Does she have long-term potential?

Even if everything about a girl adds up on paper that doesn’t mean you have marriage-material on your hands; things could get very different the longer you’re with her (and the more you learn about the weird tick she assures you is ‘nothing’).

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How can you be sure it’s gonna work long-term? What you need is a test-bed; a microcosm of what your life will be like with her after the thrill wears off. A controlled, laboratory environment where all of her best and worst traits will be laid bare for you to assess (and, most likely, recoil in horror.)

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Luckily that microcosm exists — it’s called “travel.” But, we don’t mean luxury travel — hell, anyone can survive a week at the Maui Four Seasons without revealing any unpleasant personality quirks. No, we’re talking about ‘budget travel’. The kind of travel that taps deeply into the psychological and physical differences between men and women. The kind of travel that pits people together in some primal, conflict-charged situations like getting lost and having to ask for directions, among others.

To start the experiment, load your lab rat...er, girlfriend into an economy/compact rental car and hit the road for at least an 8-hour road-trip. The destination doesn’t matter; it’s the trip itself that tells you all you need to know. Just put your potential love-mate into a cramped moving vehicle for several long, boring hours and you’ll really find out how much you like her. And how much she really likes you.

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Trust us, after 500 miles in a hot, odd-smelling shit box, she’ll reveal tons of specific information about herself that will allow you to peer into the future of your lives together. When people are outside their normal comfort zone and bored to tears, their real personality shows up. You’ll know whether she makes an experience more tolerable or just more miserable. If you both can’t get along for 8-hours without lunging for each other’s jugular, how long do you think you’d both last in a marriage? Not damn much longer.

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Budget travel lets you experience each other’s problem-solving and coping skills (or lack thereof). Plus, it gives you an idea of how your different approaches to life mix, or more likely, don’t. If she’s the advance-planner type and you’re the seat-of-your-pants spontaneous type, you’ll find out if those styles work well together, and fast.

It’s like compressing time. On the road, you’ll quickly reach each other’s physical and mental limits and discover if her adorable little quirks will still be adorable when you’ve been married for fifteen years.