WHEN YOUR TRAVEL STYLES DIFFER

Midlife - when opposites attract and then find out the differences when they travel together!

MIDLIFE TRAVELS 

For those who've seen my Facebook posts, you would know that I spent last week in Singapore with my very fit, and much more adventurous than me, husband - who should be renamed Bear Grylls the Second! We chose Singapore because it offered lots of variety seeing we like completely different things. So lets kick off Singapore Week on the blog today by reviewing a few life lessons Singapore style!


LESSONS LEARNED:


1. My idea of "a hike" and my husband's completely differ.


Case in point - number one thing on my husband's to-do list was the Southern Ridges walk - a 10km round trip through three of Singapore's biggest parks. Sounded fine to me - after all how bad could it be strolling through tropical parkland in the shade and stopping at a cafe somewhere along the way? WRONG!!

We started at the base of Mt Faber - can you see where this is going? A ridge walk involves getting up to the ridge - I have never climbed so many stairs in my life! Then there were upward ascending paths, tree walks, board walks, footpaths, roads and goodness knows what else. I got quite giddily excited when we started descending down one of the looooong boardwalks - only to find we were climbing back up again to get to Mt Kent - holy cow this was no walk in the park!

By the time I staggered out two hours or so later, I felt like I'd ascended Mt Everest (twice!) except that it's cold there, in Singapore it was 30 degrees Celcius and 90% humidity - we were swimming in our own sweat - and then we had to find a taxi home - see Point 3!


2. My idea of browsing the markets and my husband's completely differ.


One of my to-do's was to wander through the Bugis Street Markets - a version of Singapore's China town - where there is a rabbit warren of several hundred stalls (under cover and sort-of airconditioned.) He kept losing sight of me because he was forging ahead through the middle while I ambled along, getting sidetracked by all the little knick knacks on display - my tourist dollars were burning a hole in my wallet!

In the end he walked slightly behind me - that way he could keep an eye on me at all times - and when I stopped, he stopped and we managed to stay connected through the throng of tourists and locals. That being said, he could not wait to get out of the miasma of people and find somewhere less congested to recuperate!



3. My idea of planning our route and my husband's completely differ.


I Google map everything - I check and double check how to get to and from a destination. My husband has a general idea - mostly it involves walking off in the direction he thinks we should go, realizing it was the other way, turning around and claiming 'it's all part of the adventure' while I whine about the extra walking involved.

He also didn't check how to get back from our Ridge Walk - instead we wandered aimlessly down the mountain looking hopefully for a taxi until we ended up somewhere remotely civilized and I finally convinced him to let me ask someone for help. They called a taxi for us and I think I heard the angels singing as I slid into the air-conditioned back seat and headed back to our hotel!



4. My idea of foreign food and my husband's completely differ.


I will admit right here that I am the most unadventurous eater around. My idea of eating "local" involves finding something that generally resembles Western cuisine and playing safe - with a little touch of local flavour as my concession to being out of my comfort zone.

My husband on the other hand will try anything - he picks the weirdest thing on the menu and laughs if it tastes like rubbish and looks smug if it actually tastes good. He has sweated his way through a heap of curries - tried every nationality he can find on the street cafes and generally has a great time - while mocking my less than exotic tastes! 



Midlife - when opposites attract and then find out the differences when they travel together!

OPPOSITES ATTRACT

There is a saying that opposites attract, but it forgot to mention how that works when you are in a foreign country and approach vacationing from polar opposite premises! Fortunately we didn't kill each other and we survived the adventure, but I think I might choose somewhere a little bit cooler for our next getaway holiday!
Midlife - when opposites attract and then find out the differences when they travel together!


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Midlife Monday - www.crestingthehill.com.au

33 comments

  1. Ha! I loved this. I have been on those hikes. They keep going and going and going. . . Good for you for embracing this adventurous trip!

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    1. It was when the path started sloping upwards again and the steps started AGAIN that I could hear myself whimpering Suzi!

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  2. I completely empathize. When I married my husband, he was an avid sailor. His idea of sailing was to stay out on the water, heeled over at a crazy angle for 12 hours at a time. My idea of sailing was to be out on the water for a couple of hours in route to a great seafood restaurant at a lovely marina. Sigh . . . guess that's why I love him.

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    1. Oh that is just perfect! The sea version of my land life Mimi - I just wanted a coffee and some cool air - not a big ask!

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  3. My knees are aching just thinking about your hike! Humidity can suck the bonhomie out of anyone! Glad you both survived.

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    1. It certainly proved to be a challenge Haralee - I hate feeling like I'm an old woman, but ultimately I'm middle aged and not eighteen anymore (I don't think I'd want to do that climb as an eighteen year old either!)

