Are You Ready For A Sexcation?

There’s a reason holiday sex is so good – at least five of them, actually. Now bring that excitement home every day

- Anne Roderique-jones

I CAN ATTRIBUTE my happy marriage to a disastrous train ride in France. Or the time we sank our rental car in a muddy river in Costa Rica. Or that flight on a Mexican airline that went out of business while we were in the air, stranding us in Acapulco. But these weren’t failures – they were experiences.

Travelling with a partner can lead to some great memories, many with an R rating – or at least a rom-com glow. A US Travel Association survey confirms that holidays can strengthen relationships, help couples communicate and reduce the odds of divorce. Escaping from work, laundry and kids is liberating. Add in mountain views or salt air, and new sensations help “bring you into your body”, says relationship coach Celeste Hirschman. It all aids sexual arousal.

Your brain loves to travel. “Variety and adventure open up the dopamine response,” says sex coach Patti Britton. That flow of feelgood hormones brings a sense of excitement that most couples lose over time.

These trips stand out for me and my partner, Nate. No need to copy them exactly; use them as inspiration. With a little planning, you won’t need a lot of money – or, in some cases, clothes. poke picnics and cooling swims. We even took a surfing lesson. By evening, we drank wine on the lanai and googled real estate we couldn’t afford.

THE TAKEAWAY Sensory overload. As beautiful as Hawaii looks, its smells and sounds are equally astounding. “Changing your sensory input can be quite stimulating,” Britton says, especially if your home base is a city like, say, Canberra. Flowers, salty ocean air and crashing surf combine to create pure bliss. As for visual stimuli, watching water droplets tracing her curves on the beach can make your mind wander to the fun times you will have back at the hotel room, says psychologist Benna Strober.