Travelling with your significant other can seem so exciting. You get to go on an adventure with the love of your life — experience new things, explore the world, and learn about different cultures together. But, travelling together isn’t always a smooth ride. In fact, it can expose some underlying problems in a relationship. Here are some stories of the struggles real couples face when travelling.
Also read: This is How a Relationship Falls Apart When Lovers Travel Together…
1. A plan (or lack thereof) gone wrong
“When we were planning our trip to Zambales, he didn’t make reservations because he thought there would be a lot of vacant hostels kasi ‘sikat na tourist spot naman.’ I would usually book for us, but this time I let him take charge kasi sabi niya siya na bahala. We were supposed to transfer to a different hostel lang on our second night. Tapos wala! Wala kaming ma-stay-an. Everything was fully booked. One hour kaming naglalakad, asking every hostel if may vacancy. We ended up in an old shack being rented out by this local lola.
Also, he would usually carry little to no cash, and would depend on cards. Walang card facilities doon and we already depleted my cash from the night before and that morning. Yung pamasahe namin and dinner that day yung wala nang funds. He had to leave me to go to the next bayan to withdraw. Gamble din yun kasi hindi kami sure if okay yung ATM doon. A great example of plans gone wrong. But, silver lining! We grew closer after that incident. We learned a lot definitely. And sometimes we would joke and say we miss that old hut.” – Alya
2. Tulog is life
“Having different objectives on the trip can be difficult. Take for example when I want to see and experience something new, while my wife wants to rest instead. Now, we discuss the itinerary before the trip. However, even with that, sometimes it doesn’t help when suddenly my wife gets tired. So, I just decided to change my primary objective and that is to enjoy my wife.” – Cris
3. ‘McDo na naman?!’
“Kapag nandoon sa isang place na bago ko lang napuntahan, bet ko syempre kumain ng delicacies nila. Eh minsan, siya naman eh mas bet na fast food pa rin. Kaloka! Nagpunta ng ibang lugar para mag-Mcdo!” – Renz
4. Deciding what to order
“Gusto namin magkaiba kami palagi ng order na food para matikman namin yung order ng isa’t isa. Mag-aaway kami minsan kasi masakit mag-adjust kapag pareho yung gusto niyong pagkain.” – Czar
5. Letting your girl go hungry
“On our first international trip to Singapore, we planned to go to Sentosa Island on the first day. Unfortunately, it rained hard in the morning so we weren’t able to leave the hostel early. We reached Sentosa past noon, and I was already very HANGRY! So much that I threatened to fly back home right then and there. I walked out and my boyfriend kept chasing me, probably thinking that I meant what I said. I was just instinctively looking for food! Alas, I found a resto but the food was damn expensive. Heck, I needed to eat! After that, I was a happy kid again!” – Charms
6. Getting lost because of each other
“We were in Sentosa with our friends, and then we left at 6.15pm because we had a scheduled dinner with my bandmates at 7pm. According sa maps, it takes 45 minutes to go to the place. Hahanapin pa namin yung lugar, so tumakbo na kami papunta sa train. Pagsakay namin sa train — nakaupo na kami and nakarelax — biglang may binanggit yung voiceover na yung next station is wala sa direction na pupuntahan namin.
‘Hon, mali yung sakay natin. Nagkamali tayo,’ sabi ko, emphasizing on the TAYO. Parehas kami nag-agree kung saan kami sasakay, so dapat hindi lang ako yung mali. Pero nafefeel ko na pinapaamin niya ako na mali ako, so parang nagkatension.
Noong pababa na kami sa train papuntang kabilang station, nakita kong may sign na to go to that station kailangan mo pa mag escalator pataas. So sabi ko, ‘Hon, tataas tayo sa escalator papunta sa tamang train.’ Dahil kasi siguro pagod na kami parehas, medyo irritable na yung state niya. Sabi niya, ‘Hindi. Diretso lang tayo. Tatawid lang.’ Sabi ko, ‘Hindi. Aakyat tayo. Nakasabi doon sa sign.’
Eh ayaw makinig ni bae. Sabi niya sakin, ‘LISTEN TO ME.’ Di ko nalang sinagot para walang away, so sabi ko sige. Pagpunta namin sa tapat, wala! So ayun, sabi ko, ‘O NASAAN?’ Naglower na yung pride niya, tapos sabi ko in a pabiro na way, ‘You listen to me.’ Thankful naman ako na di lumala ang tension at nagtawanan nalang kami papunta sa train. At nakarating naman kami on time.” – Patrick
7. ‘Why are you not panicking?!’
