Couple Fights While Traveling: Why Love Isn’t Enough

Behind those smiling couple shots with matching backpacks and dreamy backdrops, there’s a high chance Rowjie and I were fighting five minutes earlier or later. Couple fights while traveling aren’t rare, especially when you’re tired, hungry, or just plain lost. Traveling as a couple isn’t always about sunsets and serendipity. Sometimes, it’s about walking three kilometers in silence because neither of you wants to apologize first. HAHAHAHHAHA

Let me share a few of our finest travel fights.

Mount Kanlaon, 2010

On our second night on the mountain, of course, we fought before dinner time. One of the hikers we were with tried to patch things up between me and Rowjie, and that didn’t go well. Until now, I’m not in speaking terms with that hiker. Lesson learned: don’t meddle with a lovers’ quarrel. Sila bati na, tapos kaaway mo pa rin ‘yung isa sa kanila. LOOOOOOL

Kuala Lumpur, 2011

Inside the National Museum of Malaysia, we fought. Don’t ask me why. We can never remember the root cause of our most trivial arguments. All I remember is how we walked from the museum to our Couchsurfing host’s house in Chinatown. That’s more than three kilometers of dead silence, just following the offline map on our iTouch. Remember? Hindi pa uso ang Wi-Fi noon at Google Maps! It was one of the longest, quietest walks of our lives.

Namche Bazaar, 2014

Day two pa lang ng Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek, may away na. It was already 4:00 PM that day, and the temperature started to drop. I felt cold, uneasy, and lightheaded. I took out my gloves from my backpack and put them on. Rowjie asked me if I was feeling okay, and that irked me. I sometimes don’t like being asked that kind of question. Surprise, surprise. Also exhausted and put out with the way I reacted, he hurriedly walked past me without saying a word. Eto ang away na literally to the highest level.

When we reached the teahouse, I went straight to our room, threw up, layered two jackets, and collapsed on the bed without changing clothes. We didn’t speak the entire time, and then I fell asleep. Hours later, I woke up to the light of Rowjie’s headlamp. It’s dinner time. I didn’t want to eat, but he forced me to sip hot soup. I did. Then back to bed. No apologies, no sweet words, just survival mode. Marriage at altitude, ladies and gents.

Bali, 2014

After our EBC trek, Rowjie and I decided to go straight to Bali for some sun and sand. I honestly can’t recall what started this one. Pattern, no? But it’s one of the unforgettable ones because I got scammed by a “money changer” along Kuta Road. All our remaining funds from EBC were at stake. Under the scorching Bali sun, I marched back to the money changer alone, screamed at the scammers, and demanded my money back. I succeeded, but Rowjie wasn’t with me. Why? Because we were fighting. Love in paradise. Lol.

Dumaguete, 2019

My DMG-SIQ birthday trip. You’d think birthdays bring peace. Nope. We fought over a cake. Was I expecting him to get me one? Did I want one, and he refused? I can’t remember. All I know is: what a way to celebrate! A fight, a kid in tow (three years old na si Ilog nito), and a mysterious cake as the third party.

Looking back, none of these couple fights while traveling ruined our trips. If anything, they’ve become part of our greatest travel stories. That 3-kilometer silent walk in Kuala Lumpur? Hilarious now. The Everest sulking? Epic. The Bali scam showdown? Iconic. The Dumaguete cake fight? A classic.

Traveling with your spouse (or girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever haha) magnifies everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Hunger, exhaustion, and bad directions can turn into petty fights, but it also brings out the best: the soup forced on you when you’re weak, the quiet patience of letting things pass, the laughter after realizing how absurd your fight was. And here’s the truth: love alone isn’t enough when you’re hungry, lost, or puking in the middle of a mountain. Love is the foundation, yes, but patience, humor, and knowing when to shut up (or when to just buy the damn cake) are what actually save the day.

And that, my friends, is the unfiltered truth of couple travel.

Thanks for reading!