Before I married CJ – my second and best-ever husband – my friend Susan said I should go on a canoe trip test with him. “Why?” I asked.  “Because a canoe trip brings out the worst in people. You’ll see how he handles stress,” she answered. Thinking back on the few times I was ever in a canoe and remembering all the #%*$^&* (swear words), I agreed with her.

Our canoe trip test 

Two months before we married, our first “canoe trip test” was flying from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, to San Diego, CA. I was attending a business conference for three days. CJ packed his surfboard and wetsuit. We planned to stay an additional three days to visit my brother in Palm Springs, CA. I made all the reservations – air flights, hotels, and even rented a van to carry his surfboard.  Everything was planned perfectly until…

Test #1

We missed our flight from Ft. Lauderdale – the very first step of our trip! Travel experiences with my ex-husband had always been stressful so I was on high alert, looking for signs of CJ’s stress. Was he going to yell at me, blame me, stomp off in a rage like the ex would have? None of that happened and we took the next flight 2 hours later.  I was relieved until…

More tests…

We got separated in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. For about 30 minutes, I stood in front of the ladies restroom closest to our gate hoping he would find me. And I worried while I waited. Would he be mad at me? Would he blame me for getting separated, or pout and ignore me? But when he saw me, (he was far, far away for some reason) his face lit up with happiness – not anger or blame.  He wasn’t pissed, he didn’t lecture me, instead he hugged and kissed me and made me feel loved.

Stop expecting bad things.

At this point,  I decided to stop expecting CJ to act like my ex. I reminded myself of My True Love List – “My true love likes to travel by plane, train, car, or boat and stays calm when things go wrong.”

I confessed.

CJ was unaware that we were on a “secret” True Love Canoe Trip Test. As we drove from beautiful San Diego to my brother’s house in Palm Springs, I confessed. “Did I pass?” he asked. “Yes, yes, yes!” was my answer. We agreed that we both passed the test and decided it was another positive sign that we were supposed to be together. (Turns out, he was watching how I reacted when things went wrong!) The rest of this first trip went smoothly. Of course, since then, we’ve been tested many times but we stick together, support each other, and get through whatever fate throws at us. That’s our true love. 

Do you want to travel with your True Love?

If you like to travel and want to travel with your True Love, write your list of who and what you want! Here’s some positive attribute suggestions about travel you may want to use. An attribute is a quality or feature that someone or something has. But, remember, this list is all about you – who and what do you want your True Love to be? Listed here are a few examples but please write your own positive statements.

My True Love:

• loves to travel with me
• is happy for me to travel without him
• prefers to travel by trains and cars
• is fun to travel with
• stays calm when problems happen
• is interested in traveling to remote areas of the world
• wants to go camping, hiking, canoeing with me
• wants to climb mountains with me
• wants to go skiing with me 
• wants to go on cruises with me and our family and friends
• likes to go on impromptu road trips
• is happy for me to be in charge of trip details like reservations
• is happy for himself to be in charge of trip details like reservations
• is happy to travel with my children and other family members
• is happy to travel with my dog

Share your True Love travel list and I will send you mine!

  Remember, your love is looking for you, too!