Is a Bad Vacation a Relationship Dealbreaker?

published 3 June 11

Yesterday, I talked a little about the new Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris, about a young couple from L.A. on vacation in The City of Love — where their different outlooks on life, less apparent at home, begin to seem more problematic. Inez wants to live a rich, wealthy life, full of expensive furniture, expensive wine, and fancy friends. Her fiancé Gil is more interested in connecting with people and finding beauty and adventure in more humble settings.

As we head into the season of vacations (a season that's already been far too hot here in the East Coast!) and come off a long holiday weekend, I'm mulling over the idea that a leisure trip with your significant other is a quick way to measure your long-term compatibility. What do you think? Is it? If there's lots of tension and annoyance during that week at the lake with him and his family or his buddies — or during your romantic get-away to a shore-side B&B — should you write him off? Or can vacations often be nearly as stressful as "real life," so that making (beach) blanket statements is silly?

Maura Kelly