Recently, at the very end of summer, I sat at the kitchen table with my sister, cousin, and aunt at our home in Cape Cod, reminiscing on everything from how work was going to past romances. My aunt offered up a particularly interesting story about her longest relationship, besides her husband of several decades, who remained rather amused for the majority of her retelling.

To get the full effect, my aunt retrieved a photo of her former lover, which she had tucked away in a scrapbook from her high school and college years. We all crowded around the faded image as she recounted their time spent together in Paris, where she had been working for the summer before her senior year of college.

She went into the details about how two weeks spent in the City of Love actually turned out to be the beginning of the end of their relationship. The demise was sparked by a few things, mostly centered around the fact that their compatibility seemed to wane overseas. She had saved all summer so they could do fun things when he came to meet her; he arrived with about 10 euros to spend, expecting her to cover the charges. She wanted to try different foods and be adventurous and let themselves get lost; he refused to eat anything but American food and was content to limit their exploring to stepping outside their hotel.

After ceremoniously ripping the picture of them in half, we spent some time deliberating on the significance of a couple- whether it be a friendship or romantic relationship- traveling together and what it helps determine.

Looking back on my experiences traveling, I tend to first remember only the positives; the beautiful sites, the people I met, the general sense of adventure and exploration. When looking back more closely, I realize my mind often leaves out the unfavorable parts. The questionable hostels where odd strangers occupied the beds a foot away, the food poisoning brought on by trying new things, the times we had to leave items behind to avoid being charged by airports for the weight of our luggage.

Traveling brings out the best and the worst of everyone; our adventurous spirits and willingness to try new things and have a go with the flow attitude, but also our stubbornness and inability to do something we have never done before. It provides an effective platform for people to see how they may overcome the hurdles a missed flight or misleading Google Maps directions present.

For my aunt and her relationship, everything was perfect until they tried something outside of their normal routine. Seeing the other side of the world with him turned out to be the birth of her realization that she needed someone more enthusiastic, a little more audacious and willing to forget about directions and lose their way for a little while.

I guess that means I’ll just have to go to Paris again before I get married.