Women Who Travel Podcast: Is Traveling Good For Your Relationship? We’re guessing Dr. Orna Guralnik for answers

You know, I love going to bookstores, even if I don’t understand the language, just to see what people are reading. Beauty, the beauty of another place, another country or another continent has a big impact on me. I find it very nourishing, inspiring.

I think it’s just the learning and the novelty and surprise that going somewhere else brings. It just opens up a space in me, and it’s inspiring, it’s… I learn from it, I grow from it, and I come back nourished from it, but also kind of open to the people I work at to hear them kind of differently .

LA: It sounds like traveling helps you understand people better, and-

OG: Yes.

LA: The people you work with?

OG: Yes. Travel opens you.

LA: After the break, how to negotiate your differences on vacation and whether it’s even a good idea to give the other half a surprise trip.

Since a therapy session can begin with anyone the couple wishes to raise, [inaudible 00:10:45] from Orna’s show opens up a lot of conversations and there is an episode where there is a couple and one half of the couple surprises another with a dominatrix as far as I remember.

OG: Right.

LA: Obviously very different than a surprise trip, but can surprises ever be good, or are you always… Is it a gift in itself in a relationship? Does a surprise trip even work? Should you give someone one?

OG: Surprises can be wonderful, and surprise trips can be wonderful. I mean it depends on who the people are. I mean, some people find it easy to shift gears and they love the idea of ​​someone else thinking about them that way, which they didn’t.

Some people find surprises very flattering, like a real gift, a real gift, not a selfish gift but a real gift where someone thinks about all the details and doesn’t bother them with it and just gives them something wonderful.

But you know, to be able to deal with a surprise without having to be in control, you need a degree of flexibility, and to know it beforehand. Some people are more rigid or have a lot of trouble with it, and they find surprises overwhelming and impossible to cope with.

So it really varies from person to person, but I would say some surprises are amazing.

LA: I do. Um, I’m someone who loves surprises. Often I think that in a relationship there is one person who loves travel and the adventure that travel brings, way more than the other half. What’s your advice for someone who is in a relationship where they love to travel and it’s a big part of their life and their partner isn’t interested?

OG: I mean, all the differences between couples are challenging. This one can be quite challenging at times because it’s big. When people like to travel, that’s an important part of them, and the reason people like to travel is because they like to be exposed to new things, and people who don’t like to travel is a big difference.