During dinner with my roommate, he noted the obvious: “I have a new girlfriend.”

I laughed, since he rarely made declarations like that. He was more of a talker of interesting thoughts and philosophy. As we ate at The Broken Record through our foreign-tasting sausages, he mentioned that he was going to Peru within the next week. And he reflected for a moment. “It’s like a test…when I first date someone, I like to ask them to go on an international trip with me.”

After the dinner, I kept thinking…it is really a test of compatibility. Traveling together. Not only can it be a stressful situation, but it can be relaxing and wonderful. During my Thailand trip, I was surprised that drama didn’t spill and we didn’t end up hating each others guts. We were all civil people. And the same from before.

But things you learn about the other person (and these are things you often can only learn when living with the person):