Holiday relationship strain..

[WestYorkshireGirl]

We're a busy working family with a daughter and are into the second week of our holiday. Nice place, lovely weather in France somewhere we have been before. Looked forward to it since January.. trouble is I am finding DH hard work and can't shake a feeling of disappointment and dissatisfaction..
It usually takes a while for us to wind down and relax but this time it's taken ages. I always hope DH will be a bit more demonstrative when he's relaxed but he never is. He says he's having a nice time and enjoying the wine, cooking and lazy afternoons - trouble is I'm finding him irritating and I keep looking at all the other families and wishing we could be more like them. I know I am being silly and need to shake out of it but I feel really frustrated..
is this common for anyone else on holiday or am I just being unrealistic ?

If you have been experiencing such feelings of irritation at home, then they could be magnified in holiday setting when a kind of 'cabin fever's sets in. We can often place a lot of expectations on holidays as if all family members, including ourselves, will morph into idealised versions of our domestic selves. Perhaps the holiday is highlighting areas of difficulty which you don't have time to look at so closely at home, as you say you're a "busy" family.

But, equally, there's a degree of normality in finding our family members to be irritating when faced with them at close quarters when we maybe have more opportunity for physical space from them at home. Personally speaking, I identify with that and was hankering for some space from my DH after a reasonably enjoyable holiday.