To ask for stories about ruined friendships/relationships from holidays

[Spice22]

Just that really. My family is going to Florida with another family next week and I'm slightly nervous. It got me thinking what stories people have. Basically, I'm looking for some Sunday evening entertainment.

Turned out the couple we were on holiday with... he was having an affair and it all came out on holiday. Not a comfortable dinner table.

^I was on a trip to Amsterdam when I was 19 years old, with a group of people. On the last day two of us just wanted to chill out. She was the person I knew least in the group.
We went and sat on an unused landing bit for the canal boats and had a picnic lunch and sunbathed a bit, when a couple (two men)came down and sat on the other side.
Well, it was mortifying. She was VERY loud in her condemnation of gay couples, how it was disgusting and should not be in public etc etc. I was mortified and didn't know how to react. Now I would very loudly talk her down, but I was 19, quite socially awkward and didn't know her very well. I did say that I though she was wrong, and that she should not have come to Amsterdam in the first place if that was her outlook. She was AWFUL.^

God, you poor thing, I would have been mortified.

She wouldn't get away with it now thank god!

Eight people have been arrested during EuroPride for assaulting and verbally abusing LGBT participants, Amsterdam police have told AT5.
A total of 11 incidents involving abuse relating to the victim’s sexuality were logged during the opening and closing weekends of the two-week event.

www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/08/handful-of-arrests-during-europride-in-amsterdam/

Funnily enough, some of the best times I've had on holiday is meeting up with my gay friends!

I've had my fair dose of awful times away with friends and have come to the age where I have embraced solo travel!

We went on a big family holiday this year 11 in total and my brother dumped his girlfriend half way through the first week.

The next week and a half had some very awkward moments for everybody.

I think I've dodged a bullet having recently pulled out of a group skiing trip in the early stages of planning. The other couple would only consider full board, we were happy self catering; their accommodation priority was a hot tub, while ours was to be near the ski lifts; they wanted somewhere as cheap as possible (but we're still talking £900pp+ for a 'cheap' ski holiday), whereas we were happy to spend another £200ish to avoid staying in a total dive; they were happy to fly at stupid times and sit on a coach for 4-5 hours each way, while we wanted a short airport transfer so we could actually enjoy more time on holiday... etc etc etc.

I think the whole thing, had it happened, would have been catastrophic so we just said something had come up and we wouldn't be able to make it any more.

Went to Europe in our camper vans with really good friends , we were so excited . First day their van broke down & they had to spend a fair amount getting it fixed ...well the male friend turned in to a complete nightmare , his wife was lovely and tried to compensate for wank chops behaviour . He refused to spend any money on food apart from cheap/nasty crap ( remember we are in Italy)& made it awkward if my family wanted to go out to eat. The whole atmosphere was awful , he couldn't shake the resentment of forking out for his van . One morning he told me "don't talk to me untill I've spoken to you , my family know the rules ' We parted pretty much after that . They are now divorced & she is my best friend & he is still a top class wanker!!

hadnt been on holiday for about 5 years after getting divorced (ex cut all contact so never got a break and no child support). Came into a small some of money from an endowment and my best friend at the time agreed to come away.
My mum was minding the children and her ex had hers, we got a really good deal to Turkey and I was so excited to be getting away and having some adult time, looking forward to eating out, going bar hopping, sight seeing etc. 2nd day of a 10 day holiday she hooks up with some Turkish man and disappears, only stopping by the apartment to get fresh clothes. I spent 8 days going to dinner alone, sightseeing, reading and being pestered by waiters. never spoke to her again after that.

I went Inter-railing with my BFF when we were about 17. We were meant to be away for 6 weeks. But....... BFF blew 90% of his cash playing blackjack on the ferry over because he was convinced he could count cards (and obv couldn't). Then, a few days later, he got drunk and took a hotel room door off its hinges and I had to pay for the damage as he was skint. So much for 6 weeks, we were home in 6 days. We didn't speak much after that.

