In the wake of Love Island, this article couldn’t be more relevant. I still remember my first holiday romance like it was yesterday. Talk, dark and handsome, I was fifteen when I met twenty-one-year-old ‘Roma’ on a family holiday to Mexico (even though I told him I was eighteen). Our holiday romance consisted of a few stolen kisses here and there and a very awkward grinding encounter during which my Dad walked into the club… As our holidays drew to a close, we swapped numbers and social media accounts and agreed to keep in touch. I know you are dying to know if we kept in touch, but the harsh reality is that we didn’t. Our holiday romance didn’t even last a week after we flew back to our own countries. But this is just one example out of many, what I really want to know is if holiday romances can ever actually work? This article will be split into ‘yes’ and ‘no’:
Holiday romances can be intense. You spend a week or two weeks with someone and in that time, you might progress further than two individuals who have been seeing each other for months back home. Holiday romances can work as long as there is a constant flow of communication, especially if the person you’ve met abroad doesn’t live local to you, or if they live in another country. Holiday romances can work if you are both honest about wanting to give things a go when you get back home, and if you both honour this and try to put in as much effort as possible. In today’s social media savvy world, it is even easier to reach out to, and maintain contact with, people across the world. So there really is no excuse to let the flow of communication dry up if both of your hearts are in it.
As stated above, holiday romances evolve at a much faster pace than normal romances back home. You share things with someone that might take you months to reveal to someone else as you spend the majority of every day of your holiday together. Once you both fly home, you really feel as if you ‘know’ each other. However, holiday romances can only work if you’re realistic when your holiday ends. It’s impossible to talk/see each other as much back home due to the commitments of everyday life. It is also natural for things to now move at a much slower pace and to see if your feelings for each other are truly genuine. Also prepare yourself for ‘off days’ with your new partner, you might feel like you know everything about them after being in each other’s pockets all holiday, but deep down you don’t. ‘Off days’ in a holiday romance relationship compared to a normal one, can be blown out of proportion and appear worse than they actually are. Again, try to remain realistic and talk to your partner.
Holiday romances can genuinely work if you both make plans together. This doesn’t necessarily have to be long term, but if the relationship is long distance, maybe set a date once a month or every two months to meet each other and spend some quality time together as opposed to through the phone. If you can’t always be there in person, do little things to let your partner know that you’re thinking of them, send them a text or deliver them a postcard – there are ways of reaching out to each other that will mean more than you will ever know.
Most holiday romances can be initiated via alcohol – under the influence, people are more likely to have the confidence to make a move on someone even though they would never dream of doing the same when they are back home. Whether a holiday romance is a one-night stand thing or lasts for a week or two, you might be so carried away in the moment, and slightly intoxicated the whole time, that when you are home, you might realise that the person you fell for isn’t actually as good looking or as charming as you initially thought.
When someone is trying to impress you, they try to find common interests and to show the positive traits of their personalities. A holiday romance might not work once you get back home and really get to know the person you thought was ‘perfect’ for you. The more you talk, the more you might realise how different you are as people, and that you don’t actually have a future together. There’s nothing wrong with this, you tried, but you can’t force a relationship to work, or force yourself to love someone.
Sometimes long distance really doesn’t work for everyone and this is another reason why holiday romances might not work out if you and your new love live in a different country or many miles away from each other. Or if the relationship is going well and you decide to move things to a different stage, such as moving to live in the same place or country, you might realise that the sacrifice would be too much for either one of you. For example, you might be forced to leave all of your family and friends behind for one person and this can be a huge risk, especially if things don’t work out long term…
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