How to survive a holiday romance

What happens when you meet the man of your dreams while on holiday? Do you jump straight under the mosquito net with him or put the brakes on?

By Jenni Trent Hughes

Since the first genteel ladies started touring the Continent, we've been packing our bags to check out the local talent. One of the funniest books I've read was called Excuse Me Miss, Do You Know The Way To The Acropolis? It had been written by an English woman living in Greece as a guide for single women travelling to the Mediterranean. The idea was that by reading this book you would learn how to fend off the advances of every Dimitri, Giorgio and whoever else might come knocking on your cabana door.

What this woman had totally misunderstood is the main reason many of us go on holiday in the first place is because we hope that a Carlos or one of his mates will capture our hearts, or, erm, something else!

So what happens when you meet this man of your dreams? Do you turn your calendar off and have the time of your life without looking ahead? Well, that depends on your personality and your life back home. There are some women who can go for it without any thoughts or worries, while some of us just can't crawl under the duvet, or mosquito net, unless we think there's a future in it.

Is there a future in it? Is that possible in the real world? Actually, it is. My marriage is the result of a holiday romance. My husband found me in America and brought me back with him. I know many successful relationships that have started across a jug of sangria or on a sandy beach.

We need to be clear about the two different sorts of holiday romance:

Romance with a local

- These are usually fraught with difficulty because if the relationship gets serious, someone's going to have to move

- Social differences may have to be taken into consideration

- Sometimes language is an obstacle

- In some cultures a man may feel the necessity to declare love to exercise lust and if you take his declarations as truth, you may be in for a rude awakening

Remember, a holiday romance is like a piece of costume jewellery: it'll look lovely until you try to get it insured

Romance with someone from back home

- Sometimes it's logistically easier to arrange a future

- Social differences and language are usually not an issue

- However, boys from back home are just as busy declaring love to exercise lust as your local blokes

How to deal with a holiday romance

- Be totally upfront and honest

- Try to keep it light

- Don't convince yourself that you need to be deeply in love to have a good time. If you honestly feel that way, then don't get involved

- Try not to exist in a total blitz of alcohol. This will cloud your judgement and make it more likely that you'll make a fool of yourself

- If you really do feel that you're falling for this guy big time, then put the brakes on and see how he reacts. If he feels there's a future, he'll be willing to pace himself too

 

Remember, a holiday romance is like a piece of costume jewellery: it'll look lovely until you try to get it insured. Then you'll find out what it's really worth and you'll be disappointed.

Go on holiday to have fun and relax, not to find the love of your life. While it can happen, it doesn't happen often.

As past relationships and emotional ties surface, will it be a holiday fling or something special? With hilarious and heart warming moments, The Holiday is the no. 1 choice for comedy fan, romantic or not so. Will romance find you across the globe? Log on to www.theholiday.lastminute.com to find out!

 

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