MY FRIEND’S SPOILED OUR TRIP PLANS

Dear Coleen

I’m a widowed woman in my mid-60s and I had planned to go on holiday with a good friend this summer. We’d started making plans after looking into different types of holiday, but now she’s said her husband wants to come too.

I’m totally shocked by this, not to mention a little hurt. It was supposed to be a chance for us to spend some proper time together since my husband passed away a year ago and I’d been really looking forward to it.

Three would most definitely be a crowd in my opinion, plus her husband is also an old curmudgeon, so any type of fun would be quite out of the question.

What should I do? I don’t want to offend her but, at the same time, I just don’t want to go if he’s part of the package.

Coleen says

Don’t end up spending lots of money on a trip you know you won’t enjoy simply because you don’t want to be impolite.

You can make your point without being rude – just say, “I’ve been giving the holiday some thought and if you want to go away with your husband, then you two go together and maybe we can take a trip together at another time”.

Just be honest and explain that you think three’s a crowd and you’d feel you’d be getting in the way. And then don’t get talked round!

In the meantime, why not find out if any of your other friends or family are up for a holiday this summer? You could still book a weekend away with your friend that doesn’t have to cost the earth. Good luck.