Getting away with your spouse is a vital part of keeping things renewed and fresh. This means taking time to intentionally disconnect from your everyday world and reconnect with your life partner. I strongly believe that getting away should be a regular (at least monthly) occurrence in marriages – allow me to make my case!
Selena and I have found much solace in getting away throughout our marriage. Often, we simply get in the car (with our pups of course) and just drive. We don’t always know exactly where we’re going, we just get out and explore. During the drive, we make it a point to talk and dream. Often, this talking starts with arguing about something that was just beneath the surface – but being in the car driving 60+ mph means we have to sit there and work through it!
Essentially, this is what ‘getting away’ does. It puts you and your wife/husband face to face where you can connect without distraction.
Why getting away with your spouse is important
Selena and I live reasonably busy lives, like many of you. Jobs, tasks, routines, and everything else that sucks up our time can end up leaving us both starved for good, quality time together. The funny thing is, even our ‘relaxation’ time ends up draining us of deep connection if we sit in front of the TV or spend time droning around on the internet – Facebook, news, funny cat videos – you know what I’m talking about.
If we’re not careful, months can go by and we haven’t done anything meaningful or memorable together. Then when the year is past, we look back and wonder what happened – something just feels half-baked about what we did.
Getting away is important because it recenters our relationship and refreshes our hearts.
What getting away actually does
You’ve probably heard of “fasting”. If you haven’t, it basically means you stop something for a while (ex. eating) to reset yourself. For followers of Christ, fasting is an act of worship. For health buffs, fasting is a way to cleanse and reset your metabolism. For others, it’s a way to protest and abstain from a behavior you know is destructive (ever heard of someone ‘fasting’ or ‘leaving’ Facebook for a while?).
Think of getting away with your spouse as a way of ‘fasting’ or cleansing your relationship from distractions. Getting away effectively:
- Isolates you and your spouse from the world, allowing you to communicate honestly and fully
- Creates new experiences and memories together, adding depth to your history
- Removes you from everyday distractions and lifts your thinking
- Allows you to have fun together
- Helps put the ‘quality’ back in quality time
- Gives you a time to dream without boundaries and seek agreement on your life direction
- Gives you a springboard to seek God’s vision and His call on your marriage
This list is just the beginning. The key is to realize that getting away allows ample opportunity to truly partner with your spouse and strengthen your bond.
What getting away actually looks like
Please keep in mind that there isn’t a template for ‘getting away’. For us it’s usually spur of the moment and simple. We will wake up one Saturday morning and say “let’s go to the coast today” and simply do it. (The coast is a 2 hour drive for us). Then we just spend time kicking through the surf, grabbing lunch, playing fetch with our dogs, and just talking.
Some of our friends prefer the mountains, others prefer a new restaurant. The key is finding a easy way to retreat from normal life with the core intention of being close with your spouse.
Quick ideas for getting away together
Road trip! Pack an overnight bag, pick a spot on the map at least 100 miles away and just go! See what unfolds… talk along the way.
Camping: If you’re outdoorsy people, try to find a place you’ve never been before. See something new and breathe some fresh air together!
Trains: Extend your range with a cheap ticket. Keep it spontaneous… you don’t need to know where you’re going to stay or what you’re doing. Just go and figure it out on the fly.
AirBNB.com: This is an incredible website for opportunistic travelers. You can find a cheap, charming room in your favorite city and make a weekend of it.
Kayak.com: – this is my personal favorite website for finding flights. I usually have a few alerts set for cities we want to fly to. Then, when fares tank, we buy tickets and just make the details work later! (This is exactly how we toured Europe for 18 days for $360/ea round trip!)
Hopefully you will take these words to heart and set aside some time to get away very soon! Please do. And when you do, tell us the story!
Question: What is a favorite ‘get away’ for you and your spouse?
Have you heard of the The 31-Day Pursuit Challenge?
Every marriage begins with passion, purpose, and pursuit, but few stay that way. That’s why we wrote Husband in Pursuit and Wife in Pursuit Together, they make what we’re calling the 31-Day Pursuit Challenge. Couples are encouraged take the challenge together. We’re already starting to hear stories of transformed marriages! Are you up for the challenge?