Dear Katie: We Went on Vacation and Came Back Further Apart

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You planned the trip. You saved it to your phone for months. You told yourself this was the one that would bring you back together. And then you got there, and somehow felt more alone than you do on a regular Tuesday at home.

If that sounds painfully familiar, you're not alone, and this week's Dear Katie letter is proof. A listener writes in after a two week "reconnection trip" to Greece that left her lying awake at 2am wondering if the marriage itself was the problem. Spoiler: it wasn't.

In this episode, Katie unpacks why vacations don't create connection, they reveal it. She walks through why the big, vulnerable conversation almost always backfires when you try to have it on holiday (hint: it's about nervous systems, not effort), and why coming home without the breakthrough you hoped for isn't a failure, it's actually where the real work begins.

You'll walk away with a concrete way to open the conversation once you're home without it turning into blame, plus a simple, low pressure practice you can start building into your regular week so connection doesn't have to wait for a plane ticket.

If you've ever come home from a trip more confused than when you left, this one's 

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