They say you don't truly know a person until you have travelled with them... What did you learn?

[piddocktrumperiness]

My Ex complained a lot and kept comparing places to 'back home'- he didn't quite embrace new foods and stuck to cheese and tomato pizza, and got easily frustrated with service staff if he didn't understand them and if they could not understand his broken English 😂

What irked you, put you off or did you discover for the first time about your partner when you first travelled with them? Good or bad.

With my current partner I discovered that I could well and truly be myself around him. I've never had that before (was with exH 16 years!). I remember a long day out and I was exhausted and I said I wanted to head back and get an early night. I was nervous as I was expecting to be moaned at and told I was boring (as per my ex) but we just drove back, snuggled in bed whilst watching crappy TV. Was bliss. 😍

Mine is such an ingenue when abroad. I’ve done a lot of travelling when younger and know when someone says ‘come see my uncle’s carpet shop?’ or ‘where are you from friend?’…how not to get entangled. He’s cheerfully open.

on the one hand I’ve occasionally had to untangle us…on the other due to him we’ve had some fascinating behind the scenes tours of Cairo mosques, a trip up a volcano in a rain forest and invited back to people’s houses for more in depth discussions of Man City’s defensive play over curry.

That my dh well and truly has my best interests at heart, and that he is very chilled out.

Similar to @Angustiada I was feeling under the weather on the last day of our hols (I didn't realise at that the time I had Covid), so suggested I skip tea and go to bed, I was worried he'd be annoyed, but he was happy to go back to the room and snuggle, he even went back out to get me some lemon and honey for my cough.

Mine was surprisingly irritable. Not like him at all. A stern talking to about how it made me feel sorted that out and we got back on track.

He also became one of those twats who navigates cities by walking along with his phone out in front of him watching the map, failing to notice how he's getting in everyone else's way. That made ME irritable.

Not to travel with them xD

My dh is mostly ok but has a very odd Jekyll and Hyde thing at airports that I do not understand at all! Gets irrationally stressed at airport parking, baggage reclaim etc (has to be back at the car as fast as humanly possible on the way home, don't even dare to suggest the dc go to the loo!) but equally goes crazy shopping buying himself and everyone else literally anything they ask for without question, not that he's particularly tight usually but he hates any other shopping. It's really bizarre! Me and my (adult) dc refer to the phenomenon as 'airport man'!

My DH is lovely to travel with, he picks up languages very quickly, can figure out directions, how to buy tickets for things abroad, and is more daring/adventurous than me, will hire us a kayak or book us on a weird boat tour, things I'd be scared to do on my own.

However he's fucking awful in airports or any situation you have to have patience and queue for things. He gets stressy and starts complaining like a loud toddler that he hates waiting, complains about people not queuing fairly in countries that don't queue.

My mother 'never travelled' and I discovered why when I went away with her once to a destination wedding.

That Omani fishermen are nearly all Arsenal fans. That it’s perfectly possible to have a passionate conversation about football anywhere, when no one involved shares any languages. That he eats much more nicely with his hands than I do (someone in a tiny food shack in rural Uttar Pradesh actually went off and found me a spoon, they were so pity-struck…) That Indian grannies think he makes good puris, but wonder why he’s the cook and not me. That he is tone deaf (when we first travelled together while interrailing as students, ran out of cash and busked).

My DH gets incredibly stressed before travelling - he's travelled the world for work - and without fail we'd have a massive row just before leaving the house about something ridiculous - like where his earphones are (why would I know) or a bit of paper for a hire car (that we don't need as it's on an email). Or memorably - his passport. We'd invariably end up starting the holiday in a frosty silence.

We've had a chat...it's got better.

I learnt that I get very stressed, panicked and have bizarre phobias at weird times even though I'm a very together type of person usually and my partners have always been kind and understanding and just held my hand and been comforting or in one situation had to be really firm but kind to get me up and moving when I froze in fear in the dark in Thailand on a road in the middle of nowhere we'd been dropped off at.

Ie large spiders and critters have totally freaked me out on holiday

I've overcome those fears now though I've had DC and was forced to face my fears

Oh, and DH appears to think he's invincible to losing things/crime. He leaves his phone or passport sitting on tables, counts money on he street, leaves his fancy camera lying next to him on sunbeds.

Several times in Barcelona I've bollocked him for having his cash stuffed wallet showing in his back pocket, or walking down la ramblas with his phone in the outer pocket of his rucksack, the fool. He can be quite naive.

DH and have been together a looong time. We travelled in Australia pre kids and have done lots of travels as a family.
He gets a lot more anxious in airports than he used to.
We are both terrible deciding where to eat! He is better than I am at doing nothing!

Oh and yes, using apple maps to direct him rather than just stopping to work out where we are!

My ex travelled extensively for his job. He liked to travel but would mimic accents in airports (and sounded quite racist actually- although he wasn't). He would also bring the wrong shoes (every single time), and moan all the time about having sore feet. He also like to haggle with people about items he wasn't going to buy (he was perpetually skint), but would fall out with me when I used to tell him to leave as we were wasting time. He like to pretend to them, and himself, that he had a budget to buy stuff. It was a factor in us splitting up.

I learnt that I find most people very irritating after a while.

Group holidays are a form of long drawn out torture.

That the only people I want to travel with anywhere are my husband, children and my mum.

That you are a very popular holiday companion with lots of repeat invitations if you are willing to spend most of your time on holiday meal planning, food shopping, cooking, serving, and clearing up.

No thank you!

With DH when we had our first holiday abroad we go ready to leave the hotel room to go to the pool and he popped on Just his speedos and flip flops and headed out of the door. (He’s from forrin)
So I learned that not all men wear “respectable” shorts on holiday

My now dh discovered that I a psychotic stress head when travelling by plane.Im not OK until I get to the hotel.

That fear is not a concept that dh understands. Bears, men with machetes and/or guns, driving in Mexico City ... nothing got a raised heart beat out of him. Not even the landing when everything fell out of the overhead lockers as we skidded down an icy runway.

My DH is a nervous wreck from the night before a holiday until we get to the departure lounge. Once we're through security he's better but still worries until we make it to the hotel and he can confirm he hasn't forgotten anything important. All I need to relax is my phone, my passport and my purse. Anything else can be sorted on the other side.

On the plus side, he has an excellent sense of direction and can get his bearings quickly anywhere. I spent a few years travelling alone and ended up on trains going in the wrong direction on more than one occasion in Asia. No big deal when I was backpacking but it would be a disaster on a holiday.

My DH and I were not together when we first went travelling (very much off the beaten track), and were with a larger group of friends. I'm pretty sure I fell in love with him on that trip!!

I learned that DH is an amazing person to travel with - he researches and finds interesting places to go, he's great with languages and directions, he will look after me, he has no fear (even when he should be afraid) and is very relaxed about everything (which helps me relax).

His biggest downfall is that he walks fast and my short legs can't keep up.

Poor DH has learned that if we're somewhere warm, bug repellent, refillable water bottles, fans, sunglasses and time for me to add sun cream are essential if he doesn't want me burnt, bitten and ill

I've also learned my mum is a terrible travel mate - she can't read maps, get anxious about everything and if fussy as hell when it comes to food.
And my dad - hasn't ever travelled so has no opinion on anything. He will go wherever you suggest, try anything you're interested in and is just a chilled out.