11 of the most popular questions we’ve been asked as a travel couple. We have traveled to over 40 countries and set up home in three more. So, I guess you could say we’re a pretty well-traveled couple.
We’ve been traveling as a couple for the best part of 10 years. Together, we have lived in Sydney, Whistler, Bay of Islands, and Queenstown. We met at a bus stop in Sydney. He’s traveled quite a bit more than me (which I hate to admit). Paul’s lived in Cyprus, and Tenerife, and traveled across Southeast Asia before we met.
1. When did you start traveling as a couple, and how did it go at first?
Every journey has to start somewhere, and ours started in April 2014 in Sydney. Paul’s Australian work visa was coming to an end, and we decided to backpack across the world instead of extending our time in Australia. It took a bit of getting used to at first, as we both have very different travel styles. I’m very laid-back, whereas Paul is much more regimented, but we quickly got into our travel groove.
2. How do you choose the destinations you travel to?
It depends on where we are living at the time and where our final destination will be. For example, at the start of our journey in May 2014, we were living in Sydney and had to be in Malta by August for Paul’s brother’s wedding. So, we planned a trip through Southeast Asia because it was on the way and wasn’t expensive to get to or travel through.
On a long journey we always stopover and for a couple of days at that. On our way back to New Zealand this past summer we stopped in Istanbul and Hong Kong for 5 days a piece. And on the way home from New Zealand we stopped in Sri Lanka for over two weeks.
3. When did you start your travel blog? And where did the name come from?
It’d been in the back of my mind for a very long time, but I guess I was afraid to start out of fear of failure. I studied journalism at the University of Limerick and worked an internship for a local newspaper in Ireland.
So, writing has always been a huge passion of mine. Thankfully I plucked up the courage to start Snap Happy Travel and now we have our own little slice of the internet. Where we can share our travel tips and photographs with friends, family and even a couple of strangers. As for the name – I wanted something short, sweet and original. So, after a few hours came up with Snap Happy Travel.
4. What are the best places you’ve visited so far and why?
Cinque Terre, Italy, we love it so much that we got married there in August 2019. Cinque Terre literally means “five villages,” and Italians often refer to it as the Italian Riviera. If you want to eat the freshest seafood in the world, take in postcard-perfect views, and experience the warmth and friendliness of small-town Italy, then I massively recommend Cinque Terre.
Be warned, however, that thanks to instagram the towns of the Cinque Terre tend to be over-run during the Summer months. Thankfully, it is only between the hours of 11 am and 3 pm. Not many tourists stay the night here, which makes it all the more magical in the evening.
Lake Bacalar, Mexico. Between Belize and Tulum, it’s known as the lake of seven colours to locals. It’s also a tiny town, Bacalar (as it’s also known) has little over 10 restaurants. And it’s definitely one of our favorite places we’ve visited in Asia.
5. What is your all-time favorite country?
When someone asks me where my favorite place in the world is my immediate thought is Cuba. Politically and historically there is so much wrong with Cuba. It’s a complicated place. But boy, is there so much right with it. You’ve probably heard it from others who’ve visited but it’s literally like stepping back in time to the 1950’s. It is, without a doubt, the first place my mind wanders to when I’m daydreaming.
6. What are the most budget-friendly places in the world?
In El Salvador, Cambodia, and Guatemala, you can easily live off $20 per day (including accommodation).
7. Do you always travel on a budget? What are your pieces of advice to travel on a budget?
Not always, when we’re on a long trip budgeting is key. However, since we started ‘expatting’ or working and living in countries for a year or more, we have a bit more spare change. While we lived in Canada, we enjoyed a few luxurious weekends away to San Francisco, Banff, Lake Louise Jasper and Seattle. In New Zealand, we try to get a luxurious couple of nights away every couple of months.
8. What is your best and worst travel memory so far?
- Seeing elephants in the wild (including a month-old baby) in Udawalawe, Sri Lanka.
- Bungee jump in Cairns, Australia, and Whistler, Canada. Amazing but terrifying at the same time.
