Your first vacation together

[Norajane]

So my Valentine didn't remember to wish me Happy Valentine's Day yesterday, but he did invite me to come with him for a little fun in the sun in Cozumel in a few weeks.

We've known each other for years, and have gone away for long weekends, but I think this is the first time we'll be on vacation together for a whole week.

It got me to thinking, I'll be you guys have all kinds of 'first vacation together' stories. Please share! Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Eilan]

The only vacation that we've had was Christmas of 2001. My husband (then fiancé), kids (who were 4 and 1 at the time), and I went to Florida to visit his parents. We drove down (I don't fly--ever) and it took 24 hours because traffic in Georgia was hellish for no good reason.

We weren't living together at that time, but my kids and I had spent a lot of weekends and several-day stretches of time at his place, so we'd had a little taste of being together for extended periods of time.

My in-laws-to-be lived in a tiny trailer in a retirement community at the time, so the extra four people made things pretty cramped. Other than the stomach flu that everyone except my 4-year-old ended up with, we had a good time. My stomach ailments were made worse because I was about 6 weeks pregnant and already queasy; my hubby definitely got to see me at my worst during that trip!

 

[EJFan]

well... this likely isn't the BEST way to start your thread nora but i have a bit of a horror story to tell about a vacation...

we went to philadelphia for a few days. had a fantastic hotel room that was described as a hotel room but wound up being this HUGE apartment-like thing. there were two bedrooms, full living room, full kitchen, etc. it was really gorgeous.

well... it didn't take long and everything started to unravel. she was intimidated by the whole idea of taxis and buses (she was a bit of a country girl). then she twisted her ankle the first night there. then she was bitching about the cold the whole first day... ugh... i'm ashamed to admit that there were moments i wanted to leave her stranded at the rodin exhibit. there are few things worse than being stuck in a city with a stressed woman who's out of her element.

 

[Norajane]

The only vacation that we've had was Christmas of 2001. My husband (then fiancé), kids (who were 4 and 1 at the time), and I went to Florida to visit his parents. We drove down (I don't fly--ever) and it took 24 hours because traffic in Georgia was hellish for no good reason.

We weren't living together at that time, but my kids and I had spent a lot of weekends and several-day stretches of time at his place, so we'd had a little taste of being together for extended periods of time.

My in-laws-to-be lived in a tiny trailer in a retirement community at the time, so the extra four people made things pretty cramped. Other than the stomach flu that everyone except my 4-year-old ended up with, we had a good time. My stomach ailments were made worse because I was about 6 weeks pregnant and already queasy; my hubby definitely got to see me at my worst during that trip!

Oh wow - all those people in one small place, plus sick everybody and pregnant mommy! I'm surprised the trailer didn't implode.

But if you can survive that together, you can survive anything!

 

[Eilan]

Oh wow - all those people in one small place, plus sick everybody and pregnant mommy! I'm surprised the trailer didn't implode.

But if you can survive that together, you can survive anything!

My in-laws enjoyed the visit, but I think they were glad when we left.

 

[Norajane]

well... this likely isn't the BEST way to start your thread nora but i have a bit of a horror story to tell about a vacation...

we went to philadelphia for a few days. had a fantastic hotel room that was described as a hotel room but wound up being this HUGE apartment-like thing. there were two bedrooms, full living room, full kitchen, etc. it was really gorgeous.

well... it didn't take long and everything started to unravel. she was intimidated by the whole idea of taxis and buses (she was a bit of a country girl). then she twisted her ankle the first night there. then she was bitching about the cold the whole first day... ugh... i'm ashamed to admit that there were moments i wanted to leave her stranded at the rodin exhibit. there are few things worse than being stuck in a city with a stressed woman who's out of her element.

LOL! These things are always much funnier in retrospect, aren't they?

I think we'll be safe from those types of misadventures. Neither one of us is intimidated by travel, and we'll have plenty of alone-time built in as he'll be diving in the mornings, while I sleep late and breakfast on the patio...

