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Sunday, August 5, 2012

Embracing Independence = Better Together

I can be very social and extroverted, however, I'm also independent, enjoying and even craving time on my own.  Whether it's to work out, read, write, paint, or just veg out, I like to have time to myself each week, aside from time with my hubby, friends, and family.

My husband is very understanding of this, and enjoys his alone time as well.  We both realize that our time apart gives us time to recharge ourselves, and brings us a greater appreciation for each other and enjoyment of the time we spend together.

I'm curious how these characteristics will affect me (and us) during our RTW adventure. 

I've read a few things about how important it is, when on an extended trip with another person (no matter who it is), to make sure each person is able to take some time for themselves.  Whether that means enjoying a morning cappuccino at an outdoor cafe solo, visiting separate attractions if they don't appeal to both people, spending a day apart exploring a new area, or even taking small side trips to different places for a short period of time, it's important to give yourself and the other person the time needed to reflect and re-energize as an individual.

It's hard to know what things will be like as we progress along our long-term trip, and how the journey will affect us.  We may be fine spending a lot of uninterrupted time together, adjusting to the circumstances and finding we don't need as much time to ourselves on our trip as we do in our lives here.  Or we may still need a regular amount of time alone, and be able to find easy ways to get enough of this time through small breaks or simply wanting to do different things than the other at the same time.  We may find that we are each craving a little adventure on our own at some point and spend several days exploring different places.

Like so much of this upcoming journey, we won't really know until we are out there, "living the dream."

No matter how it all plays out, I feel stronger knowing that we are aware of our needs for independence at times.  We are able to be completely honest with each other, and keep from offending the other because we know and expect to need to find ways to have our own space every now and then.  That way, we embrace our time as individuals while ensuring that as a couple we truly are "Better Together.**"

**"Better Together" is a song by Jack Johnson that the hubby and I both really like and was one of our favorites early on in our dating life.  It spoke to us, as we endured a long-distance relationship for much of our time before we got married.

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