- Helicopter over the glaciers of Queenstown and the iconic Milford Sounds. The best part is that this was a freebie from my job.
- A tour of the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Caves in San Ignacio Belize. Our time in Belize was amazing! A 7km cave system that was used as a Mayan burial site, its filled with swimming pool deep water and is incredibly dark so you have to wear a headlamp at all times. There are different chambers inside with skulls and bones and old Mayan artifacts scattered everywhere.
- And lastly, hiking for hours up an active volcano in Santa Ana, El Salvador.
9. And the worst travel experiences
Packed, sweaty, and sticky bus journeys that took hours more than expected. Having to use squat toilets. And food poisoning. It’s inevitable. You can read all about our worst travel experiences here!
10. What advice would you give to couples who want to travel together?
You are literally spending every hour of every day with this person, so make sure you actually get on well, like really well. We killed each other at times, but the argument was usually over after a few minutes, and we never went to sleep angry.
You have to learn to compromise – if one of you wants to have Italian for dinner and the other Mexican (this was the cause of most of our arguments FYI), go for one tonight and the other tomorrow.
If one of you (me) wants to lie on the beach all day and the other wants to explore the city nearby, maybe you can go your separate ways for a few hours. These are all just things that worked for us, but we’re no experts, although we did travel together for a year non-stop without splitting up. Take the time to find your ‘couple travel’ groove together!
11. What do you do as a living, and where are you headed next?
I work for a luxury hotel here in Queenstown, it’s awesome as I get massive discounts on there properties all over the world. While we are both very impressed living here, we are also busy planning our wedding in Italy in August and a potential move to Hawaii.
Are you a travel couple? We’d love to hear about your story in the comment section!
Like this post? PIN IT for later!
Last Updated on May 31, 2024 by snaphappytravel
10 thoughts on “The Questions Every Travel Couple Gets Asked”
Loved reading about your story and I wish you both a very happy wedding in Italy.
Very interesting read! Travelling with a partner can be so much fun if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Cinque Terre seems like an amazing place to get married, wishing you guys all the best!
Yes! My husband and I are also a travelling couple! We both come from Italy but met abroad – while we were both expats in Poland. After a couple of years in Poland we moved to Sweden where we’ve been for over 4 years now – it’s safe to say we’ve settled here 😛 We’ve never lived together in Italy and back in our home countries we would most likely never have met as we’re from two different cities. We got married last year in Stockholm – we chose Stockholm for various reasons and if you’re curious to read more I have a post about it – and named the tables at our wedding reception after places we’ve been. My family was sitting at a table named Toronto, where I moved before meeting him. His family was at two tables named Bariloche and Krakow, where he has lived before meeting me. All our friends were at tables named after places we’ve visited together. We thought it was a cool idea.
You have explained your journey as a traveling couple and traveling together in such a beautiful way. I really like the question-answer format. Wish you many more decades of traveling together and having fun.
This was such an interesting read. I am about to move back abroad with my partner and travel some more together. There’s so much out there to see. But I agree compromise is key especially when one person wants to do one thing and another something different. Great post. And good luck with all your future plans
It’s the opposite with us…I’ve kinda regimented while my partner is laid-back. We’re always learning new things about each other on the road 🙂
Congratulations on the wedding! We haven’t been to Cinque Terre but the photographs have left us mesmerised.
Interesting to read more about your lifestyle. So exciting that you are getting married in Italy. I love it there and can’t wait to be back in June. We travel but only part-time. I don’t like being gone for a long time.
I agree with the stopover trip -really helps to make it more enjoyable. I’ve only travelled once with my partner but seemed to go ok. As a solo female traveller its hard to compromise sometimes but nice for the company.
I feel like I know you more now after reading this. I always say that traveling together as a couple should be done to test the strength of a relationship. Couples should travel before they move in together or get married. If you make it through a trip together (especially long term travel), you’re good to go. That’s my couples advice, ha ha!
Aw, I would love to see elephants in the wild, how amazing! I’m going to have to look up Bacalar; I love Mexico but don’t know this place.
So….how did you meet? You don’t actually answer that in the first question, lol!