Marriage and relationships can be difficult as is. However, when you add a career into the mix which takes one partner away for extended periods of time? Times can be even more trying. There are many different career paths that might lead to these types of relationships. Maybe your spouse is in the military, you’re taking a job in a different city, or maybe you’re in the truck-driving industry… While each for these fields are inherently different, they have one thing in common: long-distance relationships. Today, we want to focus in on truck driving difficulties in terms of relationships. Furthermore, we want to help you learn how to manage them, and maybe even grow a bit within the process…
Truck Driving Difficulties: Managing Intimate Relationships
Give yourselves something to look forward to during the week
Let’s face it, depending on your spouse’s schedule, you might only see each other for a few hours a week. Therefore, it’s important to find ways to make the most of that time. Whether you dedicate two hours of that time towards having a lunch out together, or maybe just taking two hours behind closed doors… every couple is different. Furthermore, the ways in which you connect will vary too.
When facing truck driving difficulties from either side of the relationship, you might take to online forums that will remind you that you’re not alone. However, when looking for advice on how to cope and spend your time, remember to customize your experience. We all have our own means of bonding and connecting, don’t rule that out because of what works for DriversWife123.
Manage expectations
We encourage having activities to explore with each other on those long-awaited days off. However, we also encourage managing your expectations in terms of what that time off looks like for your partner. You miss them and they absolutely miss you. But, at the same time, their job is exhausting. Both mentally and physically, your partner needs to relax and decompress in preparation of their next journey.
Arguably one of the largest truck driving difficulties for the stay-at-home partner, is to not hit the ground running when their partner gets home. Give them a bit of time to rest up, relax, and enjoy the comfort of their own home. As we’ve mentioned, you miss them and they miss you. However, they also miss the comfort of their own home.
Don’t belittle each other’s roles
As your partner gets started out on the road, there will be a few growing pains. You see it all the time in couples who are figuring this thing out: that issue of managing expectations. As a driver, you have a lot of time on the road to yourself. This can lead to some resentments in terms of how hard you’re working, and how difficult the job can be. However, on the flip side, your spouse is taking care of everything at home.
From school drop offs, practices, lunches, tending to the home, and also making sure everything is squared away for when you get home. Therefore, on both sides, there might be some feelings of ill-will in terms of how hard you’re working. Truck driving difficulties come in many different forms, and are not limited to the driver. Your chosen career path is not for the faint of heart, and we commend you for that. We also encourage you to follow these steps, and create your own, for avoiding common issues that arise for trucking industry families.