Why your next holiday could be the end of your relationship

Want to challenge your relationship? Book a trip.

Travelling with your partner can be romantic – from the perfect weekend getaways to exploring the entire world together. However, your first holiday together might be your last.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been dating for a month, a year, or 10 – spending time with your loved one in a different place can be a dealbreaker. Not only could it highlight your partner’s (potentially irritating) habits, it will also expose how you deal with them.

It can be so stressful that a recent study found out that nearly half of the couples who took a trip split up as soon as they got back.

In a 2022 study, popular dating site, Dating.com revealed the top reasons for the post-holiday demise of a relationship.

Read more: Should you go on a big holiday without your partner?

Vice-president and dating expert at Dating.com, Maria Sullivan, said “A couple’s first trip together is a major relationship milestone, whether it happens in your first six months of dating or on your honeymoon.”

Sure — a few hours together might be fun, but spending a few days with them starts to uncover their true nature. Even if you spend weekends together, it can’t compare to the depth of understanding that comes from living together for several days or weeks.

The Dating.com members who were surveyed shared various reasons why they called time on their relationship, from seemingly “small but weird” habits to character traits that they couldn’t look past.

Based on Dating.com research, here are eight tips for planning your first trip with a significant other.

1. Avoid an overloaded schedule

Planning a trip can be loads of fun, but excitement can sometimes cloud our judgment. If there’s an overwhelming number of things to see, do, and experience, you may overbook the trip, resulting in one of you wanting to stick to the itinerary and the other wanting to ditch some activities.

The study found out that overloading your schedules can often take the fun out of quality time together, suggesting couples should balance fun and relaxation while respecting each other’s time and preferences.

2. Don’t be late

Another rule of thumb is to be punctual. Show up early at the airport so you don’t miss your flight and don’t run late for expensive dinner reservations (38 per cent of the couples split up because of this).

3. Avoid early wake-up calls

Respect each other’s sleep. Thirty-one per cent of couples said forcing a partner to wake up too early every morning can end badly.

4. Strange obsessions can be cute … at first

When spending extended periods together, obsessive-compulsive traits in partners often come to light, causing conflicts. Some of the strangest habits that ticked-off couples included irritation over the way a partner organises their suitcase, inflexibility regarding seat preferences on flights, and refusal to compromise on their preferred side of the hotel bed.

5. Learn more about each other

Holidays can be stressful, especially when navigating hurdles like flight delays, language barriers, and health issues. These moments can reveal a person’s true character; 31 per cent of respondents said seeing their partner snap at service staff or themselves was a major turnoff.

6. Respect the bathroom

For couples, sharing a bathroom can be a revealing experience. In the survey, 40 per cent of the respondents shared that something as simple as leaving toothpaste in the sink or forgetting to replace the toilet paper was too repulsive to overlook.

7. Curb any unique habits

Travel can uncover habits in our partners that we find intolerable. In fact, 47 per cent of survey respondents ended relationships due to quirks that emerged during a trip, which they couldn’t accept long-term. Common habits cited included leaving food out until it was lukewarm, placing dirty laundry on clean sheets, wearing outside clothes on the bed, and waking up unusually early for no reason.

8. Sometimes, you’re just not as compatible as you think

Nearly half (44 per cent) of respondents found significant differences in their seemingly compatible partners during their first trip as a couple, from mismatched adventure levels to conflicting preferences. This highlights the importance of clear communication and shared expectations for a more enjoyable travel experience.

Dating.com is one of the 30 online dating sites of Dating Group, with offices and experts in seven countries dedicated to knowing the latest trends of dating and relationships.