Pushing each other to the limit physically and mentally really helps you prepare for the years of "What do you want for dinner?" arguments down the line.
Backpacking is this raw experience, offering a small taste of the adventure, fear and exhilaration our pilgriming ancestors once encountered daily. It kind of makes one feel like you are truly living, emancipated from the conformist obligations and rituals of which we become engrossed, allowing for a greater chance at finding yourself.
Now envision actualizing something as life changing with the person you love and hope to marry one day. Instead of finding yourself alone, you can find yourselves together.
In a world where we get married far sooner than we should, and the expression "sanctity of marriage" has almost become an oxymoron, this trial period might just be something our culture — which fails so very hard at monogamy — desperately needs.
Here are some ways backpacking together makes the perfect pre-ex trial period.
1. You’ll meet each other at your worst
Together, you'll learn how the both of you react to the highs and lows that are inherent with backpacking.
It’s likely you’ll experience a moment in the adventure when your water breaks (from the giant blister on your foot), you lower the quality assurance standards of your laundry smell tests, and you lose the battle between an urgent need to shit and the fear of wiping your bum with clean hands (heads up: some places in this world do the whole bathroom routine a little more "hands on").
To top it off, your partner will likely be testing what little patience there is left, because all their annoying tics and idiosyncrasies will be revealed over the trip, and you have to accept and love this fucking psychopath for who they are. It's through these experiences that you will truly get to know your partner, and be able to make a more informed decision of whether you can tolerate spending the rest of time with them.
Honestly, if you can get through traveling together in such a manner for an extended period of time, a mortgage with a few kids thrown in will almost seem like a cakewalk.
2. You can reignite the ol’ sex life
A backpacking trip is a wonderful opportunity to bring a lot of novelty into your relationship, initiating a dopamine-release cycle which makes people horny as fuck. Plus, hairier sex parts and a perpetual body musk could lead to things getting pretty wild. We're talking about the kind of animalistic sex you can't casually sneak into a shared hostel room in unnoticed. This will be especially true because of the imitation sounds of shrieking monkeys and bongo slaps on your partner's booty.
This in turn could reboot your sex life with each other before you decide to settle down. It's pretty important that you discover whether you're capable of reigniting the spark that brought you together in the first place and find little bursts of spontaneity to avoid settling into routines.
3. You’ll know your partner on a deeper level
Sharing this kind of journey builds the sort of connection which can't be earned solely via dinner dates or Netflix and chill, or even Adult Swim and chill.
You might know that your partner always scarves down their meal, before patiently waiting for you to finish yours with the help of perpetual wine glass refills. Or that they constantly swear off Game of Thrones every fucking time the show brutally slaughters one of their favorite characters, but come crawling back to tune in each and every week. Even still, there remains plenty of vital information to learn about each other.
For instance, do they enjoy the primal thrill one gets from roughing it or must they insist you stay in a fancy room where 20 other loud and sweaty strangers aren't bunking in? Do they want to party until the AM with new friends or wake up when those friends are just stumbling home, so the two of you can get a head start on exploring the architecture, history and nature of each location?
These insights into your partner's psyche aren’t normally encountered through day-to-day life back home, but can happen regularly while backpacking.
4. You’ll build the strongest of foundations
An adventure like this will be something you can both look back on with fondness and tell the incredible tales of to friends, family and maybe even a couple of those tiny human things. You know, the ones that live in a lady, rent-free for nine months … And then in your house for like 30 years.
As a result of these stories, you will have established a greater bond, because you will have experienced a lifetime more than the average couple’s one week trip to Cancun. This in turn will help you avoid FOMO-ing like MOFOs. You will also have the rest of your lives to not only happily reflect, but to look forward to what story is to be written next.
5. It isn’t a major commitment
If things don't work out, you won’t have a mortgage with the few kids thrown in mentioned earlier. You can just part ways, no strings attached (well, the flight home might be a little awkward if it was booked in advance and you're using one of those budget airlines that don't have movie screens, so you're forced into acknowledging one another. You can't even, like, pretend to text to avoid the awkwardness, because the whole "no service" thing. We mean, you would've brought your iPad with you, but you didn't want the extra weight in your backpack, right?)
Too many relationships are rushed or even forced, which can lead to disastrous break-ups.
Through backpacking together, you will get a feel for what it’s like living with your special someone on a daily basis, for an extended period of time. In addition, it will be in an environment which isn't typical to what couples normally experience before deciding to eternalize your bond.
Who knows, you may even discover you don’t want to commit to anything but traveling the world together for the rest of your lives. Either way, you will be provided with the insights necessary for choosing which path you want to wander down next, even if that path is covered in the lube-soaked underwear of your next 10 girlfriends, boyfriends and everything in between. You're either gonna wind up with a spouse or chafed dick/vagina … both enviable results if you ask us.
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