 

[EJFan]

LOL! These things are always much funnier in retrospect, aren't they?

I think we'll be safe from those types of misadventures. Neither one of us is intimidated by travel, and we'll have plenty of alone-time built in as he'll be diving in the mornings, while I sleep late and breakfast on the patio...

it sounds fantastic! i hope you guys have a great time... and i wouldn't be upset if i got a postcard.

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 

[Norajane]

Oh, Scaly, that nearly brought me to tears of laughter. Camping is one of those things I just will not do - I know better than to try to torture myself that way. I am soooo not the camping type.

Now, cabins are quite another thing altogether. As long as there's a bed and bathroom and a structure that won't fall on my head, I'm good.

 

[sassy_girl1963]

Sad to say Norajane, I have no vacation "together" stories to tell - and although I have not been to Cozumel, I have been to Cancun (3 times - 2x for work/1 for play) and I love it! If time allows, any of the Mayan ruins are well worth the trip and $$ to go see.

Hope you all have a wonderful, sun filled trip!

 

[SweetErika]

Our first real vacation was in two parts in the UK and Spain. Both had lots of great, but some real 'strength through adversity' moments. In the UK:
-We arranged to meet at Victoria Station in London after our planes got in. Hubby's was delayed and failed to be specific about where we should meet, so I wandered around the station cold, exhausted, flu-stricken, panicked, and crying for about 4 hours with 6 months worth of luggage. I finally found him sitting on his backpack after making one more lap.

-We walked about three miles in an icy wind and rain on our way to the White Cliffs of Dover. By the time we figured out we were going the wrong way and turned back, we saw the cliffs in the OPPOSITE direction. Cold, tired, hungry, and feet hurting, we looked at each other and laughed.

-We saw the start of the millennium right next to the Tower Bridge. Again, we were physically miserable, but ladies were sharing wine with us and the celebration was amazing. Waiting for several hours in knee-high bottles and cans for the tube due to a bomb threat didn't enhance the experience any though.

When hubby came from Wales to visit me in Spain on our Spring Break, we had plenty of catching up to do, and a ton of fun together. We spent a few days in Sevilla, then set off for Valencia and the coast, having a few memorable experiences:

-On the train to Valencia, we were in a cabin with an interesting group for a good 6 hours:
a) The flamboyant older lady and her husband who had been to Texas a couple of times and proceeded to practice their English (and I do use that term loosely) and ask us about the US the entire trip.
b) A normal woman and her sister who had some sort of speech thing that made her sound like a ...I've never heard anything like it, and while I know it's mean, we had to stifle giggles at times when she opened her mouth.
c) Two sweaty brothers who weren't fond of soap or deodorant. At a stop, one of them got off and the train moved to switch tracks, making the other guy run out of the car to search for his hermano...he was frantic, they both almost missed the train, and it was pure slapstick comedy.

The older couple and the sisters also happened to be in our cabin for the trip back. I had a sunburn, and the old woman insisted the best cure was swabbing it with BLEACH. The frog lady and her sister disagreed with the bleach, but had their own fun suggestions, many made in the ribbity voice.

-One day we decided to take a ferry out to an island off the coast...we were on a budget, and it was about the most fun day trip we could afford. We walked around, and discovered the island was mostly dried SEAWEED...it was everywhere. The only vehicles on the island were bulldozers, which were doggedly hauling and piling loads of seaweed all over. The beach we were looking forward to was covered in slimy, green gunk. We did get an amazing show during lunch when a swimming foreigner was cluelessly threatening a seagull's nest, and was dive bombed by the parent for a good 10 minutes before he figured out he should get out of there.

-Another "this is cheap and there's a beach" day trip put us on a bus to a tiny coastal town. When we got there, the "beach" was huge boulders, and the water was inaccessible. It got old quickly, so we decided to call it a day and head back. The bus was supposed to come every hour or so, but Spanish transportation isn't terribly reliable, and we waited at the stop for SIX. We played license plate games with the passing cars, and got our hopes up with every bus to come around the bend. When the bus finally arrived, it was packed, and hubby had to sit in back with some vagrants who kept asking him if he had drugs and/or offering him some (he doesn't speak Spanish and could only convey a few choice words to me after).

