People don’t lie when they say it takes a strong couple to travel together.
You really do run into some crazy things along the way. I encourage all couples to do a trip like ours, it is a great relationship building exercise! So what’d we run into along the way…
Sickness. EARLY MORNINGS. Hangry, sleepy and dehydrated moments. Getting lost. Choosing a place to eat…internationally, as if it wasn’t hard enough at home. Spanglish. Forgetting to pack things. Running out of money and almost being stranded in a foreign country (true story). Almost missing a flight, thank you American Customs. Riding out a storm delay when you’re so close to being home.
Woah. I’m surprised one of us didn’t get left in Mexico now.
I’ll spare you from listening to me tell all of those stories, but instead I’ll let you know what we learned.
I can honestly tell you, even through all of that craziness we cannot wait to do it all over again and we are happier than ever now!
When you are experiencing something so new and beautiful around you, it is so hard to sweat the small stuff. And the contrasts to happiness are equally as important for growth.
Here’s what we learned…
Laugh your way through it
If you can’t fix it, sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself. It’s extremely frustrating trying to speak a broken language to someone and them trying back to you and getting nowhere. Sometimes you just have to laugh it out, say “gracias!” Grab your partners hand and move on to the next person for help.
Patience!
You have to exercise patience, especially somewhere new. If they want to spend more time in one spot, just let it happen. Embrace that moment you’re in with someone so special, chances are next time you want to spend some extra time somewhere they will honor it back for you.
Share the fun
We’ve mentioned this before and it was really put to the test on this trip. When we go somewhere for an extended period of time we split up picking what we want to do on each day.
This time we each picked two activities and then picked two “chill” days together. It really saves time knowing okay, today is his day and I am going to love what he’s chosen for us to do. And guess what, we always did love the others excursion!
Enjoy. Embrace. Appreciate.
Seriously put yourself in this moment and thoroughly enjoy each other, even if you’re stuck in an airport terminal. How often in this go, go, go lifestyle do you have time to sit and just be with each other?
No matter how long you have been together, you have something to talk about and please. Put away your phone. We used ours at night, to say hello to the people back home so they knew we were alive and the occasional post, to keep this lovely blog alive. But other than that, when you are enjoying the world together, put the iPhone away. Appreciate that you have someone so wonderful to share this experience with.
Problem solve together
Okay, I am going to share one story, it’s the best one though! So it’s the last day in Mexico and we’re having an absolute blast! We ration out our money for the day and are completely carefree. Until we arrive back on our colectivo around 5 and realize… We have to get to the airport tomorrow. We used ALL of our money and no one that will take us to the airport takes credit cards. Panic sets in as we imagine ourselves standing on the corner begging for pesos… okay it wasn’t that bad. But we were really nervous.
This was potential to rip each other’s heads off and play the blame game for hours while getting nowhere. But instead we worked together (frantically) and well, we made it back to America. Don’t sweat these kinds of things, it will work out in the end. And I mean, what’s really that bad about being stranded in a beautiful tropical city…
There are more lessons to be learned, and more messes to work through. We are sure of it, and we cannot wait for the journey ahead!
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