There’s nothing quite like a summer holiday with the person you love – long, lingering gazes over exotic cocktails on the beach, getting sand into all those awkward places as you frolic on a sun lounger, or tenderly rubbing after-sun cream into those burned bits…
…But going away for the first time with a brand new partner can be fraught with tension. What happens if one of you gets some, ahem, embarrassing tummy trouble? Will he be able to keep his eyes off the other bikini-clad women by the pool? How will you handle it if the hot waiter flirts with you over dinner?
Social dating app trueview.me carried out a survey of 1,000 people to find out how we feel about going away with a new partner, and certainly made some interesting discoveries.
Based on all the things that could potentially go wrong on a holiday (the aforementioned tummy trouble, ogling, flirting etc.), it’s no wonder the majority of us see that first holiday away together as a bit of a litmus test for the whole relationship.
68% of women are likely to see the first holiday together as a couple as a bit of a test for their man: will he be good in a crisis, will he be loyal (ie averting his gaze from that girl with the dental-floss thong), and will he step in – subtly – to let other men know you’re already taken? Because you’re seeing each other in a new light (literally – sunlight! Which, as we residents of grey old Britain know, makes everything seem much more fun), as well as spending anything from a week to 14 days in each other’s company without any breaks, over half of us see going on holiday as a good test as to whether you’re compatible with someone. Here’s where you’ll find out if he wants to spend all day zooming around on jet-skis while you’d rather just lounge by the pool, or whether she’s a culture vulture who insists on seeing all the sights while you just want to find a pub that’s showing the football.
The things we mentioned above can have a big impact on a relationship, so perhaps it’s not that surprising that many couples admit to being nervous about taking a holiday together, especially if it’s for the first time; after all, people do sometimes behave differently when they’re abroad, suddenly turning into lazy lumps who won’t get up till midday (fair enough tbh), or drinking pints from 9am onwards, just because it’s part of the all-inclusive deal… Men are more laid back about it, however; 71% said they wouldn’t be nervous. Of course, sometimes things don’t go to plan, and cracks can begin to appear in a relationship before you’re even en route to Heathrow airport. However, the majority of thrifty Brits would wait until after they’d been on the holiday they’d booked and paid for to break up with their partner. Talk about post-holiday blues! That’s not the kind of conversation you really want to be having at the baggage claim carousel…But if the breakup happened before the holiday, nearly half of us would still go on it, alone, with women (58%) even more likely to do so than men (38%).
‘A holiday with a partner can be like a microcosm of your entire relationship,’ says Matt Verity from Trueview.me. ‘This is where you can really see what they’re like; if they’re selfish or vain, whether they’re laid-back or highly-strung. Even a simple thing like a flight delay can give you quite an insight into someone’s true character! But ultimately, when you get there, the sunshine, cocktails and atmosphere will hopefully make for a fantastic time – then you can decide after that if you ever want to do it again…’
