How A Vacation Can Make You A Closer Couple

’Tis the season for romantic getaways to tropical islands and European castles. In celebration, here's a list of the top 5 things couples can learn during vacations together:

1. We all poo. Yes, gentlemen ... it's true. Even girls do the Number 2. Vacations are the perfect time to have this talk, if you haven't already. During our first vacation to Jamaica, my boyfriend prefaced the bathroom talk with something like this:

"Listen, let's just get this out in the open. I'm going to poop. I'm probably going to poop at least once or twice a day, and it will probably smell."

Now, even though my boyfriend and I had clearly pooped at each other’s houses before, this "living together for a week" situation warranted the additional poo talk. True, I still made him go out to the balcony each time I had to do my business, but it was a start in getting over my "pooing with boys present" fear.

My previous vacation with a boy resulted in a bladder infection and severe constipation. Withholding bodily functions from your significant other is a definite sign of emotional withholding. A basic rule of thumb: "Be comfortable enough to poo, or you're through."

2. You may get sick of each other. My boyfriend and I actually didn't get sick of each other during our trip. But in case we did, we had a code word, "bananas," that basically meant, "You're driving me bananas. Go take a walk." Spending 24/7 together can either make or break you.

3. If you don't get sick of each other, that's good. Because we didn't fight or get tired of each other’s company, this moved the relationship needle a little farther. Unlike my previous vacation-turned-torture with my ex, this trip reinforced our compatibility.

4. Your significant other is very considerate. During a boat ride/snorkel adventure, I decided to stay on deck while my boyfriend explored some Jamaican caves. As I was snapping some photos of his floating butt cheeks and flippers, I lost sight of him. After about five minutes of wondering where he had gone, Boyfriend crawled up the boat ladder.

"What are you doing back so soon?" I asked.

"I just wanted to swim up here to make absolutely sure you don't want to go snorkel because it's awesome," he said. "Sure you don't want to try it?"

As my best friend said when I recounted this story to her ... "Barf."

I responded to him with, "Aww. You're so nice." (formerly of the barf school, now converted to romantic). "But I'm afraid I'll be eaten by a shark."

5. You might not do it every day. Spending seven straight nights together made me realize that when you live together or you're married, it's inevitable that you may stop sleeping together every single day. While on vacation, you may find that during a couple nights, you’re just too tired from the sun and the pina coladas.