I travel a lot, at least for someone with a professional, 9-5 type job. It’s my passion and each new trip gets those butterflies buzzing around just like they did the first time I had my passport stamped. On Tuesday I leave for Australia, but I’m a little nervous. I think it’s more than just the normal jitters, it’s been a while since my partner and I have traveled as a couple and I’m worried.
The last time we traveled together on a vacation was in February when we spent a week in Hawaii, but even that was arranged in advance for us. Excluding Lanai, the last time we traveled together on a trip we organized ourselves was more than a year ago, which has me a little nervous. Even though Scott is an experienced traveler, I’m the one who organizes everything, from flights to meals it’s all a result of my planning. That means, in my mind at least, the entire vacation experience and what we take away from it is up to me, for better or for worse.
We’re going to be in Australia for almost two-weeks and there are a lot of moving pieces, from the freakishly long flight to tours booked and reservations made and I’m worried something won’t go according to schedule. When it’s just me traveling, I don’t mind the small hiccups in a trip, they usually make for a good story if nothing else. But when I travel as part of a couple, I feel the responsibility weighing on me to make the trip as enjoyable for both of us as possible. Scott has a high pressure job and doesn’t take a lot of time off from work, not nearly as much as he could (and should). This is his big trip for the year and I just want to make sure that it counts.
I know that there will be problems, but that they won’t really be all that bad. Well, unless one of the million poisonous things found in the Outback gets to us. And I know that my fear of not having the perfect trip is a ridiculous one, but there it is, hovering in the background like a mopey specter.
If you travel as a couple, is there one person who usually handles most of the details? How do you (they) deal with these worries?
