Couples travel tips: How to keep romance alive on the road

Travel isn’t always glamorous. Long flights, lumpy beds and unfamiliar customs can create stress for even the most Zen traveler.

So how can couples keep romance alive while on the road? To find out, we asked several leading travel bloggers who have cross-crossed the globe with their sweethearts.

As you can see from their answers, the key seems to be private rooms, the occasional splurge and a forgiving attitude.

>> This post is part of our “Romantic Travel” series. Click here to read additional posts!

Never go to bed angry

Mei (aka “Ciki”), Cumi & Ciki: Being silly and laughing. Finding humor in all circumstances helps! And never let the sun go down on an argument – always say your “sorries” and kiss and make up! That works for us!

Mei and Jo of "Cumi & Ciki" never let the sun set on an argument.

Get a private room

Erica Kuschel, Over Yonderlust: Always make time for you and your significant other. Splurge on a nice dinner every now and then and for goodness sake, make sure to get a private room more often than not. Remember that just because you are on the road, doesn’t mean you can’t be romantic. Shaun made a grocery store run one night and brought back a rose. Small gestures speak volumes.

Jason Castellani, 2 Backpackers: This is a tough one! Backpacking travel means you’re likely to be together 24-7, and that means you will take each other’s presence for granted, if you don’t kill each other first. A simple flower, or small thoughtful gift goes a long way to show how much you care about them. Randomly suggest a romantic dinner or a movie night. It seems so simple, but when you have no routine, meaning no typical weekends, you soon forget. And schedule sex if you have to, booking that single room with a private bathroom!

DSC_4489

Stephen and Juno exploring China on a recent trip.

Splurge every once in a while

Charu Suri, Butterfly Diary: By going to spas, getting couples massages (cliched as that may sound), watching fun movies, and exploring cool destinations. And nice dinners are key! They are really a great way to unwind from an activity filled day. You don’t need romantic candlelight to sit down and enjoy a good meal together.

Jake Semmel, Downtown Traveler: We are always trying to travel on the cheap, so that usually doesn’t put us in many romantic situations. More often than not we are exhausted, crashing in grubby hostels or guesthouses. But we make sure to splurge every so often when traveling, staying in a nice clean higher-end hotel and spending some extra money on a fancy restaurant.

Cameron Wears, Traveling Canucks: Keeping the romance alive on the road is not hard for us. In fact, it’s more difficult to keep the romance alive when we are at home. We are happiest when we’re traveling, so it’s easy for us to stay in the moment and enjoy each others company. Traveling is romantic – how can you not find romance swinging in a hammock together on a tropical beach in paradise?! That said, it’s not always sunsets, candlelit dinners and luxurious hotels so it’s important to spoil ourselves once in a while when on longer trips. If we’ve been staying in a budget hotel or hostel for a few nights, we’ll switch it up and stay in a nice hotel for a couple nights. Same thing applies with restaurants. We can’t indulge in fine dining every night, but we do try to treat ourselves as much as possible. It’s important to keep a tight budget so that we can travel longer, but not at the expense of us enjoying the little things while on the road.

Cam and Nicole of "Traveling Canucks" enjoy the occasional splurge while traveling.

Go offline

Juno Kim, Runaway Juno: Make separate time for just the two of you – in our case, no laptops. I think this is the textbook how to. Since you are spending every minute together, it’s easy to think that you don’t need to make special time to be ‘together’ but you have to. I think it’s a different mindset when you are on an adventure and having a romantic time with one another, even if you are having a bowl of noodle soup at a street food stand.

Don’t over-think it

Kelly Dunning, Global Goose: It’s actually quite easy to keep the romance alive on the road, because being on the road is very romantic. I think that romance thrives on excitement and new experiences and when you are traveling together you encounter those moments every day. When we are wandering through the streets of Rome, lounging on the beaches of Portugal, or hiking in the mountains of Canada, there is always something new around the corner. Getting to know each other in the context of each unique location lets us truly fall in love with each other over and over again.

Stephen Bugno, Bohemian Traveler: It’s not that hard. Should it be?

Kelly and Lee find romance in Aukland, New Zealand.

How do you keep romance alive while traveling?

Share your tip with other readers by leaving a comment below!

>> Click here to read the other posts in this “Romantic Travel” series!

About Leslie Koch

I'm a New Yorker with a passion for travel and art. I founded DowntownTraveler.com after returning from a year-long backpacking trip around the world. Find me on Twitter at @leslietravel.