This trip -- these mishaps -- is so special to us though. They showed what a great team we made, how we could spend a lot of time together, get through challenges with a sense of humor, and problem solve. People aren't at their best when traveling and things don't go according to plan, but he and I exemplified partnership, which is so special and cemented our love and commitment. The mishaps are such a wonderful part of our history that we referred to them in our wedding vows.

 

[silverwhisper]

the first vacation the mrs and i ever took together was to washington, DC. by that time, we were already engaged. considering my father-in-law is a pastor and mother-in-law is a born-again, i was surprised that the father-in-law suggested we go away together. :>

we discovered on that trip that we have very different approaches to how to spend vacation time. see, i prefer to have a general idea of how to spend each day and keep things relatively flexible. by contrast, the mrs was at the time a big believer in establishing a relatively fixed itinerary. this, of course, caused a little friction, shall we say. :>

but the funniest thing that happened on that trip, even beyond the fun that is the smithsonian museums or the superb meals, was sitting at the US naval history museum together. i was admiring the engagement ring i gave her and said, a bit louder than i intended, "damn, i do good work." what can i say, it looked great on her finger.

then, a slightly cool voice w/ the unmistakable undertone of accusation said from behind us, "yes, you do." i said thanks, then turned to look at the speaker, an attractive young woman sitting with a man, who proceeded to look very embarrassed.

ed

 

[Norajane]

Thank you so much for all your good wishes!

This trip -- these mishaps -- is so special to us though. They showed what a great team we made, how we could spend a lot of time together, get through challenges with a sense of humor, and problem solve. People aren't at their best when traveling and things don't go according to plan, but he and I exemplified partnership, which is so special and cemented our love and commitment. The mishaps are such a wonderful part of our history that we referred to them in our wedding vows.

Oh, thank you so much for sharing that, Erika! That's so lovely and very romantic.

then, a slightly cool voice w/ the unmistakable undertone of accusation said from behind us, "yes, you do." i said thanks, then turned to look at the speaker, an attractive young woman sitting with a man, who proceeded to look very embarrassed.

LMAO



That poor guy!

 

[Norajane]

Sad to say Norajane, I have no vacation "together" stories to tell - and although I have not been to Cozumel, I have been to Cancun (3 times - 2x for work/1 for play) and I love it! If time allows, any of the Mayan ruins are well worth the trip and $$ to go see.

Hope you all have a wonderful, sun filled trip!

That sounds like a great idea - I love places with history and ruins.

I was just looking online and it sounds like they've been doing a lot of restoration down there since the hurricane. I think they were hit pretty hard last year, but seem to be recovering well.

 

[M's girl]

Hi Norajane,

Had started a reply the day before yesterday but had no time to finish it. I'm very excited for you. They say that when you survive a holiday together it's a good indication of how solid your relationship is. I don't believe that to be true 100% but there is SOME truth in it. Most of the time you'll be in an entire new situation and surrounding together and extended travelling usually also brings some stress. If you can handle those things well together, as a team, it certainly says something about you as a couple.

First time M and I went away together it was only for 5 days. It was fairly at the beginning of our relationship and we desperately wanted to spend some time together for a few days in a row with no one else around. We rented a small house with a fireplace in the woods. Had long walks, drank wine and had meals and fucked our brains out in front of that fireplace (we never used the bedroom; only for 'storing' the matrasses during daytime - if we did not 'need' them, haha ). The one thing that was NOT cool about it was that we had to take M's ex's dog along who was still with M at that time (a whole different story). It was not cool because (sorry to say...) I hate cats and dogs!

