By Charyn Pfeuffer
I can't imagine it's easy to date a wanderluster. Women like me are always planning their next move, and that move usually requires a flight, a layover, a stamp on a passport, and sometimes, a series of CDC-recommended shots. I love my long-term partner of eight years, really I do, but I was never meant to be a stay-at-home anything - wife, mother, you name it.
Thankfully, my other half has always been very supportive of my need to travel - sometimes half-way around the world on 72-hours notice. We have certain understandings - like when I've been away for too long and it's time to come home, or when he doesn't want me going to specific regions of the world for safety reasons. But he's never stood in my way of adventure and it agrivates me when I cross people in my travels who ask me increduously, "Your partner lets you travel like this?" Lets me? What am I? A modern day Laura Ingalls Wilder? I don't think so. It works for us because we've found some semblance of balance.
Not all relationships are suited for this kind of come-and-go scenario.We communicate well, which helps immensely. Also, we're both fiercely independent individuals, so while we adore each other, distance truly does make our hearts grow fonder. All the small stuff that would typically bug someone in a 24/7 relationship seems to slip away when you have a plane ticket booked or have been separated for weeks.
