Becca Droz still remembers how anxious she was on her first hike with her now-partner, Nikki Nichols. The rock climbing instructor, 32, who is based in Boulder, Colorado, was used to a constant stream of conversation on the trail—but Nichols was quiet. “That made me really uncomfortable,” Droz says. “It made me wonder, do we not have something to talk about? It stressed me out.” No such problem existed, it turned out: Nichols, 29, simply liked quiet time to think. That personality difference, made obvious by their trail time, quickly led to a conversation about communication. The couple, together for two and half years now, figured out a potential relationship tripwire right away. Today, if Nichols wants silence when they’re together, she says so up front—and Droz knows that doesn’t mean their relationship is in trouble.
It’s no accident that Droz and Nichols figured out their communication styles through spending time outdoors. Years of research has documented how time in nature benefits individuals, and clued-in couples therapists across the country know that exposure to the outdoors translates to…
