Going on a summer vacation is supposed to be a relaxing reset before heading back to your stressful life. A week to lay by the beach, soak up some sun and drink margaritas. You should not have to worry about anything, staying in a hotel where someone else is responsible for cooking your meals and cleaning your sheets. And this time should be spent bonding with a friend or family member you love dearly who will only enhance the experience. 

Unfortunately, one woman, Lis1992, recently shared on MumsNet that her 10-day vacation with a friend was anything but relaxing. And the stress did not even end once they had arrived at the airport back home. She reached out online to see if she was being unreasonable in the situation, so below, you can read the full story and decide for yourself. Let us know in the comments what you think, and then if you’re interested in another Bored Panda piece featuring vacation drama, check out this story next. 

One woman recently shared the story of her nightmare vacation and asked the internet if she was being unreasonable

Image credits: Image credits: Mikhail Nilov (not the actual photo)

After a stressful 10 days together, the woman was ditched by her friend at the airport and forced to find her own way home at 4am

Image credits: Image credits:JÉSHOOTS (not the actual photo)

Although going on vacation is intended to be a welcomed break from the daily stresses of going to work or school, sometimes it just ends up inducing anxiety. When flights are delayed or travel plans go awry, some people tend to panic. Then there’s the concern of spending too many hours cooped up with your significant other, best friend, or children. Of course you love them, but you are probably not used to spending 24 hours a day with them with no other responsibilities. Sometimes, that’s just too much for a person to handle, so there is nothing wrong with being mindful about what you need out of a vacation and being upfront with those around you about your expectations.

“It’s important to remove stressors from vacation time when possible because our brains and bodies are not meant to work constantly with no break,” Jenny Maenpaa, a psychotherapist in New York, told HuffPost. “Just like we need sleep every night to repair and recharge, we need longer stretches of destressing and decompression to step away from our daily grind,” she says. “Instead of thinking of vacation as a time to just build back up your reserves of energy so you can deplete them again when you return, think of it as a time where everything you work on, learn and absorb in your daily life has time to actually take hold, become permanent, and improve your quality of life overall both on vacation and back in your regular life.”

Caroline Bologna at HuffPost broke down some of the most common vacation habits that end up stressing people out, including overplanning, skipping meals, checking your work email, ditching self-care habits, setting unrealistic expectations, not coordinating with the group, pressuring yourself to relax and more. In the case of Lis1992’s holiday, her friend seems to have arrived determined to ruin the trip. But psychotherapist Meg Gitlin says that there are usually ways to accommodate everyone’s needs. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard clients complain about trips being hijacked by differing travel styles, eating habits or shopping habits amongst a group,” she says. “It’s expected that people will have different desires and expectations but it’s important to convey that this may require the group to split up or make compromises.”

It’s unfortunate that Lis1992 did not get to enjoy her vacation, so I hope she has the opportunity to take another trip to Spain next year to take full advantage of the beautiful beaches and warm sun. Let us know in the comments how you feel about all of this. Would you have given your friend a ride home if you had just spent a 10-day trip together? If you’re taking a trip this summer, I hope yours goes much smoother, and if you need a ride home from the airport, I hope your friends are a bit more generous. 

Readers have assured the woman that she did nothing wrong and suggested it may be time to end the friendship

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