Need a little extra incentive to book her a trip? Here it is: it might actually turn her on.
According to new research from Booking.com, which surveyed 1,000 respondents, 93% of American women say having their partner take the reins on trip planning is a major turn-on — something they find even “more attractive than a good physique or a big paycheck.” Even better (or worse, depending on your perspective), 56% say their partner booking a trip is just as arousing, if not more, than foreplay.
And yet, that exact same percentage of women say their partner has never booked a trip for them.
Of course, it’s entirely possible that if the woman is the default planner, it’s because she refuses to relinquish control or simply enjoys the process. Full disclosure: my fiancé hasn’t planned a single getaway in the almost six years we’ve been together because, while I can certainly see the appeal, I genuinely want to be at the helm. If that works for both parties like it does for us, then by all means, stay in your respective lanes.
That said…I have questions. Chiefly, how did the bar get so low? Because, at the end of the day, this is about one thing: effort. Women are aroused by effort. In other words, we’ve somehow managed to turn mere competence into a kink.
Which raises a broader question. If effort is sexier than foreplay, why aren’t more men making said effort? A lot of them genuinely enjoy travel, so when and why should the burden of planning fall entirely on the woman? It’s not as if we’re asking partners to schedule dental surgery. If travel is something both people enjoy, it stands to reason that planning it could be, too. Still, nearly nine in 10 men (89%) admit they could take more initiative in planning trips for their partners.
The Sexiest Thing You Can Do Is Plan a Last-Minute Getaway for Her
Here are a few tips from our travel editorI’d argue that this signals something deeper, which is the level of investment in a relationship. We’ve long known that travel is good for us, not just individually but as couples.
A report published by Psychology Today last spring found that traveling with your partner boosts relationship satisfaction, increases romantic passion and leads to more physical intimacy, among other benefits. That alone should light a fire under anyone with skin in the game, particularly because it doesn’t even have to be an elaborate, expensive, passport-stamping odyssey. Some of the most meaningful trips I’ve taken with my partner have been quick, close-to-home escapes. And if you haven’t historically taken the lead on trip planning, she’ll probably be ecstatic with even that much. Again, it’s really about effort.
But then here’s the spicy part: two-thirds of men say they’d be more likely to plan a trip if they knew physical intimacy was involved. And if we’ve established that trips generally make that more likely, and women are saying trip planning is a major turn-on, then maybe it isn’t about initiative — maybe it’s actually the foreplay.
But that’s a conversation for another day.
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