Some of these are hilarious and some just horrifying! Alas I don't have any of my own but here is one from my husband:
Many years ago he went on a beach hol to Portugal with a new - ish girlfriend. On the second night she got off with one of the locals. When he strongly objected she told him to make himself scarce so she and her new lover could spend the night together in their hotel room. He stormed off, couldn't get a flight until next day and ended up sleeping on the beach.

I've had one experience like this, and never attempted it since.
15 yrs ago. We had DS1 ( 2) and got the opportunity to rent a villa in Corsica very cheaply for 2 weeks with a good friend of mine and his wife, who had 2 DDs ( 2 and 6 months ).
My friend is a very jolly bon vivant ( we're all french apart from my DP who is British ) who owns his own restaurant. My DP worked in high end restaurant kitchens as a student and cooks very well.
My friend spent the whole week questioning whatever my DP was doing, cooking sausages on bbq, making a marinade, peeling potatoes, even the way he was washing dishes... every single bloody meal was an occasion to roll eyes, talk ironically about british cooking and then say " oh you are so sensitive" if my DP got offended or if I came to his rescue.
He also kept repeating to us " don't use a lot of water, water is expensive, this is my friend's house and I don't want him to have a huge water bill", then on day 2 he went out and bought a garden sprinkler for the kids and left it on for hours on end. Still hovering when my DP was washing dishes to check water usage.
They had a very harsh way of treating their DD, never did anything with her and went ballistic when she put her sandy feet in the car after the beach ( she was 2 ffs ). So the little girl clung to me the whole time because I was reading books to my DS and playing with him, she had no experience of that at home. At some point we considered having a serious talk because it was borderline neglect and the 2 weeks were quite stressful and long.
I'm still friends with them but we live in different countries and I would never suggest a holiday together again. His daughters are fine young ladies but I feel sorry for them, they always come second, after the adults, and are dragged around whatever foodie place the parents want to see , which I have had time to witness when they came to England a few years ago ( not staying in our flat, which is thankfully too small ).
I would never do that again, I don't know how people manage it without falling out!

I've only ever been on one holiday with a friend and will NEVER do it again!

Myself, DH and DS had booked two weeks in a caravan abroad. Friend expressed interest in going to said destination so we invited to stay with us for free, as long as she booked her own travel and contributed to meals and food in the caravan etc. She decided to come for a week in the middle of our two week holiday. All was fine and I was eager for her to join- we thought it would be a nice opportunity to have a date night as she had previously babysat for us and DS was very familiar with her.

She arrived, and all was well for two days until she suddenly stopped pitching in for meals etc. She expected us to pay for buses/ trains/ drinks EVERYTHING. I brought it up as diplomatically as I could and she later brought me €20 to contribute (we estimated she'd cost us around €100!!!)

We let that slide as we didn't want to cause upset.... Then she really started to piss me off. She started completely ignoring me and spent most of her time talking to my (now) husband. Back in the caravan she would literally get in from a meal with us and go to bed! Obviously she is well in her rights to do so, but we thought it was a little rude to do this every night without even saying goodnight!

DH and said 'friend' went to the local water park one day (I'm not a fan and our son was too young to be able to justify his entry fee.) said they'd be back by a certain time, so I made an effort to prepare a nice dinner and get some wine etc in. The time they were due home came and went- I ended up having to put DS to bed it was getting on so late! Eventually they turn up, pissed and with an empty churro cone. I FUCKING LOVE CHURROS. And they didn't save me any!!!

The last thing to really piss me off: DH convinced me I was getting angry over nothing, so I made a massive effort to find a nice place for breakfast on her last day, and booked us a table. The time comes around for us to be making a move and she tells me that she wants to go straight to the airport instead. Didn't see the point in taking DS all the way to the airport if we weren't doing anything special, so we stayed behind whole DH escorted her to airport. When he comes back, I ask him if he's eaten and the little fucking bitch had taken him for breakfast in a fancy restaurant!!! I couldn't speak to DH for the rest of the day as I was so angry.

(DH is on the austistic spectrum, so completely misunderstood why I was so angry!)

When we all return, I meet with another friend who tells me the girl who came on holiday with us said my DH came on to her the whole time and made her pay for everything!) after about months we manage to salvage out friendship. Until she's my bridesmaid and really fucks things up (that's a whole other story!)

