Summer is supposed to be the best time of the year, filled with freedom, warmth, and vacations. However, it can also be the most damaging—both to our bank accounts and our relationships.
With social media constantly showcasing other people’s highlight reels, it’s easy to feel like you’re missing out. Maybe your partner doesn’t post you online the same way your best friend’s girlfriend does, or perhaps your boyfriend doesn’t plan any extravagant trips with you like your sister’s husband does for her.
Constant comparison can even strain the healthiest of relationships, and these standards are becoming a bit too extreme. A recent survey by Casinos Analyzer found that nearly half of adults say they’ve booked a trip in hopes of salvaging their relationship. These vacations were mere last-ditch efforts to save the couples’ fates.
Couples Take ‘Make or Break’ Vacations to Save Relationships
That’s right: instead of sitting down for a heart-to-heart conversation, they planned an entire luxurious trip, believing it might magically solve their day-to-day woes. As if, when they return home and to their mundane routines, their relationship won’t go right back where it was.
It’s easy to be in love when you’re in paradise.
Now, I’m not saying a couple’s vacation isn’t a good idea. But relying on one to save your relationship? That’s just setting yourself up for heartbreak (and potential financial struggles, if you’re not careful.)
Should You Book a ‘Make-or-Break’ Trip With Your Partner?
Short answer? No. You should not book that trip—at least not with your significant other. In fact, consider making it a solo travel adventure and engaging in some self-reflection instead.
Not to mention, a lot of these couples booking said trips are doing so with their last dime. While a change of scenery and some quality time can undoubtedly help you reconnect with your lover, you shouldn’t have to break the bank in the process. This will only cause further issues within the relationship—and in your personal life as well.
“Couples often return from these ‘fix-it’ trips more resentful than before—they’ve spent money they couldn’t afford, raised expectations that couldn’t be met, and now they’re facing the same problems plus financial stress and the crushing realization that their relationship still isn’t working,” said Jaime Bronstein, LCSW, a relationship therapist with over 20 years of experience.
However, nearly one in two couples book these “make-or-break” trips, with the fate of their entire relationship depending on it.
Our priorities are a bit off here. If you’re intending on strengthening your connection with your partner, that’s great…but you can do that differently, without expecting an entire vacation out of it. Or, ya know, without putting yourself into debt.
Couples’ Vacations Might Delay Necessary Separation
Sadly yet unshockingly, 1 in 3 people confessed that they’ve stayed in toxic or failing relationships to take a vacation they’d already planned. In other words, they chose the getaway over their mental well-being.
Not to mention, these vacations naturally keep the couple hooked on one another, setting themselves up for even more chaos and heartache.
Bronstein says these “getaway cures” are usually unsuccessful as well. Who would’ve guessed?
“Vacations aren’t therapy, and treating them like a solution to your problems is one of the biggest mistakes couples make,” Bronstein said. “I’ve seen so many couples go all in on a trip, thinking it’ll reignite the spark or mend what’s broken. But when the real issues come home with you, the damage and the disappointment run even deeper.”
My advice? If you’re gonna spend hundreds of dollars, use it to book a couples’ therapy session instead.
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