Dan Lidwin loves a good adventure, and whoever he married would have had to feel the same way. So, in 2021, after a few months of dating, he put a burgeoning relationship to the test.
A well-seasoned traveler, Lidwin has visited over 80 countries, seeking out active experiences such as scuba diving and hiking. On a trip to Ecuador with his friends, the public relations professional went on a solo side quest, renting a car and going to the middle of the Colombian jungle for a bird safari.
Naturally, when it came to love, Lidwin knew he needed someone who could keep up. Then, he met Sydney.
The two crossed paths volunteering for the same service organization, and started dating in March 2021. Her love for travel caught his eye – she’d been to around 30 countries herself – and she was a daredevil in her own right. She ran marathons and took trips, such as hiking the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim in a single day.
“I knew she had a zest for adventure,” Lidwin said.
In the first few months of their relationship, the two planned to visit Yosemite National Park. They wanted to see how they traveled together, from their pace to overcoming travel snafus. “You really learn a lot about a person when they’re in a pressure cooker and when they’re in a tough situation, or like when they have to think fast or when they have to pivot,” the Georgia-based resident told USA TODAY.
He’s not the only person who feels that way, with 37% of U.S. travelers open to testing a relationship – whether romantic, platonic, or professional – through a trip, according to Booking.com’s 2026 Travel Predictions.
By observing how you handle stressful flight disruptions or work together to navigate a new city, travel can make or break a relationship.
Travel can be a powerful pathway to growth by pushing people to their limits, revealing how they handle stressors and expanding their perspective. When you introduce a companion, it turns into a genuine test of compatibility.
“In 2026, we’re expecting travelers to lean into what we’re calling the Turbulence Test, which is all about using travel as the ultimate relationship check to see how well they really sync with the people in their lives,” said Ben Harrell, managing director of the U.S. for Booking.com. “Let’s be honest, travel isn’t only about where you’re going anymore. It’s also about discovering who you are, and who’s actually worth going with since nothing tests compatibility and communication quite like a trip together.”
Lidwin has a similar philosophy. Some of his dream destinations are Peru and Bolivia, but he knows he can’t travel there with just anyone. “I know what those places will be like – the long bus rides, the insects and the stretching nature of it – and there are a lot of people I wouldn’t go with, but my wife would,” he said.
He learned that Sydney embodied many of the qualities he was looking for in a partner shortly after that first trip together, which he said unraveled quickly: it started with a rerouted flight and missed layover and continued with a small accident with their rental car that forced them to return to San Francisco for the night.
Even though both were exhausted, she quickly came up with solutions and remained calm. (He also discovered that she’s a lighter packer and faster hiker than he is, which he loves to brag about.)
“She really showed that our idea of a good time, our idea of a great trip, and our idea of how much we want to pack into a long weekend was actually really, really pretty similar,” he added. From there, the rest was history and the two recently welcomed their first child together.
Romantic bonds aren’t the only type of relationships that can benefit from traveling together. Some travelers have used trips to test whether they can take their relationship to the next level, such as from work colleagues to friends. That’s what travel influencer and writer La Carmina did in 2015 with photographer and friend Joey Wong.
She had met Wong through a mutual friend and liked his work enough to bring him on a trip to Iceland as her photographer. Not only did they work well together, but she quickly learned they had much in common, from travel style to shared interests, like trying local cuisine.
“There are many important things that usually only come up on a trip when we’re together at all times – like how to spend money, what type of experiences they prioritize, and their quirks and habits,” she told USA TODAY. To this day, La Carmina and Wong remain close friends and have gone on many trips together, both for work and leisure.
Bella Graham, a somatic coach and writer, also trialed a working relationship with a friend in 2022. At the time, Graham was hosting wellness events for women under her brand Muse by Midnight, and exploring hiring a friend who worked as a cinematographer to capture the retreats.
They took a scouting trip to Lake Como and Cinque Terre in Italy to see “how we flowed – professionally, creatively and energetically – before committing to a larger collaboration,” she told USA TODAY. They encountered a few snags during their trip, including issues with their accommodations and stormy weather that canceled their sunset boat ride, but they overcame them seamlessly.
By the end of the trip, the two found themselves closer – both as friends and creative collaborators – and worked together for several years.
“You can usually determine the future of a relationship – whether it’s romantic, platonic or professional – based upon observations from traveling together,” Graham said. “You quickly learn whether you feel safe with someone, whether you trust them, whether you can rely on them – and whether you actually enjoy their company.”
(This story was updated to fix a typo.)
