The Bachelor‘s Locky Gilbert and Irena Srbinovska have revealed their future plans, how COVID-19 has impacted their life on the road plus, how they deal with fights while travelling.
WATCH Locky Gilbert delivers his Christmas present to girlfriend Irena Srbinovska by skydiving
The couple, who recently celebrated their one year anniversary, enjoyed an epic seven-month road trip around the country.
Despite snap state border closures wreaking havoc on the tourism industry for the past 18 months, Locky and Irena have managed to maintain their frequent travels predominantly around Australia’s west coast.
The season eight Bachelor stars, who admit COVID-19 has still impacted some of their plans, revealed how they’ve been able to keep exploring throughout the pandemic.
“COVID has definitely made it harder to travel,” they said in an Instagram Q&A.
“We spent at least one month in each state with most of that time being away from major cities.”
They added: “Our plans changed day to day, which was difficult as we couldn’t really book anything in advance.”
Locky and Irena, both 31, revealed they’ve been trying to get back into Victoria for the past three months but due to on and off outbreaks, they have had no luck.
“So our plans changed but we’ve been incredibly lucky to have been able to travel. I think that this is a good crash course into what travelling is going to be like for a while,” they said.
Locky and Irena also shared advice for couples spending prolonged periods of time with each other while travelling.
“When you spend that much time with each other you will fight. The best thing to do is just take 10 [minutes], go for a walk on your own and calm down,” they said.
“Make sure that you are doing things that you both enjoy even on the days when things go to s**t. They will always get better.”
The Bachelor stars also advised couples to have backup money in case “something does go wrong”.
“Pack for all season and finally, start collecting your coins for the washing machines,” they said.
The couple also revealed Irena, who is originally from Melbourne, got homesick on a few occasions after plans to catch up with family and friends were cancelled due to COVID-19.
“Travelling can be isolating but we have loved spending every single day together,” they shared.
Locky and Irena’s next plan is to “settle down” in Perth, with the couple currently staying in a hotel apartment while they house hunt.
“Irena is going back to nursing and Locky has a few businesses planned,” they said.
“However we do have Victoria to revisit as we didn’t get to travel much when we were there last due to COVID.”
As picture perfect as their life looks, the couple admitted to WHO last month that their first year has seen them face some “amazing highs and devastating lows”.
Things got off to a rocky start for Irena when she left behind her friends and family in Melbourne to make the move to join her beau in Perth.
Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, the 31-year-old nurse had to deal with intense online bullying at the same time her father, Vasco, suffered a medical emergency. Lockdowns caused by the pandemic meant Irena couldn’t be by his side. The stress led to devastating consequences.
“During our first few months together I, unfortunately, suffered a miscarriage,” Irena said.
“But Locky was my absolute rock and having his support made me love him even more.”
Irena said their road trip was a “crash course in getting to know each other”.
“When you’re on the road with someone like this for so long, you really get to see the good, the bad and the ugly. But we’ve had an amazing time and know we’ll be together forever,” Locky added.
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