Would you ever take a romantic Italian vacation without your girlfriend? Eric had a good year at work and decided to treat himself to his dream vacation in Italy. His girlfriend strictly believes that they should keep their finances separate and she couldn’t afford to go, so she refused to let him pay for her. So he took his female best friend instead. Now she is angry he went on a romantic trip with someone else. Is she justified in being upset. Or is Eric justified in taking his dream Italian vacation with his best friend and without his girlfriend?
Ayla Brown: And good morning to Eric. I hear you just came back from the most amazing country, Italy. Welcome back to Boston.
Eric: Thank you. It was incredible. I had the time of my life.
Ayla Brown: Oh, I’m so jealous.
Eric: Yeah, it was pretty amazing.
Ayla Brown: So what happened? Like, either before, during or after Italy? Something happened with. With your girlfriend?
Eric: I’ve always wanted to go to Italy. It has been on my bucket list. It’s something that I’ve dreamed about as a child. You know, I’m a foodie. I love Italian. I am Italian, and I’ve always wanted to go to the motherland and have wine and great food and whatnot. And so just recently, I had an opportunity through my job because I had a great year to go to Italy. So I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to go with me and I said, Don’t worry about it. I got you. I’ll take you. We’ll have a great time. And I think she was a little, I don’t know, not defensive about it. But, she has always been adamant about having separate finances. And she said I can’t really afford to go, but I don’t want you to pay for me.
Ayla Brown: Okay.
Eric: But, you know, this would mean a lot to me. And she just, for whatever reason, financially didn’t think it was fair. So I was like, all right, well, I’m going. I had the ability to take someone with me that’s my best friend.
Ayla Brown: But like Italy going on a trip, you should go.
Eric: Especially since it’s been my dream, right?
Ayla Brown: Always. With your best friend.
Eric: Her name is Carlie. She’s a female. And, you know, we’ve been best friends since high school. And there’s nothing romantic. If I’m going to take someone that isn’t my girlfriend, I’m going to take my best friend. And so we went and we had a great time.
Ayla Brown: I’m so jealous because you went to Italy. I can’t wait to get to the phones. So what happened when you got back from the trip? You went on this kind of romantic trip? Because I’m going to just say Italy is a romantic place, right? You went with someone that was not your girlfriend. You went with your best friend who you’ve been best friends with since high school. And it happens to be a girl.
Eric: Yeah, but that shouldn’t matter, right? That shouldn’t matter.
Ayla Brown: I’ll get to the phones in a second.
Eric: So. Yeah. So when I. When I got back, of course, there was a little blowback. I mean, my, my girlfriend’s not happy that I, that I took another woman. But I did ask her and I almost pleaded with her to come with me. And so then why was I supposed to not go and not take someone? And if I wasn’t, what, just go by myself?
Ayla Brown: Do you have any other best friends? I mean, that don’t happen to be a girl.
Eric: I mean, I have very close friends, but Carly is like a sister to me. We’ve been best friends forever. So, I mean, obviously, that would be my number one choice.
Ayla Brown: Okay. You mean number two besides your girlfriend?
Eric: Yes, yes, yes. Fair enough.