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  4. So so so much yes. I finally realize that I need to plan more girls trips because that would make me more patient with the non-:-)

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    1. You'd have been great doing the walk Carla - you'd probably be really Zen about it - not whining quietly like I was!

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  5. My husband and I differ so completely on how to travel that we take separate vacations. We fought during a dozen trips before we threw in the towel. He wants to spend a lot of money on fancy foods and then sleep and read. I want to eat light and run all over the place, seeing as many sights as possible and meeting many new people. So I ended up doing a lot of sight seeing by myself while he slept. It didn't make sense to spend money kenneling the dog and arranging people to care for our kids so that we could vacation in a way that we didn't really spend much time together. So we don't do that anymore! I'm glad that you can go together, even if you don't have perfectly aligned travel styles.

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    1. I really appreciate hearing that it's okay to not love every moment of a vacation spent with your nearest and dearest Karen. I think I have my ideals set way too high. I love that we're different and I guess I have to accept that means we'll have different approaches to what a "holiday" is!

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  6. Sounds like an amazing trip. You both got to see what you would not have if you were traveling without each other. Sounds like you two are the perfect combo!

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    1. Oh what a lovely way to look at things Mary! I actually thought we did quite well - and we learned what each of us is capable of (I had to remind him that I wasn't 25 anymore- but it's nice that he thought I was!)

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  7. I feel your pain, when it comes to travel and vacations, hubby and I are on totally opposite ends.

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    1. It's really nice to not feel alone in this Antionette - normally all hear you hear about are the perfect travel companion partners - obviously we aren't all married to them!

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  8. My legs hurt and I'm sweating just from reading. My husband would be happy exploring hotels. Like your husband though, he is not a planner. Drives me crazy but we always seem to work it out and have fun. I'm so glad you made it home safe.

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    1. The sweating was fairly gross Doreen - I don't think either of us are cut out for the tropics (especially if you're going to insist on walking everywhere!) Next time we'll try somewhere cooler :)

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  9. Love this. When it comes to vacations Randy and I are usually in tune...until he had a double lung transplant. Now I travel to the remote places by myself, so we can't disagree on those!

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    1. I love reading about all your travels Tam - and it makes me feel a bit better that even you don't have the perfect twosome for every adventure!

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  10. I can relate. That's when traveling solo makes lots of sense. Or, at least go off on your own and meet back at a certain time.

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    1. I'm going to be pushing for him to go off on his own adventures more next time Rebecca - while I read a book by the pool :)

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  11. At least you have some stories to tell Leanne! Being opposites isn't necessarily a bad thing I think it adds richness to the relationship. I hope you received a lovely leg massage after your hike!

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    1. No massage in sight Sue - more of a "suck it up Princess" approach I'm afraid. But it did make for some good stories and a few laughs afterwards. He told me I'd have nothing to talk about if we'd just eaten at restaurants and lain around the pool :P

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  12. First may I say that you and I would be perfect travels partners. Except no sex, of course. My husband and I approach many things differently, but luckily not when it comes to travel or adventure. I give you a lot of credit for being such a good sport! And............thanks for sharing your travels to Singapore ..........I was cracking up!

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    1. Thanks Ellen - I'd be happy to have a sexless vacation that involved shopping and lazing by the pool - call me anytime! I thought I might as well be honest about the vacation (my husband said I was rather kind in my descriptions - maybe he would have said worse stuff!!)

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  13. I'm really lucky in that Michael and I have compatible travels styles and will also be convinced to try something new. He's a big cruiser and I'm not so much, but I've learned to like it and he's learned to like not cruising!
    carol

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    1. It's finding that common ground isn't it Carol? I thought we had it figured out, but there is still a bit more work to do in choosing our ideal climate for vacationing!

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  14. Michael and I used to have exactly the same travel style but that does seem to have changed a little over time, which has been challenging. He walked 500+ miles on the Camino de Santiago. I stayed home for that one :)

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    1. I would have stayed home too Lois. My husband did Mt Kilimanjaro a few years ago - but went with our son and I stayed home (I'm not good in 3rd world countries climbing mountains!)

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  15. Fortunately hubster and I mostly agree on this stuff - except for the fact I'm much more interested in travelling than he is! We went to Europe last year and he's like, we've been overseas now, what do you want to go again for (so soon)? Um HELLOOOOOOOO?!

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    1. Travelling is such an interesting experience - it takes you to new worlds but I must admit I'm a bit like your husband - it's always SO nice to come home again!

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  16. This is too funny. If you both agreed on everything what fun would that be!

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    1. It does keep things interesting Melissa!

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  17. This makes me laugh! It's true - opposites attract!

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Thanks so much for your comment - it's where the connection begins.