My Ex-Husband & I Still Go on Vacation Together & People Think It's Strange

When we develop a passion, separating ourselves from what we love can be difficult. Whether it be food, music, fashion, or a host of other activities, passions can become part of our personalities. It is always a bonus when we find someone to share in those passions with us, and if a romantic relationship develops, it can feel like a match made in heaven.

That certainly appeared to be the case for Catherine Brown and her now ex-husband, Kelby, who fell in love with each other and shared a desire to travel the world. But as she wrote in the Toronto Star, she and Kelby fell out of love but their excitement for travel remained, so the two continued to take trips together with no plans of ever getting back together.

The pair met by chance.

Brown explained in an article for the Star that she and Kelby met on Valentine’s Day many years ago while she was living in Argentina and he was backpacking through the area. The pair instantly felt a connection.

Their relationship was quickly romantic and filled with love and adventure as they saw the world. She explained that he is her most compatible travel partner; they work together beautifully.

A long-term romance wasn’t in the cards.

Although the pair loved one another dearly, their marriage was not meant to be. Brown and Kelby divorced, and she moved to the United States and he to Australia shortly afterward. But while they were apart, Brown realized that she still wanted to spend time traveling together with her ex-husband in a purely platonic way. She explained that Kelby is a much better travel partner than her other friends.

“On trips with other friends, there was always a need for compromise. I sleep by 10 p.m. and wake naturally by 6 a.m., excited to start the day. They would doze until mid-afternoon and want to go out drunken dancing until dawn," she wrote. "I would end up being their (annoyed) personal photographer so they could post to Instagram no less than 10 times a day. They would scorn my delicious, local street food and prefer to pay 20 times more for the exact food we could easily get at home.”

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The pair understand each other.

Having been in a relationship, they know what each other likes and dislikes, which lends itself nicely to pleasant travel.

“He intuitively knows when to stop the car for me to take in the pretty light cascading through tree branches, and I know to slam on the brakes if I see a roadside landscape perfect for him to boulder. He is a king of CrossFit, and I am a much lazier queen of a great picnic — no one else will joyfully carry a massive backpack full of food, wine, blankets and books to a mountain summit for me, just so we can enjoy an epic lunch,” Brown admitted.

Brown and Kelby are best friends.

They are content in their relationship just the way it is. They don’t need romance to get in the way. She shared that they are best friends who “delight in each other’s company.”

The pair are holding on to the greatest parts of the relationship and have let go of what didn’t work in a marriage. It has allowed them to continue to love each other and enjoy each other’s company as they experience the world together.

They have no plans to give up their joint adventures.

Even though they are exes, Brown and Kelby have many planned trips. They hope to visit Mexico and China and do it all together. The pair have one epic trip a year, and both look forward to it.

“I could never have imagined how our marriage could bring us to where we are now, but I’m excited to see where this evolution of our relationship can take us in the world," she confessed.