Nitty Gritty Secrets of a Happy Backpacking Trip for Couples

I’ve been on a few trips as a single and a few as part of a couple. Although I’m single right now, I remember a few things about what affected my travel enjoyment when traveling as a pair. Here are the nitty gritty details.

1. Dorms and privacy.

You don’t really want to stay in a dorm as a couple. Nor, do you really want other couples in the same dorm as you, if you catch my drift.

Spring for the private room. Hostel dorms are ok when they’re single sex but co-ed gets messy.

2. Alcohol.

Alcohol can cause a lot of fights – either due to hangovers and being too grumpy or tired to roam around doing tourist activities, or due to budget. In cheap countries, alcohol often isn’t that cheap and traveling with someone who likes a couple of beers with dinner and inflate your budget. If he’s drinking beer, it’s only fair that you get some treats to the same value, but work this out before hand.

Have a “beer budget” set aside that separate from your daily travel budget.

3. Eye mask.

Eye masks are a little savior when one of you can’t sleep. Whether you’re jet lagged, too hot, or too excited, you might find you have more erratic sleeping schedules on holiday. Eye masks mean one person can stay up with the light on without it being a huge drama.

4. Showering.

Some people go “hippie” when on backpacking trips and personal hygiene goes out the window.

Also, laundry is more of a pain to do on holiday, so sometimes your clothes won’t be the freshest.

Smelling yourself is bad enough, but smelling someone else’s BO is not romantic. Invest in really good deodorant with no scent or something super mild. Look into clinical-strength deodorants if you’re very prone to sweating.

5. Friends

Once a went on a trip with a guy who made friends everywhere we went. This was great, except that he ended up having really late nights up drinking and chatting, and then wasn’t in the best mood when I wanted to go out for breakfast the next day. Sure, make new friends but also don’t forget about having quality time and romance with each other, and to be considerate.

If you want to make friends more easily rather than it just be the two of you, then there are some good tips here.

6. Drugs

This gets a little sensitive but if your guy is a pot smoker at home then you need to know if they plan to do it on holiday. Starring in ‘Banged Up Abroad’ really does not appeal to me. Sure, lots of people do drugs on holiday and get away with it, but I’m a Cautious Cathy. Even if he says he won’t do drugs abroad, how realistic is this? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t depending on whether he would be more fearful of doing it abroad, and how addicted he is.

Trips as a couple can be an awesome romantic and bonding experience, but it’s good to think about a few of the above issues in advance.