She Said/She Said: A Couples Interview with Sam & Sarah

Since J and I travel together often, and will be embarking on our greatest adventure yet in 2012, I thought it would be fun to launch a He Said/She Said (or She Said/She Said!) series to get to know other traveling couples and learn how they make it work while on the road.

Today’s couple is Sam and Sarah. They blog over at Food Travel Bliss. You can also follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

How long have you been together?

We have been together for over three years.

Tell us a little about your travels together.

While we had been living together for two years, before this trip the longest holiday we’d had together was two weeks. We really had no idea how we would go traveling as a couple long term but decided to leave our jobs and travel for a year.

We had no plans other than our tickets to the UK, a small budget, and the search for the sun, sea and good food. So you could say it was a bit of a make it or break it moment, as there is no way you can fake it traveling together 24/7!

We can happily say now that we have been traveling for eight months and love it. We are traveling on a limited budget so we are mainly staying in hostels and traveling by local transport, and more recently have started working for our food and accommodation as a different way of experiencing the countries we are travelling to.

How do you collaborate while you’re planning for a trip and while you’re traveling?

After the first few weeks traveling we found that we naturally fell into separate roles that suited both of us and luckily stopped any tanty throwing.

We choose our next destination together, then Sam works out transport, things to do there and the all important food research, i.e. places to eat cheap, meals and local cuisine that are a must try, where the fresh markets are and how to get to the discount supermarkets to shop.

Sarah does the budget, reads the history of the place so she can be our own personal tour guide and is a wiz at finding and booking great accommodation. She always manages to find something super for less than our budget, in a good location and with all the facilities we want, while if Sam tries to book something it will undoubtedly be dodgy and in the wrong area.

What makes you good travel companions?

We both have the same expectations of what we want to do, see, and get out of traveling and what we can realistically afford on our budget. Saying that though, we also agree on the times when we need to throw the budget out the window and splurge for something we have always wanted to do, like skydiving, which we did over the Swiss Alps, definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far!

Traveling has also made us realize what it means to be able to be there for each other no matter what the circumstance. Knowing that we can still make each other laugh and help each other out when we both are cold, hungry, tired, cranky, scared, lost or stuck on an overnight bus for 14 hours with a chicken pecking at your feet, really helps.

What do you bicker about most when you travel?

Whose turn it is to sleep on the dreaded top bunk when we stay in dorms!

Any other tips for surviving 24/7 together?

Be on the same page in terms of budget and traveling expectations. Communicate with each other!

Even though we see each other mostly all day every day we still make time each week for us – whether that be cooking a nicer meal, or going out for a drink, dinner or dance. We put away the computers, our novels, the guide books, the maps and just have fun.

Plus Sam is great at directions and reading maps – don’t underestimate how much of a relationship saver this is!

Did you travel much before you met your partner?

Sam: Yes, I have always loved traveling, but before we started this current trip together I had never travelled for this long or travelled without doing some pre-planning (booking plane tickets, bus tickets etc). These past eight months have been a completely new and exciting travel experience for me.

Sarah: I had mainly just travelled for short holidays within Australia and to Fiji and Thailand, however I had been planning on doing a big trip for a long time and love that I have been able to take this trip with Sam.

What do you enjoy most about traveling as a couple?

Sam: That we have this incredible opportunity to share so many different experiences together that we just did not get before we started traveling. I think it has made us realize where our strengths and weaknesses are as a couple, but that we also now know that no matter what happens we tackle it together. If we can help each other through infestations of bed bugs the size of small beetles, days of no sleep, getting really sick in unknown places, and still come out of it together and smiling we know that we can survive whatever comes next.

Sarah: The fun we have and being able to share everything, the ups and the downs as well as the excitement of some of the most amazing, incredible experiences. It is good to know that pretty much no matter what situation we are in- whether it be fantastic, strange or just damn scary- we can look at each other and know what the other is thinking and how we are going to deal with it.

What makes her an ideal travel companion?

Sam: I think Sar is my perfect traveling companion; she is cheerful, patient, super organized, focused, thoughtful and always up for anything. She wants me to make the most of every opportunity and get the most out of traveling that I can, and knows when I need that extra push to get past my fear and go for it. Her love of learning has also opened up a whole new world for me; we have visited places that I would never have thought of going to, or dismissed as not interesting, that in fact I have thoroughly enjoyed. There is no one I would rather travel with.

Sarah: Her ability to embrace new experiences and her desire to take the road less travelled and immerse herself in the local culture.

Her excellent cooking skills and ability to whip up something absolutely delicious with only limited time, ingredients and facilities!

What annoys you about your partner when you’re traveling?

Sam: Her ability to disappear (to the shop, the bathroom, etc.) the moment before our plane or
bus starts to board.

Sarah: The time it takes her to get out of bed some mornings especially when it is cold, and her knack of ‘accidently’ turning off the alarm!!

What have you learned about your partner as a result of your travels?

Sam: She is a natural born traveler. Now that we have left Australia Sar has no desire to return to our 9-5 life anytime soon. Her desire to see, learn, experience and understand as much as she can has been unleashed and she is always talking about new places she wants to go and different things she wants to do with her life.

On, and that for the past few years she was only pretending to be a fussy eater and in fact, unless it has mushrooms, she will eat anything we spy that looks tasty.

Sarah: Her ability to stay calm in stressful situations, go with the flow, take each day as it comes and be able to see a problem not as a problem but as a potential new adventure.

What’s your next adventure?

We are working in Bulgaria in a traditional village of about 250 people at the moment, then we will head Austria to work at a Siberian husky centre (super excited about that!).

After that we will be making our way back up through Europe until April when we will be to Malaysia and South Korea.

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If you and your partner would like to participate in the He Said/She Said series, contact me here. I’d love to hear from you!