Why I Marry A Man Who Travels: Reflection on our third anniversary

Date a boy who travels would get you more than a series of sit-in dates in fancy restaurants. Your dates will involve exploring the city, savouring the evening air, and tasting one of the cheapest foods in the bank of Code River.

A boy who does not mind sitting hours in a wrecked bus to Tangkahan, North Sumatra, a boy who prefers taking you to exploring the woods rather than sitting two-hours in the movie – he will spend the last one hour snoring!

He will enjoy the hours of waiting the boat in Bangsal taking tons of pictures, rather than booking a convenient boat to go to Gili T in Lombok.

The cycle of our life and all the fun that follows

Marry a man who treasures new experiences over a steady lifestyle. He will not bore you with the details of his day-to-day jobs after hours, but a discussion over where Diego Bunuel (or Charlie Boorman) is heading aired on NatGeo Adventure instead.

The honeymoon will be a backpacking adventure to Vietnam rather than a merely few days relaxing in a luxurious resort in Bali. A quarrel with a taxi driver would be a laughable memory in the future.

Honeymoon escape to Vietnam

A man who travels will have no split-second hesitancy to buy 1900 dollar worth plane tickets to experience the cold winter of Paris, although he was combat-ready against the 500K rupiah shirt for the wedding (which eventually caused the bride cried her heart out).

This man will point a scene on TV or a picture on the magazine, saying “Let’s go there!” although he does not sure when, or whether he has the many to pay for the trips. This man will have travel applications on the iPad although most of them – if not all – are free. This man will subscribe for all NG channels, TLC, and the likes, and despise infotainment and so-called talk-shows on politics as they “will get us nowhere”.

The man who travels usually loves his cameras, backpacks, and maybe his hiking and diving gears. He is willing to spend $$$ for them. But he does not mind going to the office wearing a worn pants, a faded shirt, and an unbelievably cheap shoes. The wife would and should mind, though!

A husband as a traveler would not hesitate to take you backpacking to India, although you are five-month pregnant. You can tell your future child that you had to spend a night in a cold, cramped, dirty station of Agra. And before that, you were arrested by the police in Taj Mahal.

Moto-riding around the island of Phuket.

The fact that your belly grows bigger will not stop him taking you to a motorbike trip around an island in Thailand. You may get backache – and butt-ache for sure – but it certainly is worth the excitement. You may also slip on a hill in West Java but he will say “it will make the baby tougher”. He will take you exploring beaches, hiking cliffs, a few days before the due date “because pregnant mom should take a lot of walks for the delivery”.

When the baby is born, he will take you two visiting candi, the mountain and beaches. Road trips are something unavoidable for the newborn. Introducing one’s culture and natural richness is mandatory.

This kind of father will take you to explore neighbouring countries although a lot of people say that the baby will not remember. This kind of father is convinced that he can plant the root of adventurism as early as possible.

He will not care so much about daycare, or teaching the baby English, as he believes that every people has the ability of self-learning – by communicating and, even better, by travelling. Teaching mother-tongue is far more important so that he will not forget his root as he grows older. The baby will be proud of his origin and share it with the world.

Hit by snowstorm in Amsterdam (Oliq ndelik)

Your baby will have visited 8 countries before reaching two year old. He will remember how cold it was around Eiffel Tower, how he fed the ducks in Norway, or how he was stuck in snowstorm in the Red Lights District of Amsterdam.

A father who travels may sit on the foot of Mt Fuji and said to his one-year-old, “One day we will climb up to the top together.”

Fifth station of Mt Fuji. We’re coming back soon!

Marrying a man who travels means that you will not roam the malls on your weekends, most probably you will be on the road trip out of town, or even skipping overseas just because. It also means that your book shelves are filled with Lonely Planets and stolen in-flight magazines.

Marrying a man who travels means you don’t have to worry about mortgage, because it will only entrap the passion to travel.

Do not expect a wedding ring from this kind of man, instead, expect a joyful ride of eternity.

Marrying a man who travels means you will have a healthy marriage, a fun, and far-from-boring knot. You dream big: a dream to uncover the mystic Kilimanjaro, to discover the romantic Santorini, to relish in the wild of Serengeti, and to enjoy a relaxed family trip to Auschwitz.

As for the men, you may consider marrying a woman who travels. So you will have no worry in planning getaways, securing promo tickets, organizing state-of-art yet extremely cheap adventures. And you will have the money to pay your travel since she will not spend it on handbags.

A man who travels means you can count on him. You can count on him to take you to Machu Picchu, like, pretty soon.

(Inspired by articles I read, but more likely from our experiences from the past 7 years of togetherness)