Call me unsanskaari (or don’t) but the thought of going for a trip with my partner’s family was an idea that I had no intention of turning into a reality, even a few years ago. The thought itself has nightmare-inducing capabilities but strangely enough, with the right person, even the weirdest things make sense. This story is the embodiment of it all.
Since I’ve been close to my boyfriend’s family almost through the entirety of our relationship, that filter of ‘being the girlfriend’ has never come in the way. For this, I thank not only his parents but mine too for being this cool with our relationship. With the pandemic robbing us all of trips and vacations, when the plan did come about for a short beach-side holiday, I realized that not going would be the bigger mistake than overthinking the situation. Here are a few lessons I learned in the process.
1. Families, other than just mine, also want to have fun
Even though I was scared of how everyone would react to me, I realized quickly that even families are real people and they were going to be on vacation with me. Being engrossed in the fear rather than enjoying the moment made no sense. Instead, I slowly opened up, participated in conversations and went along for the daily activities, no matter how stupid, lame or cringey (you know, uncles and aunties will do some typically touristy things that you don’t want to do).
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2. Some families actually can be that chill
There are families that are alright with their kids occasionally drinking and then there are families like my boyfriend’s whose family buys the alcohol, and smokes with each other. I was slightly terrified of what all of this would mean, considering I am the girlfriend but there was no awkwardness, questions or judgements. Everyone was super chill and like teenagers on a trip themselves. Thank god!
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3. Getting the privacy we wanted
You’d think going on family vacation means saying goodbye to your privacy, especially as a couple, but here’s where things were handled amazingly by my partner. Not only did he manage to get us a room that was at the opposite end of the resort, his family was kind enough to not intrude beyond a particular time. How many of us get lucky like this?
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Lead Image Credit: Author’s Own