“Medyo mabagal kasi siya kumilos. Ako, laging spartan mode, laging nagmamadali mode. Dala siguro ng pagiging commuter ko kaya nasanay na sa pagmamadali all the time. Eh madalas, joiners kami sa tour, so may time ng sunduan. Minsan, yung tipong ilang minuto na lang until sa given time of departure tapos wala pa kami doon sa meet up point, tapos siya chillax na chillax lang sa paglakad habang ako eh panic mode na.” – Renz
8. Packing blues
“Pag tutulungan niya akong mag-impake, may makakalimutan siyang ipack. Mamaya wala pala kaming dalang towel, ganon. Tapos hindi niya maintindihan bakit marami masyado akong dalang damit. Siya kasi basta may board shorts na dala, solved na.” – Shan
9. Losing the Instagram boyfriend award
“Nakakainis yung hindi maayos na pagpicture! Syempre pag nagtatravel ka, minsan ka lang sa place na yun. So, gusto mo may memory ka na nakapunta ka sa place na yun. Kaso may times na si boyfriend eh basta makakuha lang ng pic, kahit blurred or di maganda anggulo, ok na raw. Pag pinaulit mo, magagalit pa!” – Renz
10. ‘Wag yan! Pangit ako diyan!’
“Konti lang kaming mag-picture, kaya nag-aagawan kami sa kung sinong mag-uupload sa Instagram. Pati kung aling pictures yung iuupload, pinagaawayan namin. Yung ibang pictures kasi, di niya gusto itsura niya. Sa iba naman, ako yung may ayaw ng itsura ko.” – Czar
11. He who must not be named
“Parang nag-away lang kami noong nag-Tagaytay kami. Yung mga pinuntahan namin, pinuntahan ko na rin before with my ex-boyfriend. So, nabanggit ko sa kanya. Pero kinausap ko siya after, tapos hindi na namin pinag-usapan ulit.” – Rochelle
12. It was only just a dream
“In Vietnam, he got mad at me in his sleep! I was fixing my stuff and he was asleep, and I guess I was noisy so he woke up. Tumayo siya and nagdabog while getting something from his bag. But I promise I tried to keep it down while packing our things! So he got mad but it turns out he was sleep-talking. Kaya pala at one point he wasn’t making sense. He was saying something about his earphones. He didn’t remember anything the next day. Nainis ako pag gising niya aba malambing! Yon pala walang matandaan kasi he was sleep-talking!” – Alya
13. Mainit panahon, mainit ulo
“Noong pumunta kami sa Taipei Zoo, parang 15 to 30 minutes pa lang kami doon, ayaw na raw niya. So umalis na lang kami. Kasi, kapag mainit doon sa pupuntahan namin, iinit na rin ulo niya. So ngayon, hinihipan ko siya o pinapaypayan para di siya mainitan. Minsan, ginagawa na rin niya akong shade.” – Timothy
14. Struggle is real
“Madalas kasi kami mag road trip ni Paul, my fiance. And he’s always been the one in charge of navigation. As in ako mag paplan lahat. And all he has to do is know where the place is and take us there. Since I’m the one who does most of it, super naiinis ako sa kanya when the one thing he’s supposed to do, eh fail pa! Like hindi siya nag charge ng phone so hindi siya makawaze. Or he doesn’t even bother checking the location or direction beforehand so on the road kami nag sascramble for directions or ways to get there.” – Diana
15. ‘Bakit parang kasalanan ko?’
“Inaaway ko siya kapag mabagal siya kumilos o marami siyang dala. Inaaway ko rin siya kapag matagal yung Grab/Uber/taxi tapos mainit. Pati kapag mahabang lakaran, o kapag gutom ako… Lahat na pala! Minsan din, siya nagtatantrums. Noong nasa Baguio kami, wala masyadong lugar para mag vape kaya mainit ulo niya.” – Ayelle
16. ‘Stop the bus!’
“Tuwing nasa biyahe kami tapos kailangan niyang mag-CR at walang malapit na stopover, mababago mood niya tapos mang-aaway.” – Jerome
Also read: Why Travel Strengthens a Couple’s Relationship
Even when travelling can bring out the worst in people, you can expect a stronger relationship after a trip with your significant other. As long as you stick together, for better or for worse, travelling will give you an exciting story that’s definitely one for the books.
The quotes here have been edited for grammar, clarity and flow.
