The freedom and adventure wrapped up in the digital nomad life are that much sweeter when you have a partner to share them with. You can also save a lot of money when splitting costs, which is a lovely bonus! However, as with all good things, there are difficulties to overcome. To ensure you and your partner are able to navigate the complications of romance on the road, here are five of the most important things to remember:
1. Give each other space
The time to give each other space is before either of you starts feeling like you need it. Even if you’re living in a van or staying in cheap studio apartments, it’s not difficult to spend time apart while traveling. One of the best ways to get some quality alone time from each other is to take advantage of the serviced offices you’ll find in most towns and cities around the world. These offer state-of-the-art office space, with no lock-in contracts. So, you can take turns working from home and enjoying the luxe office space – all for a surprisingly low cost.
2. Take your communication skills to the next level
Communication is an essential part of every relationship, but when you’re living the nomad lifestyle together, it becomes critically important. Take a look at the Gaby Petito case, and you see two well-meaning young people whose communication breakdowns escalated into a heartbreaking tragedy.
Of course, such instances are rare, but many a loved-up couple has fallen apart because they weren’t prepared for the fact that the digital nomad life can hit you with work, travel, and romantic pressure all in one high-pressure package. To ensure you’re able to be the loving, compassionate, and practical partner each of you deserves, it’s worth investing some time and energy into leveling up your communication skills. This may mean taking a course, seeing a professional, or reading books on the subject.
3. Aim to share a schedule
Your ideal productivity hours may be different from your partner’s. However, life is so much easier if you work and take breaks at the same time. A matching schedule allows you to slip more readily into productive flow states as it reduces the chances that you’ll interrupt each other. It also gives you more quality time to spend together than if you had conflicting work and leisure schedules.
4. Draw borders between work and leisure
Speaking of work and leisure, it’s important to have boundaries between the two. This is tough for solo nomads and even more challenging for couples. If you’re more productive in the evenings but your partner is a morning person, the difficulties compound.
The best approach is to use those leveled-up communication skills of yours and figure out a schedule that’s optimal for both of you and that includes shared leisure time.
5. Be generous
After a while, every couple starts noticing annoying little things about each other. Maybe your partner always leaves their dishes in the sink overnight. Perhaps they give you in-depth breakdowns of the news from their home country when you’re bleary-eyed and barely awake in the morning. As annoying as these things may be, you can guarantee you have some frustrating quirks of your own.
If you want to be able to look past these things, it helps to be generous. Do the lion’s share of the cleaning, buy them lunch, defrag their lagging laptop – find ways to give, and your partner will likely develop a generous attitude in return.
Master each of these tips, and you and your partner can look forward to more fun and fewer fights.
