8 Travel Experiences to Connect as a Couple

As full-time employees in the corporate world, many of our weeks are filled with business travel, long days and endless emails/conference calls.  Some months it feels as though we only see each other for two days a week (usually on the weekends).  Who’s with us? With all of these distractions, it can be hard to really connect as a married couple.  Travel affords us so many amazing benefits but one of our favorites is our ability to connect as a couple without our normal distractions.  Today we are sharing 8 travel experiences that help you connect as a couple!

“Actually the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures.”
~Lewis Carroll

Couples Spa Treatment

This is a simple experience you can schedule regardless if you are on the road or at your home.  A couple massage allows you to have an intimate experience relaxing and forgetting about the stress for a few hours!  One of our favorite experiences was in Costa Rica at Nayara Springs Resort & Spa.  The treatment rooms are open-air suites so you get a couples massage with the sounds of the rainforest in the background!

The property has been named as one of the most romantic hotels in the world by Trip Advisor and in 2016 Conde Nast Traveller named it the best spa in the world!  White robes, couple’s massages and a glass of bubbly was the ultimate romantic experience for us!

Rooms with a Private Spa

One of the room amenities we have been loving lately is a private hot tub or pool in our room.  While there is always the benefit of having a spot to relax in the event of poor weather, it also offers a romantic place to connect as a couple.  We don’t have a pool or spa at home so this is such a treat for us when traveling!

While we prefer adults-only resorts for our travels, this is not always an option.  One way to get around that is to book a room with a private pool so you are able to connect as a couple without the distraction of other people.  We highly recommend this feature for your next couple’s trip! Check out our all-time favorite at El Nido Resorts in the Philippines.

Experience a New Adventure

One way to really keep things exciting during your couple’s trip is to experience a new activity together.  We love sharing the anticipation that builds up to the activity.  Very often it’s Amanda discussing how nervous she is about the experience and Brian reassuring her she can do it and how much fun we will have!

In New Zealand, we decided to take our first helicopter ride which landed on an active volcano.  It was such a thrilling experience to share together!  We hope to have more helicopter rides in our future travels.

In Rome, we booked a private foodie Vespa tour.  It was such a fun way to experience a new city together while being on Vespas, which we had never done.  Sharing these new experiences together as a couple helps to keep things exciting and gives us a new experience to bond over during our travels.

Cross Items off a Travel Bucket List

It’s no secret that we prioritize travel outside of the office.  Due to this, we have a running bucket list of experiences that we are always discussing.  Sometimes it’s an experience we both want to do and other times one of us wants to do it and the other is a good sport.

Early on in our marriage, one of the travel goals we set was to experience The 7 Wonders of the World.  It’s so special to set these type of goals and accomplish them together.  It allows us to connect as a couple as we check each of the items off of our list.

One thing that was not on Amanda’s bucket list was to rappel off a cliff.  Since Brian was really eager to experience this in the Philippines, Amanda agreed to be supportive.  Being a good sport and offering support for the other person’s travel goal is another way we connect as a couple when traveling.

Schedule a Private Dinner

We love to eat!  We find culinary experiences a true joy when traveling.  To elevate a dining experience we find ways to make it more romantic.  Often times, we will see if there are private areas to enjoy our dining:  in-room, beach-side or secluded areas such as below.  It’s such a memorable way to splurge on something that we don’t get to experience in our everyday lives.

Depending on location, there could be prime areas to dine as well.  During our trip to Santorini, Greece, we found a romantic spot for dinner with a prime view of the sunset.  Such a romantic moment we shared as a couple that we will not forget!

Celebrate a Holiday Away

Over the past few years , we’ve added a new way to connect as a couple.  We have decided to choose a holiday and spend it away with just the two of us.  One of our favorite holidays away is New Year’s Eve.  There is something incredibly romantic for us to experience a new place together while we end one year and start the next.  We always set travel goals each year and it is so fitting we do so while being in a new country together.

For a quick long weekend, we’ve also spent Easter Weekend away.  This is a nice way to have a quick break and connect.  Last year we went to New Orleans for Easter and splurged at the Ritz Carlton brunch.  We are currently researching a new place for Easter this year!

Toast to your Time Away

No matter where you go, make sure you take time to celebrate.  And by celebrate, it doesn’t have to be some big event or milestone.  We have a traveling tradition of enjoying a bottle of bubbles on the last night of our travels.  We toast to the trip, each other and recap all the fun things we experienced over the course of the trip.  It’s such a nice way to recount all the ways you connected during the time together.  We are always amazed at which parts where a highlight to the other one.  It makes us continue to learn more about each other as each trip passes.

Hire a Photographer to Capture the Moment

We have only done this a couple of times, but we are committed to making sure we continue this activity every couple years.  As a couple, when was the last time you had photographs taken?  Don’t count a selfie on a cell phone…  After our marriage we realized we had no events.  Many families get annual photos around the holiday’s to capture the kids but as a no-kid couple, we really didn’t do that.  We decided to hire a professional photographer while traveling and have really appreciated getting these moments captured!

We went to Bora Bora for our 5th Wedding Anniversary and it’s so nice to have photos to capture the moment!  Not only do we connect as a couple during the shoot, but we have a priceless souvenir to bring home to capture our memories!

Those are a few ways we elevate our travel experience to ensure we are connecting as a couple.  Regardless of your daily distractions of jobs, kids, aging parents etc, make sure you set some time aside for each other.  It’s very often overlooked but so important for a healthy marriage.  We hope these ideas can help you think of ways to add a bit more romance to your travel and connect as a couple!

If you have any other ideas, please share them in the comments below!  We always love hearing new ways to add romance to travel.