A woman has gone on seven solo holidays without her partner this year - and says people ask her if she feels guilty. Christina Patel, 30, has been with her partner for four and a half years.
In that time, the pair have been on multiple holidays together but due to his teaching job, Christina often leaves her partner at home while she jets off around the world. In 2022, the couple had two trips together, while Christina had five on her own.
Many people have told Christina that her relationship is "unconventional" but she disagrees saying that her partner is "understanding". Christina, a recruiter, from Ware, Hertfordshire, said: "My partner is a school teacher so we can only go away together in school holidays.
"He knew what he was getting himself into - within our first four months of dating I had five trips booked and one of them was a month-long trip to South America. Sometimes people will say 'your poor boyfriend is home alone do you not feel guilty having fun without him?'.
"I mainly get those comments from the older generation or people who hold really traditional values. I am very lucky that my partner is very understanding about it and knows I love to travel."
Christina visited south east Asia when she was 22-years-old and said she hasn't stopped travelling since. So far this year, Christina has visited seven countries and none of them have been with her partner.
She said: "I love travelling; it is that feeling of freedom and having different adventures every day. I love meeting new people and trying new foods - it is a combination of those things.
"It is very different from being at home, waking up, going to work, then sleeping. I like the spontaneous lifestyle."
Christina said her partner is "very understanding" as he works as a school teacher so is only available at certain times a year. She admitted she can be very spontaneous and book a holiday a week before she is due to go.
Christina said: "We do have a holiday in August booked and a few weekends booked together. I think if I was with someone who couldn't travel with their job and was not understanding of my love of travelling it just wouldn't work - I am very lucky.
"Most of the stuff I do I book on a whim, when it is the school holidays I will make sure we plan together but apart from that I am a last-minute booker. When I tell him I am going away he is like 'ok fair enough' he will come back from work and I will tell him how I will be going away next week and he is used to it."
