1 Year, 1 Couple, 11 Countries, 5 Road Trips

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OK, so this is a bit of a personal post. Not in a dramatic, emotional way, but it’s more about my life than just the places I’ve been. I’m opening up you guys! 😉 I’m also hoping to make my boyfriend blush a little bit by talking about him on THE INTERNET.

Love and Travel?

I’m a part of a LOT of Facebook travel groups. In those groups I constantly see people despairing about love and travel and how they don’t believe that the two could possibly mix! I don’t really think that “finding a relationship” should be anyone’s focus in life. It should definitely be secondary to whatever your travel goals, or goals in general, are. However, if you happen to meet the “love of your life” while travelling, or just before you plan to go travelling, do not despair. It can work, if you really want it to.

My Story

In the beginning we HAD to travel to be together, now it’s just kind of become our thing. Travel is as much a part of our relationship as we are.

I met my boyfriend one year ago. Since then we’ve been to 11 countries together, on 5 road trips together, stood on 2 glaciers together, taken 16 flights together and had a million other amazing experiences in between. We also have managed to do all this without killing each other. That’s a sign of success, surely?

We met in Lagos, Portugal. I was at a kite-surfing camp and he was at the surf camp (best place, you should definitely visit) I had previously visited. I ended up going for dinner with the guys from the surf camp because they were going somewhere veggie-friendly. Yep, I’m one of those awkward vegetarians. I spilled my bean-burger all over my lap, drank too much green wine and I guess my boyfriend fell in love with me instantly (obviously).

Simple, right? Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, I travel a lot. Finding a guy that has a lifestyle that compliments mine is no easy feat. I could not have even dreamt up the lifestyle that my boyfriend has and how well it would fit with mine. Despite his relatively relaxed and travel-embracing lifestyle, for the first few months, we still had to make quite a large effort to travel to see each other. And when we weren’t travelling together we were living the long-distance life.

**SHOUT OUT TO ALL YOU LONG-DISTANCE COUPLES, IT IS TOUGH!**

The beginning of the relationship went a bit like this – “Hey there, what country are you in? Meet you there next weekend? Great! Video chat tomorrow?”

My bf was living in Sweden, so I’d book cheap flights and visit once a month when our schedules matched up. Or we’d meet up somewhere in between. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve skipped or cancelled a flight because of a last-minute decision to fly to Sweden instead of back to Ireland.

** Note, we’re not uber rich or anything. We both simply worked decent jobs for quite a while and made seeing each other a priority. 

I figured it was a bit serious when I postponed my trip to Canada or, really, when I started referring to it as a “trip” instead of  “moving” to Canada. I was supposed to fly to Canada in January 2016, but I never booked the flight. I waited for my boyfriend to finish a term at university and then we went travelling for 2 months instead. So, when I had to travel to Canada in June to start my visa he came with me for a month. I suppose that’s compromise. How grown up.

And now, here we are, one year in, 11 countries and 5 road-trips down! Maybe I’m rambling on too much. Let me just give you the facts!

Countries We’ve Been to Together

-Ireland
-England
-Sweden
-Denmark
-The Netherlands
-Germany
-USA (including Hawai, which we really feel SHOULD be counted as an extra country, but we’re going to play by the rules for now!)
-New Zealand
-Australia
-Canada
-Portugal

Road Trips Taken Together

–Drive across Europe from UK to Sweden
–Drive from LA to Death Valley & Seqouia National Park (U.S.A)
–18 days around the south island of New Zealand
– Drive around Maui & Oahu islands (Hawaii, USA)
– Banff/Jasper National Park road trip

Video Evidence

Here’s just a couple of videos from our travels. My boyfriend doesn’t really like being in videos or photos, though he has no problem taking unflattering pictures of me! Anyways, you can find more videos from our travels on my Youtube channel. Feel free to subscribe 😉

New Zealand

Hawaii

Plans For the Future

WELL, my boyfriend is currently in Svalbard studying glaciers and chilling with polar bears (yes, I’m incredibly jealous). I’ve got a trip to Sri Lanka next month while he’s away. Then we’ll both meet back up in Ireland at the end of August to check out the stunning Lusty Beg Island. After that we’ll probably work/study in Europe for a while and then we’re not sure where we’ll go. It’s either going to be Africa or Central America, MAYBE. But, honestly, those plans could change at any stage. You’ll have to keep your eyes on my website to find out what happens next. The one thing we’ve both agreed on is trying to cut down the long-distance aspect of our relationship.

Other Couples

If you need anymore travel couple inspiration, here’s some of my favourites;
Laura & Tanbay – The Travelling Weasels
Rob & Nat – Love and Road

These guys are actually travel blogging couples, so you’ll get to see a whole lot more of their adventures up close and personal.

Are you in a long-distance relationship?
Is travel a big part of your relationship?

Tell me about it in the comments section below!
I’d love to hear from you.

Tara
xxx