So yeah... Never holidaying with friends ever again!!

We have a holiday home in a scenic area with great golf courses. DH arranged to take 7 of his mates out there on holiday. We arranged for there to be 7 sets of golf clubs there for them (second hand sets mostly),so they could all travel hand baggage only. We stocked the fridges with enough beer, wine and food to feed an army. They were our guests, had forked out for flights and car hire and it was our pleasure to entertain them. The lads had a great time, took DH out for a good night out as a thank you and an annual tradition was born.

The next year one of the mates involved had bought a holiday home and the wife suggested that while the men were away at our place we could have a girls weekend in their new cottage. We all agreed and plans were put in place. The day before we left we got an email from her with a copy of her tesco online shopping bill detailing how much we all owed for the weekends groceries including a bag of 12 loo rolls, an enormous box of washing -powder and much much more. She also 'suggested' which alcoholic hostess gifts she would like and said she thought a £10 per head contribution to fuel and laundry would be sufficient. Whilst her husband enjoyed his second, expenses covered break at our place.

We all coughed up because we are too feeble and British to do anything else but it was a very strained weekend but mysteriously me and most of the other women involved have been otherwise engaged when she has suggested subsequent visits.

Aged 20 a friend and I decided to book a last minute holiday.
We chose the cheapest option which happened to be an 18-30's holiday in Ibiza. We very naively thought we'll just enjoy Ibiza (we loved clubbing) and ignore the 18-30's bit. Christ what a mistake they were banging on the door morning noon and night trying to sign us up for blow job games etc. Every game or activity cost £30-50 so of course it was the job of the rep to sign us up and they were fucking relentless. We ended up hiring mopeds & travelling round the island sleeping on the beach because we were too scared to go back to the hotel!! We cut it short after a week when we ran out of money but actually loved Ibiza and would love to go back.
Anyway when we got back friend told her bf that it was an 18-30's holiday & he went fucking mental for reasons I still don't get, refused to talk to me or see me again . I saw friend because we were at uni together but not socialising or even being spoken to by bf meant our friendship died off really.

Dbil & Sil live abroad in a country we've never been to & invited us over for a week this summer. We got back on Friday. Omg I have never really spent that much time with my sil as they've been abroad for years but what a nightmare! She's obsessed with her dc diet which turned into a week of frustrations & snidey comments as my dc were allowed ice cream, chocolate etc. My niece who is 8 has the most appalling behaviour I've ever witnessed in a child that age & I put the blame firmly at the feet of bil & sil who allow her tantrums, screaming & demands to dominate everything. They are super wealthy & sil didn't let us forget it.

I came away sweating it would be a long long time before I spend time with them like that again!

Only ever done it once with younger sister, went to their villa in Spain for a week, the day before we are leaving she sends a text "Only pack half a suitcase, few things there I want to bring back".
She wanted to do her own thing everyday making it clear I wasn`t invited to go with her leaving me to wonder what and with who she was up to each day. Turns out she was divorcing DH and wanted to empty the villa of her stuff hence my half full suitcase was crammed to bursting coming back.

I've now also remembered interrailing with a friend when we were about 18... she turned out to be so mean and petty! Everything had to be split fairly and she got the huff if I'd had a bit more of our cheese than her, even if she didn't want it, etc. - I was treading on eggshells constantly. She was also obsessed with getting a tan and asked me "Am I brown?" about 250,000 times. I was ready to scream. Eventually I said "I don't care whether you're brown or not!" and she was so offended we barely spoke from then on and had to head back early!

