Woman praised for her decision to go on vacation without her husband

‘He really let you down,’ says one Reddit user

A woman has been praised for following through with her planned trip, even though her husband didn’t want to go.

In a recent Reddit post shared to the popular “Am I The A**hole?” forum, the 29-year-old woman - who goes by the username u/Strong-Farm-7377 - asked if she was in the wrong for going on vacation to New Orleans without her husband. She began by explaining that she did most of the planning for the trip, before revealing her 32-year-old husband’s main responsibility in the planning process.

“Back in March, I told him I would plan most of it, where to go, and what to do. All he had to do was make sure he had the week off and buy the plane tickets. I spent the last few months researching what to do,” she wrote. “I booked the hotel room, made reservations at places we wanted to try, made a list of all the sites I wanted to see.”

After she had booked everything, the woman asked her husband if he bought the plane tickets yet. In response, he told her that he “was waiting for the plane ticket prices to go down”. When she reminded him to buy the tickets three weeks ago, her husband not only forgot to get them but also told her that he still needed to request time off from work. The woman added that her partner noticed the plane tickets “were close to $1,500” each, so he once again waited and see if the prices went down.

She noted that when she brought up the topic a week ago, her husband still hadn’t bought the tickets. He then told his partner that the “prices were still high” for plane tickets and that he wanted to cancel the trip.

“He said he wasn’t willing to spend that much on them, and asked how much money I would lose if I just cancelled everything instead,” the Reddit user explained. “He offered to have a nice staycation instead. I told him I was not willing to cancel everything because I spent so much time planning it. We argued and we didn’t come to a conclusion.”

The woman explained that she ended up buying one plane ticket for herself, and flew out to New Orleans alone. She added that when she told her husband she was still going, “he acted all surprised that [she] didn’t want to stay home with him”.

She emphasised that her partner wasn’t pleased about her going on the trip solo. He told her that he wanted to join her in the city, but she quickly shut him down.

“I am in New Orleans now and he is blowing up my phone saying that I am an [a**hole] for still going without him,” she wrote. “He was trying to get a ticket to come too but I told him if he came, he is getting his own hotel room because this is now my vacation away from him.”

AITA for going on vacation without my husband?
byu/Strong-Farm-7377 inAmItheAsshole

The Reddit post has quickly gone viral with more than 17,00 upvotes. In the comments, many people came to woman’s defense and criticised her husband for not booking the plane tickets sooner.

“I don’t know WTF [what the f***] your husband’s deal is but he acted like a real a**hole,” one person commented. “I don’t know if he deliberately sabotaged the trip or just didn’t care enough to follow through on his tiny piece of things, but you were absolutely right to not let him ruin the trip for you, and sure as hell shouldn’t be booking an expensive plane ticket to come join you now. I hope he’ll be ready with a massive apology when you get home.”

Another person added: “He literally had two tasks and plenty of time to complete them, plus reminders. I’d honestly be irritated that he dropped the ball and then didn’t own up to it by buying the tickets at the high price. Consider that a procrastination tax and a lesson.”

“He really let you down, it’s almost like he didn’t want to take this vacation so he sabotaged it. But even if he was merely being lazy, he was still being uncaring. It was clear how much this trip meant to you and he blithely blew it off and expected you to just stay home for your vacation instead?” a third wrote.

Other people expressed how they’ve been through similar experiences with their own partners, and claimed that it led to the end of their relationship.

“My ex pulled a similar stunt except I’d already paid for everything. He expected me to cancel the family vacation and sit home with him because he changed his mind. Nope, took one of our adult kids in his place so I was only out a name change fee and had the best vacation ever. I realised on that trip it was over,” one wrote.

The Independent has contacted u/Strong-Farm-7377 for comment.