Bingo Players Health & Beauty

Littlewoods Bingo investigates: Beyond the Brochures

As fantastic as online bingo is to play, it doesn't compare to your summer holiday. An escape to paradise, sipping cocktails as the sun sets over a picturesque scene and the crystal clear waves lap rhythmically over the soft, golden sands. The office is a million miles away, no fingers clicking away on keyboards, no irritating ringtones buzzing away; just you and your beloved, uninterrupted, basking in the holiday sun.

Yep it’s that time of year again (thank god) where our winter coats are left well alone and our stringy bikinis and functional flip-flops are eagerly thrown into our bulging suitcases. It's going to be so perfect, you don't even mind missing one of our great online bingo promotions – well they'll always be plenty more!

The brochures tell the story: - couples laughing in the pool bar, long stretches of white sands to romantically stroll down during dusk. It is the perfect place to reignite you love and really get to know each other without the attached strings of work. And that, bingo buddies is just the problem…

Scary bingo stat! Divorce lawyers annually witness a rise in business in September, notably named the aftermath month. Relationship group Relate can also concur; their reports ‘see a 20% rise in rowing couples following the holiday season’.

Holidays, as alluring as they are, come with a mountain of pressures. Designed to counteract the toil and trouble the rest of the year brings, the expectations of the annual holiday are immense, and also intense. Holidays involve a lot of money and there is a high level of expectation.” And bingo player Olivia* agrees.

“My then partner and I had actually been together for two year and had already been on holiday together. We went to Egypt, which was fantastic. There was so much to see and do and talk about. So when we booked an equally exotic trip to Cuba the following year, I had no worries whatsoever – why except missing my bingo games with the girls!

“Cuba, though, was a completely different experience. We were advised by our reps not to venture beyond the complex unless on organised excursions and with it being all-inclusive there wasn’t much need to anyway – there was even afternoon bingo to play!

“We booked a couple of trips but they were really expensive so couldn’t do too much. So it kind of turned into a glorified beach holiday, which the only decision we had to make in the morning was beach or pool. It became really monotonous and despite being together for two years, the silences were painfully uncomfortable. We lasted a week when we got back.”

Olivia’s story is far from uncommon and, actually, unsurprising to the experts. Couples are swapping the odd romantic evenings for a 24/7 closeness and while on paper this appears inviting, the reality is less than forbearing. While at home you chat away over Tesco finest ready meals with the dulcet tones of Eastenders in the background, romantic holiday suppers can be cursed with awkward, sullen silences.

The hustle and bustle of everyday life is sometimes a concealer for relationship cracks. At home, it is very unlikely you experience this level of intensity. Work, friends and family conveniently act as buffers, disguising any apparent flaws, leaving us completing unconscious of these dangerous relationship waters that lap the shores.

Relate therapist Christine Northam explains further. “When couples are busy and doing the normal everyday things, it is quite easy to put any problems on the back burner because they are caught up in the routine of everyday life.

“But when they are on holiday, any problems come under the spotlight and they suddenly realise with horror they are not as close as they thought they were.”

Carolyn had been with her partner James for several years. Childhood sweethearts from school, they had reached a point where the relationship had grown a little stale.

Carolyn says, “The relationship was starting to get boring so I decided we need a change of scene. I booked a holiday to Gran Canaria, hoping a bit of sun, sea and sangria would rekindle our relationship.”

But things didn’t work out as this bingo player planned though. “We actually spent the whole time flirting with other people and arguing with each other. Being away reconfirmed the relationship wasn’t working. At home we were able to deny it more easily as life’s routine distracted us.

“When we got home, we didn’t see each other for three weeks – never a good sign, I know, although I did have a lot of bingo playing to catch up on! Eventually, I called him only to discover he already thought we were over. So much for holiday bliss!”

So how do we avoid these fatal bust ups without cancelling all future jet setting?

Holidays, as with most things, come with a lot of shouldas. You should be having a wonderful time; you should be together all the time. This is the worst, and most common faux pas holidaymakers make. In truth, time apart is valuable.

At home you have things to talk about because to partake in separate activities – you have your bingo and he has is football, that type of thing - but holidays tend to come with the belief that all events must be experienced together. Couple are therefore engulfed within the hotel complex, fearing to leave the others side and venture out solo. The idea alone seems foreign. So it's time to shed that belief and stop feeling that you have to do everything together just because you are on holiday.

So if you fancy a bit of souvenir shopping and your other half doesn't, don't let that stop you. Likewise if they want to do some sightseeing and you don't; that time apart can be so valuable and gives you something to discuss over dinner that night too. By spending some days doing your own things allows both of your needs to be met.

A holiday, at the end of the day, is an unnatural environment steeped with mountains of pressure. Never will we spend so much solid time with just one other in a place which is expected to rejuvenate us after our years’ hard work and harder play.

So how do you make your holidays great? Fear not, as this online bingo site has more than a trick or two to teach you. So follow Littlewoods Bingo's quick 4-step holiday check sheet and walk off into the sunset…together.

1. Agree what you’re both wanting from the holiday. Make sure destination and budget cover both needs.

2. Once arrived, plan what you’re doing the day before. It avoids time wasting and gives you a conversation topic over dinner.

3. Don’t feel you have to do everything together –time apart is healthy, even on holiday

4. Make sure you do spend some time together though.

Adopt the idea of "You’re in charge, I’m in charge" where one day you choose what the both of you should do and the next day your partner decides. Remember though for this to work you both have to be fully on board at whatever activity is suggested – and this way you actually will rediscover who your partner is.

Happy Holidays x