires a sense of direction and working together to find your way
• minimum 3 nights / 4 days to get comfortable with one another and ‘show your true colours’
• more than one adventure to experience different cultures that challenge your values and views
• enough spare time on the holiday to REALLY talk to one another
• planning a trip that factors in BOTH your interests – what do you really have in common? And for those interests you don’t share, are you willing to sacrifice some of your holiday for theirs?
• travel together and travel with others – completely different vibe and challenges!

The challenges you face will either be deal breakers or deal makers. For example Harry and I often get hangry (hungry / angry) if we don’t eat within a certain period of time. We basically turn into either fire breathing dragons or tiny meek mice, hoping the other will lead them to food in time for an energy boost. Definitely not a deal breaker. In fact we now plan ahead to avoid this happening at all – deal maker!

Travelling together is like living together. You can’t always look like a model and you can’t be expected to have a super positive mood at all times despite what life throws your way. You’re forced to be the REAL you whether you like it or not. Your partner will either love you for it, or decide it’s not for them! Sad but a great test before spending one billion dollars on a wedding and dragging your family from all corners of the world to watch you marry the wrong person.

So now it might seem obvious, but here are the reasons why you should travel together before marriage:

• get to know the REAL person after spending 24 hours a day with them
• see what they’re like with other people
• find out if you have any deal breakers!
• get an idea of whether or not your values align
• discover if you are still attracted to them without the make-up and hair styling
• test out whether they’re willing to make sacrifices for you whilst keeping their own identity

And if it all works out, you’ll have made some pretty amazing memories together!