Fun & Effective Travel Tips for Couples

Embarking on a journey with your partner? Here are some tips to save money, time and energy without straining your relationship.

Our very recent travel to Seoul, February 2015

Plan Your Itinerary

AIRPLANE & HOTEL BOOKING

As both of you may have to take vacation leaves from work, scheduling ahead gives you enough time to free up task list at work days before the trip. Significant savings on plane fare and hotel booking is also a huge advantage scheduling ahead.

BUILD YOUR TO-DO/MUST-DO LIST

Agree on your to do list. Identify the areas, tourist destinations, shopping areas and restaurants you want to visit. You can set aside half a day or more for solo wandering. This way you can be more efficient covering more areas and doing what you like without boring your partner or worse, annoy him or her. It’s not as romantic but you get to do and see more.

El Nido, September 2014

ORGANIZE YOUR TO-DO/MUST-DO LIST

Now that you have a to-do list you may organize them on a per area basis. Daily schedule may be organized based on the different activities that can be done in a specific area or location. This way you can truly savor what the area can offer in terms of culture, heritage, history, food, souvenirs and goodies without wasting time, energy and money in the process. And from this, you can now pack accordingly.

Sydney, Australia, August 2013

TRANSPORTATION OPTION

Know how to get to the different points of interest. Download all the necessary apps to your phone to understand the wisest transportation mode. In most advanced cities, the train system is the best choice, if you don’t mind the walking distance. Since you identified your daily itinerary on a per area basis, it is a lot easier now to track how to go to that area from your hotel and back. It is also recommended to get a train card and top-up/reload on a daily basis to save money.

Other transportation modes include the more expensive taxi or uber services. However, the more rural you go, the more challenging the transportation becomes, especially in developing countries. The best source of information is the locals. Ask from hotel concierge, co-travelers, neighbors, store owners, waiters, etc. on the best and easiest way to your destination. Have them translate in their native language and write in a card that you can show to the driver where you intend to go.

PRINT EVERYTHING

Print all that can be printed – itinerary, hotel reservation, daily activities, maps, and list of food to eat. Have a picture. Don’t forget to screenshot everything and organize them in your phone’s photo app. Attach together all the items needed for that day’s activities. Include the envelope that contains your pocket money.

Tokyo, April 2014

BE FLEXIBLE

Be flexible with your itinerary. Sometimes, due to unforeseen events or your mood, there are places that you can opt to skip. If you have scheduled a trip to temples or museums located in the areas you plan to visit, chances are you will skip all the other temples after seeing a couple on your first two days. This is especially true for those who are not really after the heritage and history.

SET A BUDGET

Especially if you are a backpacker type, sticking to a budget is crucial. Always have money for the daily basic needs – transportation, meals and drinks. Also, prepare for other expenses such as souvenir shopping, entrance fees to tourist spots and tips. Buy the destination currency from your friendly neighbourhood moneychanger to get the best rates. Always bring cash. You can also opt to withdraw money using your local ATM card in the destination. Credit card is also advised but only for emergency expenses or if you plan to buy an expensive item. But these may entail additional bank charges and foreign currency adjustments.

When buying with a credit card, ask the merchant to charge you in their currency. Normally, there is now an option to charge you in your country’s currency. But this is more expensive than having the bank convert it to your local currency on your cutoff.

Hongkong, November 2014

Set Roles & Responsibilities

Here are some of the roles that you need to identify:

Finance Manager – the one in-charge of making sure that the daily itinerary is within the allocated budget and keeping an inventory of all the bills and coins. You don’t want to be stuck with so many coins after the trip unless you plan on going back.
Transportation Manager – the one who will manage the daily commute – what mode to take, stations to go to, and directions. He/she will be in charge of printing the maps, downloading the apps on their phones and making sure that you can go back to the hotel every night. He/she can also be in-charge of the itinerary scheduling.
Diet Manager – the one in-charge of deciding what food to eat on lunch, snack and dinner. When you go to the different areas, you will be flooded with a lot of choices. One must be able to decide what to eat, unless the other one has a suggestion or a particular craving. This is very important especially if the area you will visit does not have a must-eat list. He/she will also be responsible for making sure that you have water, snacks, and vitamin supplements.
Documentation Manager – most likely both of you will have individual camera phones or camera to take pictures. Whilst this can be done by both of you, it is highly recommended that one takes a picture of all the weird stuff, while the other one takes a picture of the scenes and destinations and coufies (couple selfies). This way, you get to have fun and artistic freedom on the photos and save time in the process.
Document Holder – the one who will always carry the important items – passport, plane ticket, calling card of the hotel, hotel codes, in case of emergency cards, etc.

Singapore, February 2013

Having clear roles and responsibilities allow you to have fun and collaborate on making the trip really memorable and meaningful, in a good way. As this is totally out of your daily routines, it is best to set expectation.

These are some of the tips I can share. For more tips on travel dating, please checkout www.ourtraveldates.com.