Dreaming of a romantic holiday?

While holidays are meant to be times to break free from the daily routine and get away from it all, they’ve also been known to make or break many relationships. Couples normally find that their relationship will become more intimate during their time away from their normal lives, and without the same friends and regular things to do you’re likely to see a few traits that you aren’t that familiar with. Forget the pouring rain when it’s meant to be hot, or the accommodation looking more like a slum than a holiday villa, poor communication between partners before they leave is often what causes the most arguments, as hopes and expectations of what they want to see and do are unapparent.

It’s easy to assume that both of you want the same thing out of your holiday; after all, you’ll probably have plenty in common if you’re in a relationship. However, things could easily be very different if they haven’t been talked over. One partner might want a holiday of relaxing on a hot beach, long walks, and candlelit dinners, while the other is thinking along the more adventurous route of water sports, seeing the local sights, and long nights on the tiles. Unless you’ve talked about what you’re most looking forward to during your holiday, then your hopes could be dashed as the other partner sways your choices. Additionally, if you’re planning to go with other people, make sure you going as couple is not going to cause friction. Young couples going on drinking holidays with friends and spoiling things through bad behavior is a fairly regular occurrence every summer.

Not only do you have to know each other’s expectations, but you’ll also need to plan carefully about who’s going to organize what. Think of a neat checklist, and then talk through everything, otherwise you might come up short and end up in a disagreement. Make sure you at least consider the following things:

Before You Go

Who is going to book the holiday?

Who will be getting extras like foreign currency and travel insurance?

Do you need to get any extra items of clothing or accessories, if so what, and who is going to get them?

Who will do the packing?

Most importantly, make sure you talk about what you’re looking forward to most about the holiday. If you don’t want the possibly strange situation formed by the words, ‘Let’s talk about our holiday,’ you’ll be able to subtly find out what to plan. If you remember something particularly special and manage to surprise your partner with it when you’re away then you’ll certainly get some extra points!