Oh well... we had a nice time anyway but our real first holiday came last September. We left for France only a few years after we had celebrated our official first date a year ago. From the start I had told M that I would like to move to France permanently one day.... He had not been there since he was 8 or so. On my request he looked at everything from that perspective also while we were there. Due to all kinds of things I had a rough time while we were there. I was at the place where I wanted to be soooo much and also so much with M. I guess I became very emotional and had a sense of homesickness reversed or something. I cried a lot. We had planned on forehand to make this holiday one big erotic thing (which we can do well sometimes ) but somehow other sentiments took over. We were quiet and I'm sure sometimes M did not know what to do with me being so emotional.

It was not all sadness and such of course. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and did a lot of sightseeing and going out. I picked up my routine of driving to the bakery store every morning to pick up French bread and croissants, like I always did when I would be in France for a few weeks in a row. We had all our breakfasts out on the terrace, we had our afternoon drinks at the poolside. We lit fires in the outside fireplace at night and life was good.

I must confess I wondered about M.. I could see he was enjoying himself. I could see he liked being there; it fitted him too. He said that too while we were there. We did not talk about it extensively though. M needed the rest he got during that holiday. I needed time to process all the emotions that hit me like a brick!

When we returned home I said to M we'd better start learning to speak better French if we would ever consider living there. I was thinking like maybe about ten years from now or so...? That's when M said he wanted to go and live there.... with me... permanently and as soon as possible. We are now making plans and hope to move somewhere this year....

So Norajane, be careful... as you can see one holiday can have a major impact on your life

 

[Norajane]

What an adventure for you, M's girl!

I don't expect anything that life changing for us on this trip, though it could be to some extent. As I said earlier, we've known each other for many years, and we've dated each other off and on, and stayed good friends the rest of the time. I moved away about five years ago, and we hadn't been 'dating' each other again until about a year ago.

Our relationship has been growing more intense and intimate, but because I live 2000 miles away, we haven't had a chance to spend this kind of time together, so I'm looking forward to that (unrestricted sex time, hooray!). I'll be moving back home this spring/summer, so I don't think we'll be making any big decisions about our relationship on this trip. At the same time, though, we obviously are doing some thinking about what's what. Neither of us are getting any younger, and we do keep coming back to each other.

There's really only two things that are kinda anxiety inducing, if I let them, and they're related. He's a scuba fanatic and I've never learned to dive (yet), so I won't be joining him when he goes out on the boat in the mornings. That's not a problem for me, but I wonder if he'll have as good a time on a diving vacation with someone who doesn't dive.

Part 2 is that his last girlfriend did dive, and they went on diving trips frequently. Cozumel is one of his favorite places, as is the hotel where we're staying, so I'm a little uneasy about ex-girlfriend ghosts, and if he'll subconsciously be comparing his trip there with her with this one. Like, will our romantic evening sipping drinks by the pool be exactly the same thing they did together, and will that bug me a little bit? Will he be recalling how they had wild, passionate sex on that beach (or wherever)? And I know she looks a lot better in a bathing suit than I.

 

[Guest]

 

[Guest]

 

[Norajane]

OK, I have another story. I think I have told this somewhere else at Lit, but so what, I'm telling it again anyway.

When we were on our honeymoon, I developed a urinary tract infection. My dick was on fire every time I pissed, and it seems I had to piss every 5 minutes. I went to the emergency room, and they asked me if I had sex with other women beside my wife (answer no) or if we had sex before we got married (answer yes, we had lived together for almost 4 years). Their thinking was that one of us had contracted an STD from someone else and that was causing my problem. I tried to convince them otherwise, but they said they had to test me for STDs. Well, the woman doctor (her name was Dr. Love, and that's no joke either) did the test by sticking a wire with a flat end on it up my dick to get a culture. OOOOUUUUUUUCCCHHH

We spent most of a day at the emergency room before they determined it was a UTI. So Dr. Love game me a prescription for tetracycline, and it seemed to be doing the trick.

Next morning we get up and go golfing. It was a warm but not too sunny day, mostly overcast with clouds. When we were getting close to finishing up the golf, I noticed that my arms were kind of pinkish/red. I just figured that there must have been enough UV getting through the clouds that I was getting a sunburn.

