Does a holiday romance have a chance of success? 5 important checkpoints

It can work. Take my friend B. She was a flight attendant and was supposed to go on vacation with a colleague on vacation. He canceled at the last minute and B. couldn't find anyone else who could take two weeks off in mid-November just like that. My friend was not the type to be easily discouraged, so she booked a sailing trip. And there she met the man who eventually became the father of her children . So I won't say it has no chance of success, but there are indeed some clouding circumstances, such as.

1. The paradisiacal environment

If you see someone at the town hall, they need to have a lot more to offer to get you in the mood than under a palm tree with a cocktail in hand. Keep in mind that soon you'll be cycling together in the rain in the Netherlands and it still has to be fun.

2. The friends and family

You might see a few of them now, but the people who shape him or her and are also part of who he/she is, you don't see now. And that says a lot about a person. Try to find out if the ’support network’ somewhat matches yours.

3. The language

We all speak the language of love, but at some point, you want to go beyond ‘Ti amo’ and ‘Tesoro mio’. On vacation, that all sounds delightful, but when you're back home and have to rely on the app and the phone, you really need to take into account that it might become a bit less.

4. The references

How nice is it when you can joke together because you know the same cultural references, have seen the same series, read the same books, and both can sing along loudly to Marco and Trijntje.

5. How are you at home?

On vacation, you might both be lazy, open a bottle of something at lunch, and it's easy to be in the same rhythm. But how is it at home? Maybe your love is from the ‘early risers’ club and you are from the 'rather lazy than tired' club. You need to find that out.

But, you can also meet a Dutch partner abroad with whom two out of the five points above completely fall away. And did you know that 17% of vacation romances lasts a year and 10% of vacation romances even leads to a marriage? So I would say: when in doubt, especially try. At least you'll have a good time. And do you know who we prefer to indulge in? Not to residents of Italy, Spain or Greece but to our German neighbors. You didn't see that coming, did you?