If you’re looking for something serious in love, you’re probably better off not getting attached to someone who you met on vacation or is going to be moving away soon. But if you’re fine with something a bit more casual, a relationship that’s pretty much guaranteed not to last might be exactly what you need.
- Three words: no strings attached. Remember that person you hooked up with during a wild Mardi Gras a few years ago? It didn’t last, clearly, but it was hot. Between losing your inhibitions and the lack of rules surrounding the “illicit” rendezvous, it certainly was an affair to remember. Bet you’re still thinking about that person all these years later, aren’t you?
- No commitment, no hurt. Not real hurt, anyway. Unless you’re putting all of your eggs into one basket — and you shouldn’t be — not every encounter with a member of your preferred sex needs to be a do-or-die situation. When you know that the discussion about what you “are” is irrelevant, you’ll be free to just let go and have fun.
- Just because the relationship has an expiration date doesn’t mean you can’t revisit it later. That hottie you met during Mardi Gras? Well, who knows if you’ll see them again after your first three-day encounter? But you might, and if you do, the total insurgence of spontaneity makes it all the more exciting. Open doors sometimes mean revolving ones, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing in all cases.
- It makes for a really great story. Any story that begins with, “So this one time when I was on vacation in [insert exotic locale here], I met this person, and …” is a good story. It’s a story for your friends, your parents (if you’re chill with them like that), and even your children if they need advice when they’re in their roaring twenties and tumultuous thirties (and even flirty forties). There’s no shelf life for a hot hookup, and chances are, you’re gonna remember this story for the rest of your life.
- It’s exciting. If you meet a hottie while on vacation, imagine the anticipation of the mini-hookup you had the night before and planning on meeting that person again the next day, whether it’s at the hotel bar, the hotel room, or some other random place. It feels so scandalous, and the fact that you probably won’t continue any kind of relationship with this person once you’re home again means you’re free to let loose a bit.
- You’re completely free to bail whenever you want. This goes without saying, and it even applies to other relationships in your life. No one’s telling you to be that person who can’t be relied upon or who bails when it’s convenient for them, but once a relationship no longer suits you, there’s nothing disrespectful about bowing out in a classy way.
- It leaves the door open for other people to mosey on through. Should that be your thing, of course. Monogamy is cool if you’re into it, and “dating around” is just as fine if that’s your thing too. Generally if you know that your hookup has a shelf life, you’re not taking it too seriously and you’re probably already thinking about the next fun conquest. Totally okay as long as everybody’s open with their intentions and feelings.
- Sometimes a lack of time can work out in your favor. This is especially true if the relationship just isn’t that great. Hooking up with the foreign exchange student at your university and they want to get way too serious way too fast? Chances are they’re heading back to their homeland unless you marry them… and if moving abroad isn’t on your horizon any time soon, then distance is a great divider.
- Fun is fun till it’s not fun anymore. In a relationship with a defined expiration date, you can savor every exciting moment that you encounter and then be done. There’s no need to drag it on once you get used to each other and feel bored.
- There’s no big breakup scene to endure. Or there shouldn’t be. Recognize your parameters, enjoy yourself, and take care of the memories. They’re gonna be funny as hell since time is great for giving you perspective on crazy things that happened in your past.