We left there and went to a mexican restaurant for lunch. I don't usually spice my food up by I do like it on occasion. Now I'm sure the food was hot, but by the end of the meal I could swear the spices were coming out the pores of my arms, and I was sucking down Dos Equis like crazy. It was kind of dark in the restaurant, so we didn't notice how red all my skin was until we were back outside in the laylight.

Turns out I was allergic to the tetracycline, and I spent the entire afternoon in the ER again (at some point I told my wife to head back to the hotel and I'd call when I was done there.) The gave me 2 meds, one antibiotic and one for the allergic reaction.

We did have a good time the rest of our stay. No blow jobs but we still had a lot of fun.

What was M's girl saying about surviving vacation?! You and Mrs. Scaly are off the chart!

 

[Guest]

 

[Norajane]

Is it possible to go out on the boat with him but not dive?

I would try not to worry about the bathing suit thing. If you keep getting back together and can withstand being 2000 miles apart for lengths of time, chances are he sees things in you he likes well beyond the bathing suit.

The other ex-girlfriend ghosts things might bother you a little, but I'm not so sure guys take the time to analyze things so deeply. At least I don't.

I hope you two have a great time. And you'll have to report back too!

Thanks, sweets.

I'm not sure about the boat - if it's possible, I'd be happy to go out with them, at least on a few days...I love sailing! And I expect we'll do some snorkeling in the afternoons. Plus, he's certified as an instructor and for rescue, so I'm sure he can start giving me some scuba lessons, too! I'm sure this is more of an irrational concern than anything he's thinking - he wouldn't have asked me to go if he thought he wouldn't have a good time, right?

The ex-girlfriend ghost is prolly also irrational, but harder for me to deal with, I think. I guess I'm being silly, but for some reason, it's bringing out some insecurities.

As for the bathing suit, well, he's seen me in a bathing suit before and I guess it hasn't scared him away!

 

[Cathleen]

Norajane, I haven't an experience to share but I just have to tell you that I am the original ''Hello Hilton'' girl. I have NEVER stayed outside all night - ever. Since I've made it all these years without having to I have some confidence I never will.

I traveled to Alaska some years back, a friend was in the Coast Guard and stationed on Kodiak Island. My travels included time with him and time on my own. While planning etc (pre-internet) I kept seeing the words ''remote lodging''. I figure remote was akin to ''far from the trail'' sort of.

He laughed... in Alaska remote lodging is something I try never to think of, nevermind doing. I told him I was calling 1-800-325-3535 - it was the jingle from one of Hilton's advertisements way back when.

Have a great time... enjoy the walls, indoor plumbing and comfy bed -- and pillows (pillows are under-rated). Enjoy.

 

[Norajane]

Norajane, I haven't an experience to share but I just have to tell you that I am the original ''Hello Hilton'' girl. I have NEVER stayed outside all night - ever. Since I've made it all these years without having to I have some confidence I never will.

I traveled to Alaska some years back, a friend was in the Coast Guard and stationed on Kodiak Island. My travels included time with him and time on my own. While planning etc (pre-internet) I kept seeing the words ''remote lodging''. I figure remote was akin to ''far from the trail'' sort of.

He laughed... in Alaska remote lodging is something I try never to think of, nevermind doing. I told him I was calling 1-800-325-3535 - it was the jingle from one of Hilton's advertisements way back when.

Have a great time... enjoy the walls, indoor plumbing and comfy bed -- and pillows (pillows are under-rated). Enjoy.

Thanks, Cathleen!

When I think of Alaska, I think of cruise...with indoor plumbing, walls, and pillows.

 

[SweetErika]

I bet you're going to have a fabulous time...I'm jealous!

Do you think about exes a lot when you're doing the same with your current man? I might have a memory once in awhile, but find each experience to be new and different because we have a unique relationship, chemistry, and perspective.

Remember he's taking YOU on the trip with good reason: He wants to spend time and create memories with the woman he loves, not relive the past.

Clear your mind of any worries, have a great trip, and be sure to tell us all about it!