Do you have a partner who is always on the road? Normal dating is already complicated enough; dating someone who travels a lot is a more serious challenge. It is doable, though.
If you truly love your partner, you can make the necessary sacrifices to see your relationship develop and thrive. Nomads find tremendous joy in traveling around the world. To deny them the opportunity to travel will only result in you having an unhappy partner.
You can’t let your nomadic partner run wild, though. You must set boundaries that will guide your relationship and ensure that the environment created by them pursuing their hobby doesn’t grossly interfere with your love life.
What Dating a Nomad Looks Like
Before you commit to a relationship with someone who likes to travel a lot, you need to understand why you are getting yourself into. Dating a nomad is a lot like being in a long distance relationship. You and your partner will be apart for a significant amount of time. Granted, not all people who like to travel do so for long stretches of time. Most space out their adventures so that they can also spend a significant amount of time at home.
It is not all gloom and doom. There are several advantages to dating someone who travels. They will come back with amazing stories and you can keep some of the souvenirs they bring back home.
Their being away also makes you appreciate the moments you share with each other. You will have richer one-on-one interactions because of this. If you are the type that likes to spend a lot of time by yourself, you will appreciate the generous stretches of ‘me’ time you will get to have.
How to Make the Relationship Tolerable
You will have to be comfortable with the fact that your partner will always be away from home for some time. To enjoy the ‘intentional long-distance relationship’, here are some things you should do:
Cultivate Your Own Hobbies
At no point in the relationship should you rely solely on your partner for your own happiness. You have a license to have just as much fun as they are having traveling. You should cultivate your own interesting hobbies to enjoy when they are away.
Since you will crave human connection when your partner is away, you should have at least one hobby that allows you to get out of the house to interact with other people. This can be a sport, taking dancing classes, joining a book club, or any other thing you can enjoy in the company of like minded people.
You don’t want to choke your personality by being reclusive. Get out and interact with other interesting people. You will make friends who you can hang out with. It is unlikely that you will feel lonely when you have a few trusted friends you can always call upon to hang out with for a drink or to just chill.
Keep the Lines of Communication Open
You should communicate with your partner when they are on the road. You will be amazed at how something as simple as a phone call can go a long way in alleviating the distance occasioned by you being apart.
If you are on different time zones, make it clear when it is okay for one of you to call the other. You can set the ground rules before your partner departs for the trip.
If you want to give the communication a more personal touch, choose video calls over texts or voice calls. Besides Skype, there are several phone apps that you can use with relative ease. Most Private resort provide complimentary internet. Your significant other won’t have any trouble finding a great internet connection.
Establish Travel End-Dates
Your partner should be willing to make some concessions to make your relationship work. One of the things you can make them do to ease the pressure their hobby has on your relationship is to have them set definite start- and end-dates for their trips.
Knowing these dates will make it easy to plan your life around their schedule. You will know when they will return home so that you can schedule time to have some fun together.
It is important that you are able to share some quality moments with them when they are at home. The only way you can build a stronger relationship is by spending quality time with your lover.
Join Them on Some Trips
Joining your partner on some of their trips can actually be fun even if you don’t fancy the nomadic lifestyle. You will be getting yourself an instant tour guide in your partner and you can leech off their knowledge of what makes a great travel experience to have a lot of fun.
While not necessary, you can use the fact that you joined them on a travel experience to persuade them to take an interest in some of your hobbies. This is a convenient way for both of you to find time to share great moments with each other.
