Friend leaving me whilst on holiday

I went on holiday with a friend of 20 years who was an absolute bitch from day 1 and also did the wandering off without me thing, we never spoke again after the holiday sadly but 5 years on i dont miss her.

Holidays can bring out people's true nature.

i needed the toilet, so she decided to go without me. I didn't realise until I texted her and she said that she's already gone.
So I was left to do nothing, for hours, by myself.
how long were you in the loo for that you couldn’t catch her up?
where did she go that she was gone for hours?

Just googled and you can be fined up to £1000 for removing sand, pebbles and shells 😱 driftwood is ok though.
Since 1949 🫣 I'm embarrassed not to know this.

She sounds like a horrible person but she’s right about the pebble, and I’m wondering if it took you a particularly long time Tomas’s the toilet and why if she could do something alone, you couldn’t too?

For those asking, shells need to be left alone too. People talking them is a problem for crabs who grow and use different ones to live in over their life time.

Yes, it does in the UK.

She seems to have decided to bully you for any reason she can. You did exactly the right thing in cutting your holiday short. I once went away with a friend I’d known for 15 years and she bitched at me for the whole weekend. I never spoke to her again.

does this pebble thing include shells?? Been to U.K. beaches a lot last summer with my DC and they want to fill their pockets with shells collected from wandering along the beach, so I let them?? They're in our back garden now. No signs, nothing to say we shouldn't?

I'm flabbergasted about the pebble thing 😳 I generally don't care about shells or pebbles but I have never heard this in my entire life. Is this a new thing or a UK thing, because I live in the Midlands and only go to beaches abroad?

My thoughts exactly. What a bitch.

Sorry, she sounds awful and like she doesn’t like or care about you at all. That would be the end of the friendship for me…

Tbh it sounds like you’re ordinarily good friends but have learned that you holiday differently, and couldn’t live together. And that’s ok, you can move past this if you both want to.

Also, she’s right about taking a pebble from the beach. There’s serious consequences if you’re caught in some locations. If everyone who visited the beach took a pebble the beach would look like shit. Take a photo instead.

She isn’t a friend OP, I’m sorry. She treated you badly and you didn’t deserve that.

I’m also perplexed by the comments on the pebble. I see no issue in taking a standard pebble from the beach, a lovely thing to do for your niece.

If you had wanted to go on the walk, why didn’t you just go on your own when you realised she’d left without you? Saying you were ‘left to do nothing, for hours, on (your) own’ is a bit martyred, tbh.

However some of the other stuff is horrible.

YANBU. What a waste of a good holiday :( I hope you can go again soon without her.
she isn’t a good friend.

I think she sounds like a very strong character with loads of confidence but not quite enough to go away on her own. In that way you could say she used you as a bit of a prop.

Maybe you are a more introverted, and more gentle (and more genuine) character type OP, good for you …we are what we are. Telling random others that you hate people is totally unacceptable and bitchy. It’s not something a friend would do, so no wonder you were upset about that. She showed her true colours there.

It’s good you made arrangements to get yourself home and away from the whole upsetting weekend experience. You are not well matched, in fact she sounds quite self-centred, inconsiderate and uncaring as a friend.
I wouldn’t be bothering with her again.

OP, your friend sounds as if she really dislikes you. I'm sorry you had this experience. Even if she found that your very human need to eat was irritating to her, she should not have showed it. As for what she said to those people about you!!! This is not your friend, and I'm glad you got picked up to go home instead of putting up with this.

@JemimaTiggywinkles Taking pebbles off beaches is wrong. I thought everyone knew this?

Eh? It is? Why? There are millions and millions of them! Where I come from though, the beaches are nothing but pebbles, many feet deep. Literally millions of pebbles on the beaches. In fact, the beaches ARE pebbles. No sand until the tide goes out some way. I cannot imagine that one pebble would be missed! We used to pick up a pebble very occasionally from the beach. It was just what you did as a child.

I've never lived anywhere with sandy beaches though. Assume it's those from which you're not supposed to take pebbles?

Wrong to take one pebble - OFFS!

She’s not a friend!! She’s a nasty bitch!!

I had a couple of bad experiences going on holiday with "friends" and the resulting compromises. Arguments abour food, where to go, how much to spend and so on. That was why I began to travel alone. You dont have to compromise. You can plan your day or just drift, as you please. Ive been to come fascinating countries on solo trips - Nepal, Iran, Syria and so on. It does take careful planning and a strong degree of self confidence. You also have to be very secure in your own company. Not for everyone but it was my solution.

She sounds a pain. I deffo wouldn't go away with her again

The pebble thing? Technically wrong..
But one small pebble?? I'd prob pick that up inadvertently with all my stuff leaving the beach!

The whole issue with not taking pebbles from beach is stopping beach/coast de stabilisation.... One pebble makes no difference.

They (rightly) prosecute people rocking up with large lorries..

She sounds awful. I would never go on holiday with her again—possibly as part of a large group, but it would depend on the other people involved. I'll be honest and say I'm not certain I'd even want her as a friend after this. She doesn't sound like a real friend.

I'd have gone on the walk without her after she left, to show her that you don't need her to have fun and to salvage something of the day, but I can see why you just wanted to get away and end the experience.

Out of interest, what is her attitude towards you like when you're not away together?

She's only making you out to be irritating to make herself look good, though what that proves and who is impressed, I've no idea.
Good you got away early. Now keep away.

Sh sounds dreadful. I don’t blame you for going home. Not one bit.