The U.S. Travel Association conducted a survey showing that couples who travel together are significantly more satisfied with their relationship than couples who do not.

Sometimes getting away from the daily grind is exactly what you need to bring new life to your relationship. Traveling together can help you learn new things about one another, as well as create new lasting memories.

However, if you have unresolved issues in your relationship, conflicts may also arise on your trip. On vacation, you are around each other more often and you may also have a packed agenda which can cause your stress levels to be higher than normal. One of the best ways to avoid conflict on your vacation is pre-planning.

Find out what causes your partner to feel stressed– Everybody is different. Some feel anxious or stressed in airports. Others may feel cautious about their safety when traveling to somewhere new. If your partner feels uneasy they may get triggered by their environment and get short with you. One of the ways to avoid a situation like this is to communicate in advance and to seek to understand what makes your partner anxious so if they do respond quickly to you while you are on your trip you will not take it personally. If you are unable to understand what your spouse’s triggers are, talk to a professional before you leave on your trip.

Communicate your expectations- Some people like to plan an activity every second of every day while they are away. Whereas, others like to have hours of downtime to relax. If not previously talked about, mismatched expectations can cause disappointment and frustration. Be sure to have a conversation with your spouse to let them know what you want your vacation to look like. Also, be sure to listen to what their expectations are so you can come to a happy medium in your decisions.

Share ownership in planning- Take turns making decisions. If one partner plans the whole day and does not ask for input from the other, it may make the other spouse not making the decisions feel invalidated. Since your relationship is a partnership, all should have an equal share in decision making. Taking part in shoulder to shoulder time with your spouse doing something they enjoy can help to strengthen your connection. Also, make sure if your partner wants some alone time to be sure to give them that time.  

Agree to a budget- Stress levels can be higher if you don’t have a budget when you travel. If you have agreed on a plan be sure you stick to it as much as possible. Understand where your partner is coming from on how much they’d like to spend and make decisions together on the final numbers. It will be more enjoyable if you both know you are on the same page financially.

After the trip is over take some time with one another to recap and share what you liked most and what you were able to learn about one another. Happy Traveling!