Traveling together

Let's talk about traveling together today. I've been talking about it a lot with Anna, and every time we've come to the conclusion that it was probably one of our best ideas ever to come to Australia together. Had we come here alone, we would have probably already booked the return ticket and gone back home feeling depressed and acutely hating Australia. Having someone to share the joys and sorrows with makes it easier to face the challenges of being on the road. The negative experiences feel easier to process and forget about when you have someone who is equally annoyed and angered by them, who feels what you feel. It's easier to find your fighting spirit when you have someone to share the bad experiences with. Together we can fight even the windmills and who knows, we might win against all the odds. :) Plus all the positive experiences feel even more positive when you can share them with someone. Awesome experiences feel a lot more awesome when you hear someone echo the same thought.

The distances in Australia are extreme, so having a travel mate means having company, someone to talk to or just someone with whom to share the companionable silence. Passing time without a functioning wi-fi on board is a challenge without a friend. And together it's easier to resist eating the snacks and packed meals the first thing you board the bus. I seem to have that particular problem when I travel alone, the snacks are gone in a couple of seconds. But when we make the decision together to have lunch at 11, it's easier to stick to it. And there is always the good friend who will make sure you don't violate the decision and pig out the food all by yourself.

It's also a financially clever decision to travel together. Have you ever noticed how much more you''ll pay for the hostels, tours etc if you travel alone? The entire world is made for couples and families, even food is sold in wholesale-sized packages. Together we can take advantage of that. We can even occasionally afford to eat something more pricey because we can put our last dollars together and share the cost.

When traveling alone you need to be vigilant all the time, consider things like where to leave your luggage if you need the restroom, or where to leave your purse if you want to go for a morning run. Traveling together, you can take turns going for a run, going for a swim, and you'll always have someone to look after your belongings. It doesn't get more practical than this!

We are a team, both of us have our unique set of strengths and weaknesses. Especially when volunteering it's been a beneficial deal, we can share the tasks according to our interests and skills.

So what's more difficult when traveling together? Everything takes more time, you'll have to plan and negotiate a lot to make sure everyone's happy. Compromises are a part of daily life, and we have agreed on that we are not very good at compromises. If one of us wants to go to Russia and the other wants to go to China, we won't go to Mongolia for the sake of compromise, we will go our separate ways. But that's OK, too. We don't have to live in each other's pockets all the time.