And these stories are why I love to travel alone

Ok. Top trumps holiday time. A few years ago 'DH' and I were booked along with teenage DD to go to a holiday cottage. We had invited MIL, who was always difficult, but had recently lost FIL. A few days before we were due to go away, I discovered that H was online dating. I was somewhat reluctant to go away with him at this point, and suggested I stayed at home, and he took everyone else. He guilt-tripped me (gawd, I know!) into attending, and I went on condition he brought the blow up bed for himself no way was I sleeping with the cheating bastard We had to share a room because of the cottage lay-out. He managed to bring the double blow up bed, and not the single, which wouldn't fit in the room. He then took to the sofa, with great drama so that mummykins could feel sad for him and despite being diabetic, proceeded to stuff himself with pizza, then look for sympathy, and claim he needed to ring the doctor. His attempts at trying to talk about the breakdown in our twenty year marriage entailed me taking him into town for coffee, and almost having to lock mil in the house to prevent her coming with us. After half an hour he said his feet were cold and returned home. No further efforts were made. I posted a lot in Relationships at the time, under the name of Parlsey xxxxx I was barely holding it together, stuck about four hours from home, and I had lots of good advice, including go home early. Unfortunately I did not take this advice. Mother & Son sucked up to each other all week. I felt like the other woman, and DD (her only grandchild) was ignored much of the time. On the final day, he engineered a terrible row. He did a lot of goading when his mother nipped to the shop, and when I let rip at him and his mother returned that stopped, and he looked like a reasonable human being temporarily. All set up to make me look like a haridan. A few weeks later at our one and only Relate session, he suddenly remembered the final straw that made him sign up for OD. Apparently he wanted to go owl watching one night, and DD and I wouldn't go. Reader, I divorced him.

OMG SpongeBob!

I can just see him bemoaning your owl watching fail to his online dates :o

Hi Spongebob - I remember your tribulations with your arse of an ex! Didn't he turn round and remarry very soon after the divorce...lucky lady not!

Hope you and yours are doing well!

I had an evening graduation my GF (now DW) booked and paid for two boutique B&B rooms (one for us and one for my DM and step dad) in the city even though it was only an hour away from home so we could make a night of it.

When we got there it wasn't good enough that they had a room with a bathroom across the hall despite this being solely for them and that being the only thing on that floor and they were not happy that we had a "four poster bed" (normal bed really with some poles and netting around it).

The idea was I graduated and then we went out for a meal and a few drinks. Step father complained there were no restaurants with anything he would eat and then only drank soft drinks since he wasn't that fussed. As we parted to go to our rooms that night he even suggested that since he hadn't had anything to drink he and mum could just go home.

Zans and Dak. I am sure I am the mad ex, and very unreasonable He married with indecent haste to a sugar mummy but DD and I are doing well. I plan to remarry next year. :) Thanks for asking. I luffs MN.

I have been away with friends four times over the years (glutton for punishment/eternal optimist here!). TBH none of them have been fantastic for various reasons, although we have always managed to come back on reasonably cordial terms.

I suspect on last year's holiday we were the family from hell. Teenage DD fell out big time with her friend from the other family on Day 2 and insisted on catching the train home (we were in the UK). Teenage DS who has AS, reacted to the change by pretty much refusing to engage with anybody, leaving my friends DS at a loose end.

That left me to maintain the social honour of the family all day every day. It rained and I'm not great at sustained small talk. We were all very polite. all bought our share of groceries and did the cleaning up etc, but I think it is telling we have not seen them since...

Organised a camping trip. We invited friends whose DD is on the spectrum. They constantly moan about how they hate going away with large groups of families as their DD is always left out and doesn't enjoy it. They go anyway.

When I invited them the first question was "are there any other children going?" I said, we would like to invite friend X and her DD as her DH had been overseas for work for about 4 months and she was lonely. Is that OK with you? They said, yes that's OK thanks for asking.

We arrived at campsite first. They rocked up and said their friend Mike was coming with his 3DC as he wanted to come and they couldn't tell him no but they didn't want him there. We had met Mike once.

Mike turns up, proceeds to ignore us , although kids all play nicely together except original friends DD who is left out. Friends continue to moan how they don't want Mike to be there. At end of day one, I say to friends that we don't want to spend any more time on camping trip with Mike, he needs to do his own thing - his camping site was about 50metres away so easily doable.

Have never been camping with them again and friendship has never been the same.

Trying to be mum* sounds like the friend wasn't your major problem but your now dh. From what you wrote it seems like something was going on with them.