We never really think about wanderlust as a contagion, but one partner can absolutely influence another to truly love traveling the world. And when those partners are as complimentary as Philip and Thea of Zentravellers, you have a recipe for the perfect globetrotting duo. So, how do they do it? Hear it from them below!
What’s your story?
Travel has been a part of Thea’s life since a young age. As a teenager she went on a foreign exchange to France, and continued that travel bug with trips to England, Costa Rica, and eventually a CIDA internship in Mali for 5 months. Philip didn’t have quite the same travel bug, but when the two took a 5 week trip to East Africa, he was hooked. Neither wanted to come back from that trip, so when they got back home in Canada they set their minds to saving and funding a trip around the world.
Do you have the same travel style or different travel styles? How does this impact your adventures together?
I would say that we have fairly similar travel styles. We’re both looking for more authentic travel experiences than a luxury beach resort (although those are nice sometimes). We both love active pursuits – hiking, cycling, paddling, etc, and love seeing the wildlife and landscapes our travel destinations have to offer.
What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from traveling as partners? What makes your partnership work on the road?
One of the things we’ve learned along the way is to play to each of our strengths. This wasn’t really a big “Ahah!” moment, but just a natural tendency we’ve fallen into. For instance, Thea is much better at languages than Philip (although he’s trying!) which makes traveling and trying to find your way about a foreign country a lot easier. Philip is more analytical and handles tracking the budget or converting the various currencies. When you’re on the road for a long period of time not every experience is relaxing or and sometimes it can even be a bit stressful. Playing to each other’s strengths helps to mitigate that.
What’s the best part about traveling as partners? And the biggest challenge?
The best part is pretty straight forward – you get to travel with your best friend!
The biggest challenge is the same thing – you’re spending all your time in close quarters with your best friend, so you have to try not to get annoyed with all their quirks and tendencies.
Based on your experience, what’s the best advice you have for couples who have just scheduled their first trip together?
Enjoy the adventure! Traveling together is a great way to get to know one another and build your relationship on another level. You’ll learn so much about your partner!
Any additional thoughts or words of wisdom?
Every couple can make time to travel! You don’t have to be traveling full time or even going out of the country to have amazing adventures. If you need some inspiration, check out our couples travel bucket list. There are items large and small on this list. As you go, you’ll be growing your relationship together, we guarantee it!
Don’t forget to share the wisdom!
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