5 Things Every Man Should Know About Women…While Traveling.
How do you travel with a Woman? Not long ago we did a post relating little know secrets about how to travel with men. We have now turned the tables and offer you hommes a few insights on how to travel with the fairer sex. While every person has their own travel style, and we certainly don’t want to paint every woman into a box, there are a few helpful general tips, that if understood, can help couples find greater harmony on the road. So here we go:
Miramare Castle, Triste, Italy
It’s all about the journey, not the destination.
Men, for whatever reason have a “let’s get there attitude” when traveling and doing other things. As women, we tend to focus a little more on the path. Men: build in a little extra time into your schedules. Be flexible. Here’s an example from our recent trip to Venice which turned into another 1000 fights. We were driving from Triste, Italy to Venice. We were looking through tourist books and spotted an amazing castle cradling the bay outside of Triste. It wasn’t in our plan. Mike had an Excel spreadsheet that kept a strict schedule with everything we were to see that day and the castle wasn’t on the list. He didn’t even know about the castle. Of course Mike was like, “Gotta get on the road, got to see Venice, got to obey the spreadsheet.” After a fight that resulted in zero pictures of Mike and I together at the castle (in fact, Mike wouldn’t even take pictures of me-our friends were the photographers), we went to the castle. We ended up seeing one of the most incredible sites of our entire trip. Mike admitted he was wrong three weeks after the trip, and I have a few pictures of a fairy tale castle in Italy. Guys take the hint. Be flexible. Slow down a little and enjoy the ride!
Cleanliness is next to Godess-ness
I don’t know how many times I have said…for men…the world is your urinal. Traveling, as we have in third world countries, the facilities are not always ideal. No problem. But there is a clear and bright line between rustic and disgusting. Third world or first world, some truck stops are dens of disgusting. Men take this little hint, when the facilities are sub par, DON’T ARGUE. Try saying things like…”Let’s find another place” or “There is a hotel just down the road, lets go over there.” My hero! One option we highly recommend is skipping the hotel and renting a vacation apartment instead.”
Pictures are the best souvenir
Its all about the social media and the Christmas card. Deep down, women are vain. We really are. Men could care less how their outfit looks or if their makeup is smudged. OK maybe most men don’t care about their make up. For us frau-lines, we truly want our vacation pics to look really good. Why do we take vacation pics? To show them off to all our friends on Facebook! Our photo shoots might take a little long. Guys, take it from me, you want us to look hot for these pics, it will make all of your old girl friends # jealous!
The whole flowers thing
This is likely the hardest concept for men to understand. Women like cute things. Cute things can come in the shape of purring cats, daffodils, teacups and cutie-bug kids. We are going to take pictures of them, we are going to cuddle them, we may put an entire tour on hold to take pictures of a bunny. I can’t tell you how many pictures we have of the dafodills in front of Jane Austen’s house! They were incredible! Guys, this is really going to test your patience. Take a deep breath. Count to 10. Trust me, if you make a big deal about this, you will be removed from our “cute” list. This will not bode well for you later. Girls can I have an “amen?!”
A little more talk and a little less action
Women need to talk. We need to communicate. We need to discuss. Guys: a couple of different options for you. Some of you are talkers as well, so no problem. Some of you are good listeners, no problem. If you are neither or your name is Mike, a few ideas for you. Let your spouse known that you need some time to talk. You finally have some time together, and for women it’s all about communication. If you don’t know what to talk about, we suggest “The Book of If: Questions for the Games of Life and Love” by Evelyn McFarlane and James Saywell. On a four hour drive through Croatia, we found out a lot about each other. Like, “If you could fire someone from work, who would it be,” or “If you could relive one romantic date from high school just as it was, which would it be.” Some answers we had to plead the “fifth.” But overall, it’s a great way to get a conversation going.
If communicating together isn’t your thing, join friends you meet on the tourist trail for drinks before/after/during dinner. Meeting fellow travelers is one of the most dynamic experiences that can create lifelong friendships and maybe a few Facebook friend requests!
Gentlemen, these are a few little hints for keeping us gals happy whilst on the road. Every women is different, but take these ideas into consideration and know your travel partner.
Gals, did we miss anything? If you could tell you guy just one thing that would make life a little easier out there, what would you tell him?
We are Mike and Luci.
In typical “Luci” style………you got it on the money! The journey is what it is all about. Love those side trips you didn’t plan. And as for communication? A must for a woman. Love your blog.
Well said! I would have crowds of people armed with pitchforks after me if I did things my way. I would race everywhere and see all of Paris in a day. I could do it. But I’d lose my wife and kids in the meantime, and piss off half the city.
Traveling with a woman has slowed me down. Funny, I tend to see much more now when I travel!
Nice Post!
I love this! I almost laughed out loud about the castle fight. The fact that there were no photos of you together, sad but real. I’m glad you had a chance to see it.
You can’t beat a good spreadsheet to keep your sightseeing on track!!! Only joking ladies it’s all about compromise. I take you to dinner, and you come with me to the football match. Who said romance is dead…
Ahmen brother! Ahmen.
Love this post! It’s actually true that women attitude while travelling is completely different from men’s. I love cute stuff, taking pictures, plan everithing,,,exactly what my partner hates!
You’re good! Every bullet is spot on. A trip to a place is not complete without a few detours, shopping and a snack. there are some toilets that I am just never stepping foot into, memories must be captured, no flower is alike and conversation over wine is ideal travel for me. I wonder if my partner realizes that this is a common trend with women…
This is PERFECT! Love how you’ve read my mind and the minds of most women traveling with their mates, I’m sure. Showed this to my husband who responds by scratching his head- not sure what that means now, but should find out soon enough:) Thanks for posting, great tips! Btw the castle situation- classic!
Should be required reading for all male travelers.
This was a brilliant article, am going to have to forward it to my fiance, we will be traveling together in October when he comes to see me (he is Nepali and works on a cruise ship). And I just want to say “Amen” to the cute things, it is ohhhh soooo true!
(trailingtrekker.wordpress.com)
Only thing I would add is to be patient during the packing process and when were (perhaps finally) leaving for the trip! I want to make sure I have everything I need (especially so that I look good!) and I may have to run back into the house once or twice before we leave. I KNOW this is annoying but my packing and prep work is so that we can make the most out of our vacation (and so we look good doing it!). Be patient with me then, and you’ll earn MAJOR points!
I could really relate to a fair few of these points raised. The key to a good holiday is being able to get on and creating great memories together, not memories of arguing.
A little bit of compromise (from both sides) goes a long way.
I really liked the insightfulness of this article. Thank you.